Jeremy Bracco leaves USA for hockey country (Updated: It’s Officially Official)
By Ryan Fancey
8 years agoSome pretty substantial prospect news to pass along this morning, as it looks like Jeremy Bracco will be leaving his NCAA club Boston College to head north and join the OHL. The Kitchener Rangers hold Bracco’s rights, and there had been a lot of speculation about this type of move all summer after the Leafs took him late in the second round of the draft. But Bracco initially stuck to his commitment to BC, and has suited up for five games in the Hockey East league this season, notching three assists.
We took a deeper look at Bracco’s game when TLN released this year’s top twenty Leafs prospects list last month. Bracco ranked fifth among our writers, and here’s what Cory Pronman of ESPN had to say about him in his prospect rankings:
Bracco ended up being selected 61st overall despite one of the best seasons ever by an NTDP player. Sure he’s very small, but he’s dynamic and skates well — with good speed and elite edge work. His skill/hockey sense IQ is also high-end. Bracco, despite his size, has frequently shown he’s an effective defensive player and a shorthanded threat. One quote from a Michigan-based scout stood out to me on Bracco this year: “I’ve watched nearly every game of his for the past two years; I don’t remember one bad one. He’s remarkably consistent.”
It’s obviously no secret the Leafs are tied to the OHL more than they’ve ever been since the hiring of Mark Hunter and Kyle Dubas, among others, and that’s why many of us expected Bracco to be with the Rangers from the start of the season so they could keep a closer eye on him (and eventually have him traded to the London Knights). Now that he’s making the jump to Ontario and leaving behind a silver medal country for a gold medal juggernaut, hopefully his development can take a nice step forward as he’ll likely be a go-to option for the Rangers along with Yotes prospect Ryan MacInnis (son of Al) and draft-eligible Adam Mascherin. And as for us OHL fans here north of the border, we’ll get to see some more of him first-hand, so that’s always exciting.
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