So I think this probably has to do with Bobby Ryan and Sam Gagner probably getting close to returning. You bring Bobby back in and sit down Nielsen obviously, and when Gagner comes back, you can make an argument that Svech deserves to stay, but someone is going to come out. If Svechnikov has to be the odd man out that allows Smith to stick around and add something the team doesn’t have in spades, I think that’s fine. Smith tilts the ice, never shorts you on effort without being a complete loss of competency elsewhere.
I am happy that Svechnikov has gotten some chance to play, but he’s just an incomplete player that doesn’t play at a high enough pace to play off our better players, adds little to the team in the NZ and DZ, and isn’t dynamic enough to create for himself. I will always be a fan of the person, but as a hockey player, I don’t see how his NHL career lasts much more than another year or two as a 12th option on a bottom tier team.