One of the more impressive players I didn’t hear a ton of chatter about at these games, Smith commanded the ice in huge usage and multiple situations. Smith stuck his nose out immediately as the game got started with some massive hits, adding in a few impressive drives to the net on and off the puck that showcased what makes Smith so intriguing. There was strong passing vision with crisp exit passes from his own end, quick thinking along the boards to get pucks off the wall, and showed plenty of reasons why he could be one of the earliest players called in the draft. Stretch passes, seam passes to the slot, strong defensive zone exits through his passing, and some moments of deep drives into the offensive zone. A well rounded player with physicality, mobility, and offensive zip, Smith was a guy that really stuck out, especially in London.

Rounding things out as our last forward of note for this Team White squad, Jackson Smith was arguably one of the top players for his team. With a productive camp on the scoresheet with 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points in the 4 games, he played a great power forward game and was able to consistently drive play, along with make the most of the time and space given to him to finish things off. He was able to get lost in coverage very often when floating around the neutral zone, slipping behind defenders, he’d often get odd man rushes to work with, or breakaway chances, wherein if he decided to shoot the puck, was able to beat the goaltender cleanly and pick his spot with a heavy wrister. He owns a powerful stride and in some instances showed some good ability to escape pressure with it, propelling him up ice in a straight line, when factoring in his reach, and soft puck skills, he was an effective transition piece. His vision and passing accuracy really rounded out his play. Connecting and setting up so many different sequences, whether it be off the half-wall, deep in the zone, off the rush to a trailing man, funneling a puck backdoor; he did a little bit of everything when playing the role of a set-up man.

As the games went on Jackson Smith settled into a playstyle that worked well for him, and we saw some of that more here. He did a great job at slowing down the game, protecting the puck through good control of gaps and reading the defenders well, along with dynamic hands that at any given moment, were capable of making a move-or-two to create some extra space if pressured. He had a 2-on-1 early in the game, once again finding that soft ice in the neutral zone, and using his long stride to pull away, unfortunately for Smith, this effort of his was stopped. Although, Smith would find his way on the scoresheet via a breakaway chance later in the game, where he fired a strong wrister past the goaltender to give Team White a 2-1 lead. I liked his defensive play in this one as well, landing some strong stick checks, he didn’t make it easy for puck carriers to roam around his defensive end. There wasn’t a ton of on-puck possession dominance for Smith in this one, but effective nonetheless in a 200-foot sense.

Tallying 2 assists in the game, Jackson Smith was one of the leading forces for Team White in their doubling-up of their opposition. He started the game with some good forechecking efforts, quickly closing gaps, using his size and reach, coupled with a strong stride, to intercept breakout passes, along with pressure puck carriers into making errors, bobbling the puck, and initiating physical battles for possession. Throughout the game he continued to make contact with opponents, leading the charge on the forecheck, or reading the play back as an F2 and anticipating things; he had a few decent counterattacks created as a result. When carrying the puck across both bluelines he seemed to have a good understanding of when to wait and delay, handling the puck an extra second-or-two to for a defender to abandon their post, only to send over an area pass to a pinching teammate with speed. One of his two assists came via a play off the wall, tackling a loose puck with great explosiveness, now in a prime scoring position, he froze the goaltender and defender, slipped a pass over to Colby Coombe, who buried it, giving Team White the 3-2 lead.

Leading the way for his team, despite not tallying any points on the scoresheet, the 200-foot play from Jackson Smith was of great note. He made several great plays from around the crease and slot area, feathering passes to teammates, being a great one-touch pass playmaker, and executing some slippery hook passes through feet and bodies to teammates in scoring lanes. He would’ve tallied an assist on a play where he chipped the puck over a sprawling goalie to Parker Hanc, but ultimately the proceeding goal was disallowed. In transition he showed off a long, powerful stride, with good processing and range to his puck movements, getting around and through defenders with relative ease, he meshed skill with strong systematic and fundamental gameplay to create space, yet get his teammates involved in the process. He supported his defenseman well on the breakout, seemingly always being an option, he was a strong recipient of passes through the middle, handling the bulk of the mantle playing the center position. His stick work and checks across all 3 zones helped him force lots of turnovers, in which he was quick to form counterattacks moving up ice as well. The athletic build, soft puck touches, speed and power, along with hockey sense in all situations seemingly always put Smith in a position to succeed.