Waived: Brendan Smith (Update: CLEARED)
- Thread starter nevesis
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haohmaru
boomshakalaka
There's absolutely no reason to hope he fails and buy him out. None.
Much like his time here, he could barely crack the lineup in Detroit.
He been a healthy scratch often and while he showed glimpses being a decent player, it's only been in sample sizes.
To put it plainly, he's not an NHL defenseman.
Shit..He hasn't even played well in the AHL.
Every single rookie that's come up has easily outplayed him and it's not even close or debatable.
Do we really need to go there?
I happened to follow his career but if that's not good enough then I suggest you spend some time reading what an entire fan base has been saying all along in Detroit.
eco's bones
Registered User
LOL--it's an opinion board. People getting upset over the potential buying out of Smith? Okay. A lot of people weren't so upset when Girardi got bought out who had a far bigger investment of blood, sweat and tears into the Rangers than Smith has ever had. That guy ate a couple thousand pucks anyway for us.
The Rangers routinely sign 3 or 4 or more free agents every summer. What makes anyone think that that is going to change? Anyone think that none of them will be defensemen? They'll also have a plethora of young players starting their ELC's next year---Howden, Ronning, Gettinger and on D at least Hajek, Lindgren and Day and possibly Bereglazov is going to be back to go along with the likes of Pionk, DeAngelo, Gilmour (if re-signed) , O'Gara (if re-signed), Bigras if re-signed) fighting it out for probably at least two spots with the Rangers + Pedrie, Crawley and Zborovskiy. It's not like we don't have enough D for Hartford already. So then there's Shattenkirk, Skjei, Staal and Kampfer for the NHL team---that's 16 names and Smith is 17 and if we sign another NHL level defenseman or two that's 18, 19. That's a little overloaded on D IMO.
And I'll tell you what if I'm Brendan Smith I don't want to be sitting in Hartford all next year. Maybe he could make the Rangers but maybe not. He played like shit this year. And if I'm Brendan Smith if the Rangers are going to buy me out I want them to do it in the summer not in the middle or at the end of training camp when teams are going to be set.
The Rangers routinely sign 3 or 4 or more free agents every summer. What makes anyone think that that is going to change? Anyone think that none of them will be defensemen? They'll also have a plethora of young players starting their ELC's next year---Howden, Ronning, Gettinger and on D at least Hajek, Lindgren and Day and possibly Bereglazov is going to be back to go along with the likes of Pionk, DeAngelo, Gilmour (if re-signed) , O'Gara (if re-signed), Bigras if re-signed) fighting it out for probably at least two spots with the Rangers + Pedrie, Crawley and Zborovskiy. It's not like we don't have enough D for Hartford already. So then there's Shattenkirk, Skjei, Staal and Kampfer for the NHL team---that's 16 names and Smith is 17 and if we sign another NHL level defenseman or two that's 18, 19. That's a little overloaded on D IMO.
And I'll tell you what if I'm Brendan Smith I don't want to be sitting in Hartford all next year. Maybe he could make the Rangers but maybe not. He played like shit this year. And if I'm Brendan Smith if the Rangers are going to buy me out I want them to do it in the summer not in the middle or at the end of training camp when teams are going to be set.
haohmaru
boomshakalaka
I said all along that Staal should've been bought out, not Girardi. G would've been an okay option on the the 3rd pair for years.
And, I'm not "upset" about buying out Smith. All I'm saying is that it's in EVERYONE'S best interests if this guy figures it out - either as a starter for us or adding to his trade value. That's it.
I don't give a f*** what Brendan Smith "wants".
No, I haven't really followed Smith's career that closely, but Gorton certainly has. And he chose to trade assets for him and then sign him to a generous free agent contract before he even hit the market.
You have the right to your opinion--Gorton does too.
Gorton f***ed up.
You that surprised?
I'm certainly not..
PS.. When do we separate opinion from fact after he gets scratched for 10 games then gets put on waivers?
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haohmaru
boomshakalaka
100%
I was definitely a fan of what G brought to this team and even though he may have regressed, it hasn't been replaced since.
Machinehead
Fox Mafia Consigliere
Why would we not play him? Who the f*** loses? Everyone wants to tank anyway, I don't get this f***ing board!
And he's still better right now than Gilmour, Staal, O'Gara, and guess what, probably Neal Leetch too.
And he's still better right now than Gilmour, Staal, O'Gara, and guess what, probably Neal Leetch too.
- Jul 20, 2005
- 4,926
- 2,340
I’ve followed his career since Wisconsin and this season is the definition of an aberration.
