The Blue Jackets have set their sights on Will Smith

Will Smith’s predictions for the NHL draft have been changing in recent weeks. This time, he’s placed higher than ever with less than 24 hours to go.

In fact, it’s the Columbus Blue Jackets who have him in their sights. Corey Pronman of The Athletic reports.

Corey Pronman: “Everything I have heard going into the draft is Columbus is ‘head over heels’ over Will Smith… I think they would take him over [Leo] Carlsson.” #CBJ

– The CBJ Center (@CBJcenter) June 27, 2023

“What I understood before the draft was that Columbus has “mad love” for Will Smith. I think they’d take him before [Leo] Carlsson.” – Corey Pronman

That’s pretty intense. A lot of people were looking at him as fifth in the last few months. Starting in May, you’d start to see him in fourth. Now it would be third with the Blue Jackets.

I’m not saying the Blue Jackets are crazy, but I think Leo Carlsson has more potential than Will Smith. It’s close, of course, but I really think Carlsson has the upper hand.

However, the draft is no stranger to surprises. Few predicted that Shane Wright would slip to fourth overall last year, but that’s exactly what happened.

The Canadiens seem to like Smith. He’s even one of the two players on Kent Hughes’ radar, along with Ryan Leonard, according to Jean-François Chaumont of the Journal de Montréal.

Will Smith and Ryan Leonard, two candidates for the CH with the 5th pick in the first round.

“I probably have an idea in my head what jersey I’ll put on, but I don’t want to jinx myself, so I won’t say anything” – Will Smithhttps://t.co/N2bBouWc8t

– J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontJDM) June 27, 2023

In the same Chaumont article, Will Smith admits he’s pretty sure which team will select him. However, he declined to elaborate for fear of bad karma.

Smith also confirmed to Chaumont that he is aware of the many ties he has with the Canadiens, but prefers to wait and see what happens.

The American forward tends to answer that he doesn’t know what’s going to happen, and that he’ll wait to answer most media questions. Understandably, too much talk can sometimes come back quickly as a slap in the face (a bit like Shane Wright).

Smith will almost certainly go out in the top-5 on Wednesday night, but nothing has been confirmed yet. For now, we should expect to see him go out in the third echelon if the Blue Jackets rumour is true.

In bursts

– This could be a good choice.

With the organization’s lack of right-handed defenseman depth, @mathiasbrunet thinks David Reinbacher could be the Habs’ pick.

To listen to his full column: https://t.co/5DEFWPuk7B pic.twitter.com/FCmTUG9RXN

– BPM Sports (@BPMSportsRadio) June 27, 2023

– Bad start for Canada.

GOAL 🇬🇵

Guadeloupe take a 1-0 lead over the #CanMNT at BMO Field as Thierry Ambrose catches Steven Vitoria before burying past Milan Borjan

🔴 Watch the match LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/pj4Ws8jnip

– OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 27, 2023

– We love to hear that.

In an off-the-cuff conversation on the sidelines of a press briefing, Luc Robitaille felt that the Habs “found a good one” in Alex Newhook.

“A guy who works hard”, said the Kings’ president.

– Simon-Olivier Lorange (@SO_Lorange) June 27, 2023

– Michkov wants to play in the NHL.

Agents Alex and Ced are on the case and we can report this: Matvei Michkov wants to play in the NHL, he just needs to get picked 👀 pic.twitter.com/JbCAqqC4hk

– Habs Fan TV (@habsfantv_) June 27, 2023