I actually don’t. I’m a huge believer in rookies not playing against first or second lines (which is what I’m talking about not d pairs) cause they’ll get hemmed in. Yes that’s already happening a bit cause ya know Sharks are terrible. Maybe he does need an upgrade in line mate quality but personally I think that’s fixed with changing up the lines and getting fully healthy, not moving him up. Personally I think putting him with Goodrow and Wennberg would be a good idea.
He has been with Goodrow for the entire season, goodrow has not helped him in anyway. He has been with Kunin who is even worse then Goodrow on being helpful. And then now for 1 game was with wennberg who is better then goodrow and Kunin but still not enough to help get him the puck for Smith to do anything with it.
Goodrow clearly has helped. Considering Smith has gotten better every single game.
I threw up a little in my mouth agreeing with this guy LOL H. Just having a little fun with this forum meme.
This is what I've been saying all along. We're loaded with the types of players GMs covet at the deadline.
Blocking shots with your face is a valuable skill to learn to stay in the lineup.
Not if you give them spacing by running three scoring lines or support by playing them with skilled players. Wennberg would be an improvement but a line like that should be the worst line he should play with all season. The question for his current deployment is what is he expected to do when the other team pressures him.
The question is to what level. I could see Kunin getting a third, for instance. But with a guy like Granlund, I feel like there are certain questions that will probably put his ceiling at a 2nd. And if that's a low 2nd, I could definitely see him staying with the Sharks and signing a new deal.
Kunin, Grundstrum, Goodrow, Dellandrea, Sturm - those are all bonafide NHLers that would (likely) be a 3rd/4th line upgrade for a contending team. Like, "shore up your 4th line with Dellandrea" for a 3rd is a great deal for a contender.
I wasn't even thinking of Granlund tbh. Sturm, Kunin, Ceci, Rutta - these guys should return a handful of mid-round picks if we choose to move them.
Why would the Sharks send Smith to dominate a bunch of a teenagers (which he has already shown he can easily do) instead of continuing his development in the NHL?
Grundstrom and Goodrow probably scare off teams because of their contracts. I imagine Dellandrea is too raw. I'm not sure if I'd consider him a bonafide NHLer.
Not to mention risk injury or Smith underperforming for whatever number of reasons and losing even more confidence.
Agreed on Grundstrom/Goodrow, but I think Dellandrea could be moved. He's still only 24 years old and is signed for 1.3M next year, so teams looking for term (Tampa likes to do this from what we've seen, for example) may be interested
Dellandrea hasn't impressed me. Teams would pay mightily for a 4 million dollar player making a third of that for two seasons. They won't give much for a guy who's barely threading water.
probably yea. I just was pointing out that those are the types of guys Hodge was mentioning, over players like Granlund or Walman, as others have suggested to move.
There doesn't seem to be much upside but he's a good fit as a 4th liner with some versatility to step up in the lineup a bit, play center a bit, and kill penalties. Outside of blocked shots, he does a better job at what Luke Kunin tends to be given credit for.
I like that 3rd line for Smith. Goodrow on the top line after finally doing something productive since game 1 is ridiculous.
We just don't have enough top 6 caliber players to slot in next to him. Maybe Smith but he isn't there yet. Hopefully he will be... eventually... so we can stop having the Brad Winchester-esque grinder on the top line
