Benjamin Gaudreau will be a very difficult prospect to gauge. For one, he was one of many prospects who lost a season of development and play as the Sarnia Sting and Ontario Hockey League were shut down for the year due to COVID-19. And his last junior season on record, 2019-20, didn't see him produce remarkable numbers: 10-13-2 record, 4.34 GAA and .890 save percentage.
However, if you dig deeper and watch the film, you can see that he played well above what his numbers suggested. The team in front of him was one of the league's worst, offering little help on most nights. You could see the intangibles: size, calm, tracks the puck well and athletic.
Those traits were on full display during the World Under-18 Junior Championship when Gaudreau led Team Canada to a gold medal while going 5-0 with a 2.20 GAA and .919 save percentage. I guess the film doesn't lie.
