With a stacked blue line that features offensive threats like Roman Josi, P.K. Subban and Ryan Ellis – the three of whom powered their club to its first-ever Stanley Cup Final appearance last June – the Nashville Predators are far from starved for talent on the back end.
And yet, it seems the rich are getting richer once again, as the Predators brass find themselves with yet another smooth-skating defender coming through the developmental pipeline.
Eighteen-year-old David Farrance – who was drafted by Nashville with the 92nd-overall pick this summer – is the prospect in question. The Rochester, New York native turned plenty of heads during Team USA’s win at the World Junior Summer Showcase on Friday, tallying the game-winning goal in dizzying fashion.
Tied 3-3 with Finland heading into the final six minutes of the tilt, Farrance took matters into his own mitts, going end-to-end, McDavid style, and flipping his way through the Finnish blue line to give the Americans the lead.
David Farrance with a sensational full ice rush, splits the D and scores to put the USA up 4-3 on Finland pic.twitter.com/jIcRloSKSt
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) August 4, 2017
Farrance tallied seven goals and 37 points in 64 games for the U.S. National U-18 Team last season, adding 17 points in 25 games for the American national development team juniors.
The slick defenceman is set to suit up for Boston University in 2017-18, though it’s fair to assume a few more outings like this one might speed up his development timeline a tad.
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