GDT: Game 7: Sharks @ Ducks 7:15 NBCSCA

[Beethovens 10th]

No.

You’re right. Here’s my hot take: this is a playoff team WITHOUT SMITH. He’s that f***ing bad. Put him in the ECHL. As the f***ing Zamboni driver.

 

[Lebanezer]

You’re right. Here’s my hot take: this is a playoff team WITHOUT SMITH. He’s that f***ing bad. Put him in the ECHL. As the f***ing Zamboni driver.

 

[Sharksfan66]

It doesn’t track that Marleau, Pavs, Couture, Bernier, Michalek, Setoguchi, Meier, and on and on and on all got to ease into their careers on playoff teams?

While Smith is skating onto an ice sheet covered in dog shit?

These are, without question, the worst two sharks teams since the early 90s, cut the kid some slack.

Uhh Patty's rookie year was coming off a team that finished last in the league.

You can't act like he's the first highly touted C prospect we've had step into a terrible team when he's living with a guy who literally had that same story and fared much better (so far) in a much lower scoring era.

 

[Sharksfan66]

Pavs - Sharks were 2nd in the Pacific when he played 16 games in the AHL.
Logan - Sharks were 1st in the Pacific when he was playing 42 games in the AHL.
Hertl - Played two games in the AHL.

So what makes Smith different?
- He is a higher rated prospect.
- Team is much worse than when those players were developing.
- The three players mentioned played a total of 60 games in the AHL.

His issues with speed and read of the game is better developed in the NHL IMO. He isn't going to magically gain size, so the AHL is no benefit there. He needs to get NHL game speed built up - which won't be done in the AHL.

So you're saying we're rushing Smith to the NHL because the big club is bad? That would be incredibly near sighted. I hope that's not it.

Also, Hertl played a couple of years in a pro men's league before coming to NA.

And I keep saying it, but Smith was not a higher rated prospect than Couture.

Lastly, I think it's Elliot Friedman who often say this (or someone on 32 Thoughts) but the NHL is not a development league. We've got to get out of that mindset. You come here when you are ready to play not to get ready to play.

Logan went 9th and that is the only thing that matters as far as pedigree. And again it cannot be overstated how much not having Celebrini is messing things up for Smith at this time. Logan had Joe f***in Thornton dominating above him and Ryane Clowe crushing anything in the vicinity. Smith has absolutely no one as good as either of those guys, let alone the other players that populated the top 6 when Logan came in.

All the more reason to send him to the A. You walked right into that one.

 

[Sharksfan66]

Who cares? It's not as if he's blocking someone who deserves his spot more. The critique of Smith is that he's not standing out from all the other Sharks that haven't scored yet.

This is a good question. Let me clarify: I'm not saying send him down because he is bad or causing the team to lose. I'm saying send him down because playing on this loser team is bad for his development and developing the kids is all that really matters this season.

Everyone seems to get this with Askarov. I don't know why there seems to be some disconnect when we think about Smith.

 

[Beethovens 10th]

Uhh Patty's rookie year was coming off a team that finished last in the league.

You can't act like he's the first highly touted C prospect we've had step into a terrible team when he's living with a guy who literally had that same story and fared much better (so far) in a much lower scoring era.

How’d they finish in his rookie season? Think this team can come close to that?

Serious question, what other highly touted C prospect, besides Patty have we dropped onto not just the worst team in the league, but the worst team in the salary cap era?

I don’t care if Smith’s play hurts the team here and there. There’s an argument for developing him up or down, I don’t care as long as he develops. It’s been 7 games, let’s give him at least a dozen more.

 

[Anomie2029]

So you're saying we're rushing Smith to the NHL because the big club is bad? That would be incredibly near sighted. I hope that's not it.

Also, Hertl played a couple of years in a pro men's league before coming to NA.

And I keep saying it, but Smith was not a higher rated prospect than Couture.

Lastly, I think it's Elliot Friedman who often say this (or someone on 32 Thoughts) but the NHL is not a development league. We've got to get out of that mindset. You come here when you are ready to play not to get ready to play.

I’m actually saying Couture and Pavs didn’t come straight into the NHL because there were established NHLers ahead of them. I don’t think Pavs 16 game stint really developed his game. In fact he developed whilst in the NHL.

You’re correct - the NHL is not a development league. But it’s also an assumption a player can’t develop in the NHL. What Smith needs to improve needs to be done in the NHL - the AHL won’t provide it for him.

And no, Couture was not a higher rated prospect than Smith.

 

[Lebanezer]

So you're saying we're rushing Smith to the NHL because the big club is bad? That would be incredibly near sighted. I hope that's not it.

Also, Hertl played a couple of years in a pro men's league before coming to NA.

And I keep saying it, but Smith was not a higher rated prospect than Couture.

Lastly, I think it's Elliot Friedman who often say this (or someone on 32 Thoughts) but the NHL is not a development league. We've got to get out of that mindset. You come here when you are ready to play not to get ready to play.


All the more reason to send him to the A. You walked right into that one.

It’s been 6 games. Smith has the skill to play in the NHL. It’s perfectly fine to be patient with him. Marleau and Couture both had 6 points after 20 games in their rookie seasons. Let’s see where Smith is at that benchmark.

 

[stator]

Why are some dumping on Smith when most the team played like crap?

 

[karltonian]

All the more reason to send him to the A. You walked right into that one.

No. The point of that was to show why Couture and Pavs (Marleau was a 2nd OA, not equivalent pedigree) seemed to fare much better when making the transition, they were in so much more of a position to put up numbers. Smith is not at this time a 1C so without benefiting from playing behind an actual 1C (Granlund is a margin 1C at best), he is going to do worse than he will when there is an impact 1C ahead of him.

 

[Shark Finn]

Why are some dumping on Smith when most the team played like crap?

Boy, meet whip.

 

[LadyStanley]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848992414968779070

 

[Star Platinum]

This is a good question. Let me clarify: I'm not saying send him down because he is bad or causing the team to lose. I'm saying send him down because playing on this loser team is bad for his development and developing the kids is all that really matters this season.

Everyone seems to get this with Askarov. I don't know why there seems to be some disconnect when we think about Smith.

The only argument for not having Askarov up here right now is the trauma that he would suffer playing behind this defense. In terms of actual goaltending ability, he is far better than Blackwood and Vanacek. If he has the mental toughness to put up with all the high quality chances that our defense gives up and still be cocky afterwards, he should be up here right now.

If sending Smith to the AHL would actually accelerate his development, I'd be 100% for it. I don't care how he gets to where we need him to be as long as he gets there. The reason why I think it works for him to stay in the NHL is that I think his block is understanding that stuff he could get away with on USNT and at BC doesn't fly in the NHL. If he went to the AHL, I'm sure he'd have an easier time putting up points, but one thing that's clear watching the highlights of those games compared to the Sharks games is how much more space and time there is to make a play. I think he could probably get away with playing closer to the pace he played at with BC and I don't think that's necessarily the lesson he needs.

The best argument for sending him down IMO is that he would be a first line center in the AHL and PP1 in the AHL. Even with the injury to Celebrini, it's clear that Warsofsky will never pair him with Eklund and Toffoli because he's too intent on chasing wins and no amount of people marveling over Goodrow's puck retrieval is going to convince me that pairing those two is good for Smith's development.