Will Smith is an insanely creative prospect and the top projected American to get drafted. He had 51 goals and 76 assists in 60 games on the USNTDP team this year. He also scored 15 goals and 27 assists in 20 games against USHL teams. After his season was over, he crushed it in the U-18 tournament by leading his team to gold, scoring 20 points in 7 games, and winning MVP of the tournament. As you can see he was very productive this year playing with two other players projected to go in the top 15 in Leonard and Perreault. The one thing that stands out with Smith is his playmaking and soft hands. He is the premiere playmaker in this draft class. While I have Carlsson ranked ahead of him, Smith is the better skill player and has a higher offensive ceiling. Smith lacks compete and strength qualities that Carlsson possesses, but we will get to that later. All year Smith has been dominant against USHL and collegiate level competition. He has really soft hands that he uses to create space and thread the needle on backdoor passes. His creative mind always knows where his teammates are and it makes it seem like he has eyes in the back of his head. If you watch Smith play, you will notice that everytime there is pressure on him, he makes the best passing play 9/10 times. Whether its a creative pass or a simple one, he knows where to go with the puck to generate the best offensive chance. My best guess is he goes somewhere in the top 6, most likely to the Sharks at 4.
Smith also has a nice scoring touch to his game. He always makes the best hockey play whether thats to shoot the puck himself or pass it off to a teammate for a one-timer. His shot has a lot of power to it for being a weaker prospect. A very mobile shooter too as he uses his smooth skating to get into really good shooting positions. His shot is more accurate than hard and he acts like a sniper with how he weaponizes himself. Always waiting for the right moment to shoot and calculate where the puck will go. Attacking the net is his forte and the most dynamic prospect in that regard.
His skating is about NHL average. He is really agile and quick in tight, but his top speed is about NHL average, if not a little below. This is because Smith is not very strong. His strides are smooth, but weak. He doesn't get much horse power from his strides and it shows at times. Not only does it show in his stride, but in his physicality too. Anytime Smith would play against non-u18 competition, he would get pushed down easily like a fly buzzing around your house. This is where he needs to improve the most. He needs to put on muscle and lucky enough for him, he is still very young and has a 6 foot frame to fill out. If he were a couple inches shorter, I think his draft stock would plummet. I would also like to bring up that many other independent scouting services claim his two-way game is quite weak and he cherry picks often letting Perreault and Leonard do the dirty work. I think this is more related to strength concerns because I have seen Smith do well in his own end against competition that is his size, but you aren't drafting Smith to be a two-way forward. You are drafting Smith for his offensive upside and you might push him to the wing at the NHL level. If your team drafts Smith, they are getting a high-end creative playmaker that has a good chance of becoming an NHL star.
Below is his Elite Prospects page
Elite Prospect's page for Will Smith3/4 Above Average
2/4 Average
3/4 Above Average
4/4 Elite
1/4 Below Average
Below are some sources to look at for visual demonstration;