Confirmed with Link: Leafs sign D Blake Smith (Flint Firebirds, OHL) to ELC (3 years, $875k)

[Leaf Fans]

Does this “blue chip prospect” replace the loss of “blue chip prospect” Nik Grebenkin?

Maybe.

 

[Leaf Fans]

Webber is absolutely killing it!

Size is all that matters!!!!!

Webber has been OK, but while it is great to have size, skill is more important. A player with size, skill, skating, hockey sense and toughness would be most ideal.

 

[notbias]

Small guys have done so well for us!

Little guys for the win!

I don't judge guys based on their size, that is weird and seems to be common on this board... I care about the playing ability of players, not sure what you care about.

 

[LaPlante94]

I don't judge guys based on their size, that is weird and seems to be common on this board... I care about the playing ability of players, not sure what you care about.

Yeah those passive aggressive comments non stop on every guy who is bigger supports that. For some reason those kinds of comments don't happen when it's a smaller guy though. Interesting how that works.

 

[notbias]

Yeah those passive aggressive comments non stop on every guy who is bigger supports that. For some reason those kinds of comments don't happen when it's a smaller guy though. Interesting how that works.

If a player sucks, they suck.

Generally, for someone to take a chance on a small guy, they need to be skilled.

Tre bringing on Webber for example was purely size, he has 0 skill.

This is simply logical, not sure I needed to explain this.

It's hard to comment on a player's lack of skill when they have skill.

 

[Leaf Fans]

If a player sucks, they suck.

Generally, for someone to take a chance on a small guy, they need to be skilled.

Tre bringing on Webber for example was purely size, he has 0 skill.

This is simply logical, not sure I needed to explain this.

It's hard to comment on a player's lack of skill when they have skill.

It was also defence, shot suppression and skating, but definitely size was a factor.

 

[robertmac43]

Got to watch him a couple of times against the Rangers in round 1. He was alright. I wouldn't say he stood out as anything special but his main job was to disrupt the Rangers stars and he did decently at that.

 

[notbias]

It was also defence, shot suppression and skating, but definitely size was a factor.

He blocked shots, not much else... I watched a lot of tape on him after we picked him up, cause I was annoyed with people thinking he was the second coming of Chara just because he was big, so I wanted to see if anyone watched him.

Turns out no one watched him because he literally had decent straight line speed and played goalie when blocking a shot, his defensive play sucked, he constantly lost position or sight of the puck and his size allowed him to recover, but he was so ridiculously raw and lost most of the time.

 

[aingefan]

As I said about the last 2 free prospects. A free prospect is never a bad thing. Most don’t turn into anything but some do.
Best to mostly forget about him for a year or 2 and hope to be surprised.

Right.
Or pretend it’s a dude you drafted two years ago with a pick you already traded.
I’ve been thinking this year’s draft would be a good time to load up on project picks - namely D - in hopes that there’s a wave by the time AM is set to expire.
This is like a jumpstart on that.

 

[Leaf Fans]

He blocked shots, not much else... I watched a lot of tape on him after we picked him up, cause I was annoyed with people thinking he was the second coming of Chara just because he was big, so I wanted to see if anyone watched him.

Turns out no one watched him because he literally had decent straight line speed and played goalie when blocking a shot, his defensive play sucked, he constantly lost position or sight of the puck and his size allowed him to recover, but he was so ridiculously raw and lost most of the time.

Yeah, I have watched a lot of him too. He is not going to score a lot. He has "career" high in points with 7 this year. He also does not have the size (girth) of Chara his most ambitious nhl player is like Carlo still he is a long way from that.

 

[Leafsfan74]

I actually really like this approach to getting players. I think at it in these terms, "should the average 16 year old be driving car"? In my experiences in life, it's probably too young especially on a highway during rush hour for instance. I make that statement for an analogous effect.

Brad realizes that he needs to fill the cupboards with players not on anyone radar since their draft options and prospects are limited. He can lock them in for a low rate, get them working with the Leafs development team and see if they can find a gem in the rough over a period of years.

Teams like to draft and find their "can't miss" young men. They control them for longer at a younger age, and there is more consensus that they have a good chance of being NHLers. Of course there are few guaranteed great players, the McDavids, Crosby, you can put Matthews in that category certainly.