Every prior season has been the same with Smith. Start slowly. Be the topic of being scratched or moved or overtaken by other players. Get better. Play well when it matters. End the season with a point total that’s way lower than seems correct. Have half the people talk about how he underperformed because of his point total and the other half talk about how awesome he’d be if he played the whole season like he did in the 2nd half.
You could set your watch to it.
What part of this years shit show reminds you of the that?
Buying him out this summer would be moronic. If he’s really “damaged goods” then he’ll be gone next summer. But for now the Rangers need to, and certainly will, do what’s best for the team and not worry about satisfying our fandoms pissy pants need for instant gratification or revenge.
egelband
Registered User
- Sep 6, 2008
- 16,210
- 15,069
As far as I know, the guy came to camp out of shape and played poorly. Not a cancer. Not a criminal. So for my two cents, the NYR should give him another shot. If this isn’t a huge wakeup call he is either not good enough or too much of a slug to keep around. But I hope/expect he is otherwise.
Machinehead
Fox Mafia Consigliere
But we can't afford to risk it! It might interrupt our plans to finish 6th in the division!
Amazing Kreiderman
Registered User
- Apr 11, 2011
- 45,075
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Being out of the playoffs, this is the perfect time to give him a chance and let him show what he can do.
Off Sides
Registered User
- Sep 8, 2008
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That is not how I saw it in Detroit. Early years he was playing with guys like Quincey, then next season is was Zidlicky. Eventually in 15-16 that became Green, then Kronwall, and sometime Ouellet.
He had some decent stretches but his game fell apart several times and they had to keep moving him from pair from pair, from LD to RD. Usually those good stretches were in the 2nd half of the season but even during them often I saw them as whoever his partner was was playing well more so than Smith was the driving force.
Even with that said I agree there is no great reason to buy him out, but I do feel as if those who are expecting some sort of rebound may get that, but it will still be fleeting, he has just never been able to be consistent.
eco's bones
Registered User
FWIW I wasn't saying buying out Girardi was a bad idea. IMO last summer I was open to the idea of buying out both Girardi and Staal. And it's not because I hate the players---it's more because we were stuck in this time warp of carrying two declining stay at home D with massive contracts who really have never fit in all that wonderfully with AV's unique defensive system.
The thing with Smith and keep in mind that the Rangers gave him a top 4 D contract and then he doesn't show up ready to go---that the Rangers were really depending on him to be ready and that for the first time in a long time the Rangers have not made the playoffs in part due to his stinking up the joint--that meanwhile they've traded their captain amongst others---that if Smith had played to what was expected of him some of those trades probably don't happen and we're a playoff team again.....that by all accounts we don't really know what happened in Hartford apart from the very obvious of his stat line stinks and he broke his hand fighting a teammate. So without knowing we can't really say but we can't really go around OTOH saying he's learned some kind of lesson-- or if there was even a lesson to be learned what exactly that lesson is. Looking at his stat line and the fight with Lettieri I do wonder how good his attitude has been. Is that fair? crazy? Sure it's no proof of anything--boys being boys? but shouldn't it make you wonder with everything else that happened with him this year? So projecting he's going to learn anything from last year and/or be back to where he was before when next year begins and all will be good and forgiven---that's expecting a bit. Maybe we should make him captain?---we need one of them now. So it should be asked he'll be 29 years old for next season and is this a kind of guy you want around during a retool?
I will tell you that if he did get his game all the way back he's not really worth $4.3 mil per year. He's not really much better moving the puck than Marc Staal is. I can tell you in a buyout scenario in years 1 and 2 of a buyout we would benefit over $2 mil per season in contrast to his sitting in Hartford if he ended up back there. Year 3 we would break even and years 4, 5 and 6 would cost us a little but not really all that much. I'd buy his ass out. I'm not interested in punishing him in the minors and his contract is too high anyway. Definitely not sure I'd want him around young players I'm trying to develop. Yeah maybe he'll get his game all the way back but after this year's bullshitting around with him I don't think you can depend on it and IMO even with his game all the way back to his peak he still only makes a good team marginally better.
