I wholeheartedly disagree. Gush is better. Hell, even cardwell could be argued to be better right now.
He absolutely needs a chance to figure it out, in the place where 19 years "figure it out" called the AHL.
If you look at the game winner, you can see smith was the guy most responsible without question. Its 3 on 3 coming back. Thrun has puck carrier. Benning as second guy. Smith should have the eventual goal scorer, but instead chooses to play mite hockey and chance the puck carrier. This creates two guys on puck carrier and third guy WIDE open.
Much like his penalty, these are the details in the game that you learn in the A.
At the end of the day, while no one scored, Smith was squarely responsible for the L. He just isnt ready yet at 19.