[2] Entering the 2024 NHL entry draft, he was widely recognized for his skill, particularly his speed, vision, and intelligence, but some scouts were put off by multiple controversial incidents throughout his youth and junior career.
[5] In discussions with NHL personnel, Connelly cited his volunteer work and having participated in diversity training, concluding: "I just want to kind of not hang myself on the past and keep moving forward.
[8] In five games at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, Connelly recorded five goals and ten points to lead Team USA to a third-place finish.
[13][14] Team USA reached the championship final against Canada, and led 3–2 midway through the third period when Connelly received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for an illegal check to the head of Canadian forward Ryder Ritchie.
[12][15] The Hockey News assessed that Connelly had been "effective throughout the tournament, but one bad moment might have cast a shadow over a very solid effort," as the five-minute major had caused the game to be "flipped on its head.
When he was 14, he was suspended from Bishop Kearney High School following an incident where he allegedly responded to hazing and humiliation at the hands of his teammates by urinating on another player's equipment.
[1] In 2022, while playing for the Long Island Gulls, 16-year-old Connelly posted a picture to Snapchat of him and a teammate posing in what appears to be a library with a swastika built out of children's blocks, captioned "creations."