The thing with Smith and keep in mind that the Rangers gave him a top 4 D contract and then he doesn't show up ready to go---that the Rangers were really depending on him to be ready and that for the first time in a long time the Rangers have not made the playoffs in part due to his stinking up the joint--that meanwhile they've traded their captain amongst others---that if Smith had played to what was expected of him some of those trades probably don't happen and we're a playoff team again.....that by all accounts we don't really know what happened in Hartford apart from the very obvious of his stat line stinks and he broke his hand fighting a teammate. So without knowing we can't really say but we can't really go around OTOH saying he's learned some kind of lesson-- or if there was even a lesson to be learned what exactly that lesson is. Looking at his stat line and the fight with Lettieri I do wonder how good his attitude has been. Is that fair? crazy? Sure it's no proof of anything--boys being boys? but shouldn't it make you wonder with everything else that happened with him this year? So projecting he's going to learn anything from last year and/or be back to where he was before when next year begins and all will be good and forgiven---that's expecting a bit. Maybe we should make him captain?---we need one of them now. So it should be asked he'll be 29 years old for next season and is this a kind of guy you want around during a retool?
I will tell you that if he did get his game all the way back he's not really worth $4.3 mil per year. He's not really much better moving the puck than Marc Staal is. I can tell you in a buyout scenario in years 1 and 2 of a buyout we would benefit over $2 mil per season in contrast to his sitting in Hartford if he ended up back there. Year 3 we would break even and years 4, 5 and 6 would cost us a little but not really all that much. I'd buy his ass out. I'm not interested in punishing him in the minors and his contract is too high anyway. Definitely not sure I'd want him around young players I'm trying to develop. Yeah maybe he'll get his game all the way back but after this year's bullshitting around with him I don't think you can depend on it and IMO even with his game all the way back to his peak he still only makes a good team marginally better.
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It really depends on how things went down earlier in the season. Did Smith just come to camp overweight/out of shape and couldn't recover? Or did is also include some attitude issues?
If it included the latter, I'm not sure you want that type of guy around the young players.
rangers1314
Registered User
NYR Viper
Registered User
I see NO reason to buy out Smith next year. Give him the off-season to try and get his head right. The team doesn't need the cap space next year, throw him in the minors. If he is not playing well with others send him hoe or loan him to Europe. It's better to rip the band-aid off and deal with the penalty next year when they don't need the space in order to clear the dead cap space down the road when they may need it
I wish we could hear more about the fight with Lettieri. I want to know how that went down. My pure speculation is that Lettieri would have instigated--young guys going after vets to prove themselves in some way is nothing new, it's been going on forever. It's more typically seen in camp but it does happen during the season. If that's how it went down, I would have literally zero issues with it. However, if Smith went after Lettieri, maybe because he was pissed about the way his season has gone, that would be problematic.
Beer League Sniper
Homeless Man's Rick Nash
I'm right there with you. Why buy him out when you don't need the cap space? Seems like a short-sighted move. You want dead cap space to be at a minimum when you think you're going to be ready to contend in a 2-3 seasons. A Smith buyout lasts 6 years.
Also, it's not like Smith is a cancer. He got a big contract, went to a bunch of weddings over the offseason, and let his fitness slip. It happens. It doesn't make him a scumbag. Players can make mistakes and learn from them. In his training camp interviews the past couple seasons, Nash has talked about how hard he needs to work to stay a contributing player in the NHL. Hopefully, Smith now has a similar understanding.
He'll get a chance to earn a spot in camp. I just don't think he gets the vet's benefit of the doubt he had at the start of last season. If he shows up in terrible shape again, you do whatever you can to get rid of him at that point.
silverfish
got perma'd
Drawing a line I have no idea is there. But the way I figure this happen is that you have a guy, Smith, who's probably pretty pissed about being in the AHL, as he should be. Then you have a guy like Vinni, who was in the show a lot this season but is now back in the A. Couple that with the fact that the Rangers and Wolf Pack both lose a lot, and the way I imagine this happening was just two guys battling in the corner or in the crease, and it escalated. It happens sometimes. Smith just unlucky that he must've hit helmet, and broke his hand. Smith doesn't get hurt in the scrap, and I doubt anyone cares about it.
Dude honestly wasn't even that bad for the Rangers this year. People just pissed that he got a big contract and isn't as good as he was last year. Which is definitely fair.
I suspect he'll be an everyday d-man for this team next season unless he is traded.
Imagine if it comes out that like, Vinni boarded Chytil or Andersson, and Smith went after him. Picture the 180 this thread would do. I mean, obviously we'd know if that was the case, it would just be funny.
Gardner McKay
RIP, Jimmy.
Completely different situation entirely.
Bro..Trust me on this one.
There is no argument if you ever followed BS career.
Isn't ironic that even his initials are short for bull****
I have read enough of your posts to say with certainty that I will not "trust you" on this one.
