© Matt Zambonin/IIHF
HERNING, Denmark — Conor Garland had the scoop before most.
Garland, a grizzled veteran with the Vancouver Canucks, knew there was something special about San Jose Sharks forward Will Smith before he was draped in teal.
Long before.
“I know Will really well,” started Garland, teammates with Smith for Team USA at the 2025 IIHF World Championship. “Will is someone I’ve skated with since he was probably in high school. He got drafted the summer I started skating with him. We played in some summer games together 3-on-3 guys against all NHLers when he was 17. He had like five or six goals. I was just impressed with his ability to score in tight, score in different ways. Really nice kid. Really eager to learn.
“I told my wife that he was someone that’s going to have a long career with how much he loves the game, how many questions he asked. He’s just fun to be around at such a young age. Really impressive young guy.”
Garland had the inside track in those scrimmage sessions, knowing in advance what the then teenager could do with the puck on his stick.
Michael Kesselring, who patrols the blue line for the Utah Mammoth, didn’t.
The defenseman learned quickly, though.
“Honestly, my first impression was a few years back,” Kesselring, another Team USA teammate, started. “I skated with him in the summer for the first time. We were playing 3-on-3 on the small sheet and I was like ‘who is that kid?’ I didn’t know who he was at the time. Obviously really high-end skill and hockey sense. The steps he’s taken during the year last year to this year, he’s a whole different player.
“He’s matured a lot. It’s nice to have him. He looks really good.”
It’s been a lot of growth for Smith, who capped his rookie season in San Jose with his second consecutive international foray with Team USA.
He was still in college.
He was, perhaps, a little quieter.
But funny what a difference a year can make.
Especially when you’ve only got 20 in total under your belt.
“I think I’m better everywhere, to be honest,” Smith said. “Coming here this year it’s a big tournament and I have a bigger role. You want to help your team the best you can whatever you’re doing. I think this year is going to be big for me.”
Smith, the No. 4 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, turned pro after his freshman season with Boston College, and quickly emerged as a key piece to a rebuilding Sharks squad that also features blossoming pieces like Macklin Celebrini and William Eklund, as well as budding prospects Sam Dickinson, Quentin Musty, Igor Chernyshov and Yaroslav Askarov.
The rookie finished fourth in team scoring with 45 points (18 goals, 27 points) in 74 games.
But it was the strides gained, not the snipes made, that have impressed most.
“He’s probably one of our most-improved players,” said San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky, who is doubling as bench boss with Team USA at the World Championship. “The pace slowed down for him. He was playing center early and we moved him to the wing. He got on the scoresheet, which talented players need to do.
“Give him a lot of credit. He worked. We pushed him and challenged him in different areas to be better at, and I think for so long the game came a little easy for him and then you get smacked in the face with the National Hockey League pace and it was an eye-opener.
“I have to give him a lot of credit. He worked extremely hard at his craft, was coachable, and I think the game slowed down and he got confidence and that’s where his game flourished.”
That game got him another nod with Team USA, a program he’s also starred for at the World Junior Championship level and at the Under-18 level a pair of times.
A well-deserved appearance according to Garland, a Pacific Division foe outside of these three weeks.
“His ability is really high-end,” Garland said. “Then you get a season under your belt… for me, I felt it took a season and a half, about 100 games, and I started to figure out the league because nobody has except for a few guys. You learn more and more and I think that’s a huge jump. I’m sure when I see him next summer he’s going to be a completely different player as well.
“He’s just going to keep getting better and better.”
That’s the goal.
Smith, with another year of understanding under his belt, plans to take his time on the international stage with Team USA back to the Bay Area with a little bit more bite.
“It’s really big,” Smith said. “The goal is to be in the playoffs for the Sharks. This is obviously big playing more hockey after the season in big games and big environments.
“It does nothing but help and gets me ready to go.”
