Overreacting to the day’s news has become commonplace in today’s society. That’s why it should come as no surprise that there were plenty of anonymous keyboard warriors looking to throw their two cents into the ring Tuesday night when news broke that Providence College freshman forward Jay O’Brien had entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.
There was plenty of interest in the decision of the Hingham, Mass., native and Thayer Academy alumnus given he was a first-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2018 NHL Draft.
O’Brien produced just two goals and three assists in a freshman season that saw him miss time due to concussions as well as a one-game ban for a violation of team rules.
It was certainly a disappointing season for a player selected 19th overall in the NHL Draft. However, jumping to judgment and declaring O’Brien a bust might be a little brazen.
What’s next for O’Brien?
According to college and NHL sources, O’Brien will be heading to play the 2019-20 season for the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. He chose this route over the other most viable option, playing for the Youngstown Phantoms in the USHL.
The BCHL is a defensively-challenged league so O’Brien will likely be able to regain confidence and put up big numbers. Penticton is known as one of the best programs in the BCHL. It will be imperative for O’Brien to learn some of the intricacies of the game under the tutelage of Vees head coach Fred Harbinson.
A major pitfall for O’Brien this season was his inability to play his natural center position in Leaman’s system. The Flyers, according to a tweet from the Providence Journal’s Mark Divver, were “OK” with whatever decision O’Brien made.
The organization will certainly be looking for O’Brien to continue making strides in his development over the course of the next 12 months.
After the 2019-20 season, O’Brien will likely head back to the NCAA for the 2020-21 season. It would be a shock if he ended up anywhere other than one of the three Hockey East, Beanpot schools.
Smart money has O’Brien choosing Northeastern where associate head coach Jerry Keefe has done a remarkable job developing NHL talent and bringing out the best in players’ offensive abilities. One such player who developed under Keefe was Braintree, Mass., native and 2018 Hobey Baker Award winner Adam Gaudette, now in the Vancouver Canucks organization. Also going in Northeastern’s favor is the fact that O’Brien could be reunited with former Thayer linemate Aidan McDonough, who will be a sophomore in 2020-21.
Providence isn’t to blame
There will certainly be pundits and others looking to defend O’Brien and find fault in how Providence, namely head coach Nate Leaman, handled the Flyers’ prospect.
However, that would be misguided. Rival programs and some scouts from certain NHL organizations claim Leaman doesn’t develop offensive players. The numbers suggest otherwise.
All eight of the Friars’ top 10 scorers who weren’t freshmen improved their offensive production from the prior season. Only two teams in the entire country had more players with 30-plus point producers. St. Cloud had six and Penn State had five. Providence and UMass each had four.
What Leaman does insist on is his players, even his stars, competing each shift and working as hard away from the puck as with the puck. Players at Providence are expected to be on the right side of the puck and be reliable in their own zone.
That was a struggle at times for O’Brien, who came to Providence straight from prep school.
A cautionary tale
Injuries were part of story, but O’Brien’s lack of production and inability to grasp parts of the Providence game plan should be a lesson to future prep players looking to go straight to Division I out of prep school.
If a first-round pick who put up 80 points in prep school can’t effectively make the transition from prep to college without playing a year of junior hockey, chances are others who don’t have the same resume will meet a similar fate.
O’Brien even played up with USA Hockey’s NTDP U-18 team for seven games and skated with the Youngstown Phantoms for five USHL games.
The point of this isn’t to put down O’Brien, but it’s to make clear how transitioning from prep to college is an arduous task. It’s understandable some families and players bristle at the idea of a 21-year-old freshman, but playing a year of junior hockey will help one’s physical and mental maturity.
With a few rare exceptions, making the jump straight to college from prep school is not in the best interest of the player or the program recruiting the player to do so.
