The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by members of the Die By The Blade community. It was a combination of six staff writers and over 500 readers that ranked players under the age of 25 by September 1st, 2019. Each participant used their own metric of current ability and production to rank each player.
Following a great year at the AHL level, CJ Smith finds himself in the Top 25 Under 25 for the second consecutive year. This 13th place rank comes after registering in at 17th last year.
When signing with the Buffalo Sabres back in 2017, he was described as one of the more highly touted college prospects after graduating from UMass Lowell.