This group of players will be talked about for a long time
That’s a lot of Eagles! Hockey East announced their men’s all-star teams for the 2023-24 regular season on Monday morning, and six Boston College players found themslves on either the first or second teams. This is what they looked like:
Hockey East First Team All-Stars
- G: Jacob Fowler, Fr., Boston College
- D: Lane Hutson, So., Boston University
- D: Ryan Ufko, Jr., Massachusetts
- F: Macklin Celebrini, Fr., Boston University *
- F: Cutter Gauthier, So., Boston College
- F: Will Smith, Fr., Boston College
*denotes unanimous selection
Hockey East Second Team All-Stars
- G: Michael Hrabal, Fr., Massachusetts
- D: Eamon Powell, Sr., Boston College
- D: Tom Willander, Fr., Boston University
- F: Ryan Leonard, Fr., Boston College
- F: Bradly Nadeau, Fr., Maine
- F: Gabe Perreault, Fr., Boston College
Who invited UMass to the first team? If it wasn’t obvious already, BC and BU were the overwhelming dominant forces in Hockey East this season, with just those two teams claiming 9 of 12 spots on the top two all-star teams. The Eagles got an edge over the Terriers, too, earning spots for six players versus BU’s three.
What shocked me was that Macklin Celebrini was the only unanimous nod to the first team. Will Smith has more games played, assists, and total points than Celebrini, and leads the entire nation in points while taking significantly fewer shots (98) than Celebrini (153). Is that not enough for a unanimous selection? Who are you putting over him? Smith has completely lived up to the hype surrounding him after he was taken 4th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, the highest-ever selection for a Boston College player. His offense has been instrumental to BC’s huge season at the top of the nation.
Cutter Gauthier isn’t far behind Smith himself, statistically. Gauthier leads the nation in goals with 32 and has just six fewer points (51) than his teammate Smith, who leads the nation in that category. What’s so impressive about Cutter’s performance this year is that he’s done it largely without the all-star supporting cast that Smith, Leonard, and Perreault have enjoyed with each other. Andre Gasseau and Oskar Jellvik are certainly very talented players, but Gauthier’s performance on that line has required him to be the absolute offensive focal point, constantly drawing tough defense and being forced to make plays in heavy traffic. He’s excelled at it, and a selection to the Hockey East first all-star team is clearly deserved. One has to wonder why he wasn’t a unanimous selection as well…
Jacob Fowler was named the Hockey East goaltender of the year and is the only goalie in Hockey East to be named a top-10 finalist for the Richter Award, so it’s no surprise that he was selected to the first Hockey East all-star team. What a terrific season in net for any player, nevermind a freshman.
Speaking of national statistical leaders, Ryan Leonard is another Eagle that has topped the college hockey leaderboard. He leads the nation in plus/minus after being an instrumental force on both ends of the ice, playing with a ton of physicality and making winning plays in every game. His goals and points totals are both in the top-10 nationally, too, and his electric shot to open up scoring in the first BU/BC game of the season lives rent-free in my mind. It’s a shame that there are only three spots for forwards on the first all-star team, because Ryan Leonard’s performance this season is up there with the rest of them.
Gabe Perreault may be the true unsung hero of Boston College’s season, though. It was Perreault that was leading the nation in points and assists for much of the regular season, but an injury cut his year short and he fell back on the leaderboards as a result, though he still finished in the top-6 in both categories. Gabe is what makes the freshman line go, making a ton of dynamic plays to get his teammates in scoring position and he’s a big reason why Smith and Leonard put up such impressive goal numbers. It’s also clear that in his absence for the past few weeks, the BC offense hasn’t been the same powerhouse it was for the majority of the season. His return for the playoffs is going to be hugely important if the Eagles want to make a run at a national title.
Finally, team captain Eamon Powell got his well-deserved spot on the second all-star team, too. The biggest question heading into the 2023-24 season for Boston College was its defense. The BC team finished below .500 last season despite some great offense from Cutter Gauthier, Nikita Nesterenko, Trevor Kuntar, and Colby Ambrosio, and it had a lot to do with the defense being ranked 32nd in Goals Against Average. Powell took his leadership role and seriously helped the team step up its defensive performance this season, as the Eagles now rank 4th in the nation in Goals Against Average, despite needing to incorporate multiple new players on that side of the ice. And his offense has been great, too, scoring the 4th-most points per game by a BC defenseman since 2000. The team is in great hands while Powell is captain.