1. Brendan Collier, F, 5'9", 185-Charlestown,MA #8-(Valley Junior Warriors, EJHL, 15-33-48, 49 GP)
Collier is a local product who was a star on his high school team at Malden Catholic for 4 years. He played last year for the Valley Junior Warriors of the EJHL and posted a solid 48 point line in 49 games. This was after he posted 64 points and 27 goals in 22 games as a senior in high school. That includes the game winning goal in the Super 8 Championship game.
There was also a Boston Globe article about Collier from last October which details his success at the high school level and the transition to the junior level. Collier's junior coach, Andy Heinze, is quoted in the article as saying "He's just such a smart player, and he is talented enough to score at this level, I would expect him to do the same at BU. He is that good."
From everything you read on Collier, he seems ready for the college game due to his vision and feel for the game. He just seems like a hockey player that should contribute from the get-go this year. He could even sneak into the top 6 forwards with only 3 of the top 6 returning from last year's BU squad. I would expect seventh round draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2012 to become a fan favorite rather quickly for the gritty way he plays the game and put up between 20-30 points this season.
Here is a scout's take from a Carolina Hurricane prospect website's profile of Collier
"We hear this about him, he’s just a pure hockey player. Goal line to goal line, he works so hard, got a good compete level. I think he’s going to be a great college player. He’s got some potential because he just works so hard.”
Peter Chiarelli’s(Bruins GM) take: “A couple of interesting one’s, the Collier kid, [he is] kind of under the radar a little bit, but a real gritty kid.”