However, there has to be a glut of really hungry players or those who mature later in life who can have an impact in the NHL some day. McMann is a prime example. I dont remember when he was signed to the initial AHL contract or whatever it would have been but it had to be a few years ago. Now he is a 20 goal scorer on a reasonable cap hit and is competing hard with assets that should translate well come playoffs.

You can imagine the hunger a guy has when he's in his mid-20s and feels the uphill battle versus an 18 year old who hasn't even filled into his frame yet. As Randy Carlyle once said, and he would know since he won a Norris Trophy, I paraphrase; "you need at least five years for a defenseman in the NHL to know what you have".

This is why cant-miss defensemen are hard to find in a draft and you rarely see the #1 overall pick being a D Man.

 

[LaPlante94]

If a player sucks, they suck.

Generally, for someone to take a chance on a small guy, they need to be skilled.

Tre bringing on Webber for example was purely size, he has 0 skill.

This is simply logical, not sure I needed to explain this.

It's hard to comment on a player's lack of skill when they have skill.

Webber was signed to be a development project. He was a bigger guy who was a pretty good skater for his size and wasn't afraid to block shots.

So if a smaller guy has skill you won't comment if they are bad just because they are skilled? Skill doesn't mean a player is good. We've signed or traded for quite a few skilled guys over the years who were useless. Use logic like that and that's why GMs make trades like the Malgin for Marchment trade I guess.

 

[notbias]

Webber was signed to be a development project. He was a bigger guy who was a pretty good skater for his size and wasn't afraid to block shots.

So if a smaller guy has skill you won't comment if they are bad just because they are skilled? Skill doesn't mean a player is good. We've signed or traded for quite a few skilled guys over the years who were useless. Use logic like that and that's why GMs make trades like the Malgin for Marchment trade I guess.

You're all over the place and making up arguments.

Small players can be bad, but they generally at least have skill.

Webber has nothing outside of size, so I critique players when they are only size.

When small players start getting signed because they are small, I will also start critiquing that, because it is stupid.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Webber was signed to be a development project. He was a bigger guy who was a pretty good skater for his size and wasn't afraid to block shots.

So if a smaller guy has skill you won't comment if they are bad just because they are skilled? Skill doesn't mean a player is good. We've signed or traded for quite a few skilled guys over the years who were useless. Use logic like that and that's why GMs make trades like the Malgin for Marchment trade I guess.

Who’s the most skilled guy we’ve traded for? Barrie? We’ve traded for infinity grinders and stay at home D, I really can’t think of any elite skaters, shooters, puck handlers, passers, etc we’ve added. Two-way Jarnkrok, Kerfoot, etc vanilla guys have no standout skills to consider a skilled player.

 

[LaPlante94]

Who’s the most skilled guy we’ve traded for? Barrie? We’ve traded for infinity grinders and stay at home D, I really can’t think of any elite skaters, shooters, puck handlers, passers, etc we’ve added. Two-way Jarnkrok, Kerfoot, etc vanilla guys have no standout skills to consider a skilled player.

Idk, ask the other guy what is considered skill. Malgin was considered a skilled guy. Timmins could be considered a skill guy. When we signed Barabonov I'm sure he was considered a skill guy. Nic Petan. Joey Anderson. Ones I remember off the top and I'm sure a few signings from Russia or Sweden/Finland you could add as well. All made pretty big impacts while here. Those are only trades so there's also plenty more FA signings as well.

 

[JEI]

Sounds like a physical defender who has some skating skill, but lacks puck skill. Best case scenario you have another Benoit type down the road. Probably works his way up from the ECHL.

 

[ULF_55]

No idea about this boy.

In the well researched and documented list of free agent CHL defencemen where does he get placed?

Is he Top 20, Top 10, Top 5, Top 64?

There is a limit to how many players you can have on NHL contracts.

A team cannot just keep signing players to NHL contracts and hope they're one of the best 1,600 players on the planet. What analysis was done, and how did he stack up?

Hopefully, they saw something in him that moved them, and it wasn't bad s;ushi.

 

[Stephen]

He blocked shots, not much else... I watched a lot of tape on him after we picked him up, cause I was annoyed with people thinking he was the second coming of Chara just because he was big, so I wanted to see if anyone watched him.

