Matthew Wood has impressed massively since leaving the Victoria Grizzlies in the BCHL to start playing college hockey with the Huskies from Connecticut.
The Lethbridge native has risen up draft boards after a freshman season where he averages just short of a point-per-game. Even if most of his current points are assists, he is above all seen as a goal scorer with a quick and deadly release.
Birthplace: Lethbridge, Alberta
Date of birth: February 6, 2005
Shoots: Right
Position: Forward
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 190 lbs.
Team: University of Connecticut (NCAA)
Wood left British Columbia with a remarkable record. He scored 45 goals and added 41 assists in just 46 games as a 16-year old. Those are numbers which are superior to what current NHLers Kent Johnson and Alex Newhook had as they were leaving the BCHL.
After being selected by the Regina Pats in the second round of the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft, he could have chosen what some would call the easy route and stayed put in Western Canada to play his junior hockey with Connor Bedard. Instead, he elected to uproot and move across the continent to be the youngest player in college hockey this season.
For Wood, it was not an easy choice, but in an interview with NHL.com back in November, he stated that: “extra time, extra workouts in college would benefit me.” He also felt like college hockey has a higher pace than the Canadian Junior leagues, which would be a good challenge to further his development.
His choice to not be Bedard’s wingman this year is even more remarkable when you factor in that the two are close childhood friends, having played spring hockey with the Vancouver Vipers for five straight seasons.
When Wood was playing his hockey for the West Van Academy Bantam Prep team back in 2019-20, he stayed with the Bedard family. Between practices, Bedard and Wood would have shooting competitions in the family’s back yard.
Preliminary Rankings
Dobber Prospects: #33
Elite Prospects: #21
FCHockey: #27
Hockey Prospect: #35
Hadi Kalakeche: #35
McKeen’s: #24
Bob McKenzie (TSN): #14
NHL Central Scouting: #8 (North American skaters)
Corey Pronman (The Athletic): #19
Scott Wheeler (The Athletic): #12
After playing centre for most of his youth, Wood was moved to the wing for his freshman season with the Huskies. As an intelligent player, it doesn’t seem to matter where Wood is deployed. As long as he gets enough space to fire off his marksman type shot, he will add value to any type of offence.
In the same interview with NHL’s official site, he mentions Evgeni Malkin and Mikko Rantanen as two players he tries to model his game after. Both players are around the similar size as Wood, while still being able to add that silky smooth touch in the offensive zone.
Corey Pronman of The Athletic calls Matthew Wood a light version of Patrik Laine, while his colleague Scott Wheeler has him as “one of my favourites in the 2005 age group”. David Gregory, who is the Senior Manager for NHL Central Scouting at NHL.com, has himself heard several comparisons between Wood and former Husky/budding NHL superstar, Tage Thompson.
The reasons why Wood isn’t universally touted as a top 10-15 prospect seems to be his lack of pure mobility and a fluent skating stride. However, quoting our wonderful readers here at Eyes On The Prize, that is something that surely can be fixed through a few sessions with skating shaman Barb Underhill.
Otherwise, Wood seems like a tantalizing prospect in more ways than one. He is a crafty goal scorer who has experience playing both as a winger and in the middle of the ice. His head coach at UConn, Mike Cavanaugh, has referred to Wood’s hockey IQ as being “10 out of 10”. His work ethic and dedication to the craft of hockey seem to be other major assets of his. As a 17 year old, the Albertan is still getting used to his bigger body, growing into his frame and developing more strength and power. but that is something Gregory of NHL Central Scouting thinks will happen over time.
With rankings currently spanning between 12 and 40, it’s hard to know where a team will end up to pull the trigger on Wood. Him choosing the college route instead of the CHL path means that whoever drafts him will have the possibility of letting him develop his game for four more seasons instead of throwing him into the AHL wildfire at the age of 20.
If he continues to develop his skating mechanics, there is every possibility for Matthew Wood to become an NHL power-play threat within half a decade’s time.
