The Montreal Canadiens selected Sean Farrell in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Draft.
Though he was the 124th player to be selected that weekend, his offensive tools suggest he should have been taken much earlier. But, NHL teams are still run by guys who grew up watching the “Broad St. Bullies” and “Big Bad Bruins” hack away at each other so size matter.
Farrell is just 5’9″ and 174 pounds, so he fell to the fourth round. Falling to the fourth round is just one of many things that Farrell happens to have in common with Calgary Flames star left winger Johnny Gaudreau.
Gaudreau, also listed at 5’9″ is a playmaking left winger. Though he may need a step stool to reach the highest cabinet in his house, he more than makes up for a lack of size with speed, puck control, ability to carry the puck through the neutral zone, incredible vision and unparalleled playmaking instincts.
That exact description could be used to describe Gaudreau as well … errr Farrell I mean. Wait which one was I talking about? Right it was Gaudreau.
The description for Farrell is literally the exact same. The height, position, strengths on the ice, round drafted, everything.
In his draft year, Farrell was playing in the USHL for the Chicago Steel. He scored 15 goals, 41 assists and 56 points in 44 games. Gaudreau also played in the USHL in his draft year and had 36 goals and 72 points in 60 games for the Dubuque Fighting Saints. So, Farrell scored 1.27 points per game in the USHL in his draft year and Gaudreau had 1.2 points per game in the same league at the same age.
It is hard to compare their seasons after being drafted because Farrell was supposed to play at Harvard but they chose not to play due to the pandemic. So, Farrell returned to the USHL where he scored 101 points in just 53 games. After being drafted, Gaudreau went to Boston College and scored 44 points in 44 games.
Farrell is now in his second season after being drafted and it is his first at Harvard. He has produced 7 goals, 10 assists and 17 points in 12 games so far to begin his college career. At the same age, Gaudreau played 36 games for Boston College and scored 21 goals and 30 assists in 35 games.
Check those numbers again. Gaudreau played 35 games compared to Farrell’s 12. That’s almost exactly three times as many games. Gaudreau is one game short of it being exactly three times as many. In those games, Gaudreau put up exactly three times as many goals and exactly three times as many assists and exactly three times as many points as Farrell currently has for Harvard at the exact same age.
It’s officially uncanny. You would think they might be the same person at this point. Not quite though, since Gaudreau grew up about 2.5 hours outside New York City while Farrell was raised a whole three hours away from New York City.
All that is left for Farrell to do now is score two points per game next season and win the Hobey Baker Award. He does have 1.42 points per game this season, while Gaudreau finished with 1.46 points per game at the same age.
Farrell has been an underrated prospect long before the Canadiens selected him in the 2020 NHL Draft. Cole Caufield was quite happy when his former teammate from the United Starts Development Program was drafted by the Canadiens and now we are starting to see why.