Turns out no one watched him because he literally had decent straight line speed and played goalie when blocking a shot, his defensive play sucked, he constantly lost position or sight of the puck and his size allowed him to recover, but he was so ridiculously raw and lost most of the time.

Nobody compared Webber to Chara.

The skill vs size dichotomy isn't what you think it is.

Big fridge prospects like Webber have less skill than Dubas era darlings like Topi Niemela, but they compete for very different kinds of jobs altogether. Webber is competing for bottom of the roster spot a la Simon Benoit and Phil Myers, and one day could be a 5, 6, 7 and eat pucks, do a grunt job.

A more skilled, smaller defenseman like Niemela isn't competing against guys like Benoit, Myers and Webber. His abilities need to translate higher up on the defense pairings so his to way game, offense can be utilized in a higher impact role. If he fails at that level and is only 70% of a Lane Hutson or something, he's not going to be useful. You don't need a guy like that the lower down you go on the depth chart.

 

[notbias]

Nobody compared Webber to Chara.

The skill vs size dichotomy isn't what you think it is.

Big fridge prospects like Webber have less skill than Dubas era darlings like Topi Niemela, but they compete for very different kinds of jobs altogether. Webber is competing for bottom of the roster spot a la Simon Benoit and Phil Myers, and one day could be a 5, 6, 7 and eat pucks, do a grunt job.

A more skilled, smaller defenseman like Niemela isn't competing against guys like Benoit, Myers and Webber. His abilities need to translate higher up on the defense pairings so his to way game, offense can be utilized in a higher impact role. If he fails at that level and is only 70% of a Lane Hutson or something, he's not going to be useful. You don't need a guy like that the lower down you go on the depth chart.

Bottom pairing D with some offensive ability that aren't giant pylons exist too.

Maybe this is why we never get any offensive support from the D, because our management has the same mentality as you, D only need to defend unless they are in the top 4, and even then there is usually a shut-down pairing.

Webber is also competing for an AHL spot right now because he has no skill, let alone the bottom 6 of the NHL.

The Chara comparison was an exaggeration based on how people were hyping him up last year... shockingly the hype went away.

Just so everyone is aware... big players are good, but they should also be good at hockey and not just big.

Should have used Sandin as a Dubas era darling... small, skilled, bad skating, but high hockey IQ, very successful in Washington.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

Blake Smith seems elite.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Idk, ask the other guy what is considered skill. Malgin was considered a skilled guy. Timmins could be considered a skill guy. When we signed Barabonov I'm sure he was considered a skill guy. Nic Petan. Joey Anderson. Ones I remember off the top and I'm sure a few signings from Russia or Sweden/Finland you could add as well. All made pretty big impacts while here. Those are only trades so there's also plenty more FA signings as well.

Joey Anderson is a skill guy? Maybe ought to add Aston Reese and Simmonds in there too then. The team hasn’t made an effort to add skill since they drafted the core, 90% of adds since then have been some flavor of grinder or two way cardio merchant. OEL Klingberg and Domi are the closest thing to skill we’ve added in 5 years, maybe Bunting if you want to count a free wallet.

I don’t get the point of looking at guys that we got for close to nothing and saying they didn’t do anything because they’re skilled, they’re not and that’s why we got them for close to nothing. Colorado seems to be doing ok paying the price for fast skilled guys like Lekhonen and Necas.

 

[TheBigFour]

Meh. By this time next year, we will probably forget he’s in the organization.(I hope I’m wrong). Sounds like another mark hunters “big project defensemen” picks. Atleast leafs didn’t waste a draft pick this time.

 

[therealkoho]

If a player sucks, they suck.

Generally, for someone to take a chance on a small guy, they need to be skilled.

Tre bringing on Webber for example was purely size, he has 0 skill.

This is simply logical, not sure I needed to explain this.

It's hard to comment on a player's lack of skill when they have skill.

How did Webber fool everyone and win that best defenceman award? Puzzling, just puzzling?

 

[rdogg]

It would be really nice if the Leafs could hit on a couple of these D prospects

 

[notbias]

How did Webber fool everyone and win that best defenceman award? Puzzling, just puzzling?

He won the best defensive D, not best defenceman...

He won it by playing goalie and blocking shots... go watch him, hockey IQ and skill are close to 0.