Speculation: Player Discussion: Will Smith

[gaucholoco3]

I understand you split the season in half but it misses the point. Smith went pointless his first 14 games then moved to wing had legit top 6 linemates (Granlund) and produced for a few games. He had a maintenance day or minor injury then came back to playing with bottom 6 linemates (Goodrow) and performed horribly for that time. He got benched which he responded with better defensive focus that got him promoted to play again with top 6 linemates (Granlund) and he magically produced again.

This is absolutely coaching. Warsofsky is not blindly playing him with Granlund and has specific details he wants to see from Smith that has nothing to do with points. So he uses ice time and quality of linemates to motivate Smith to focus on those details. Once he showed improvement he promoted him to play with Granlund again.

I know it is easy to just blame the coach and split the season in half to fit a narrative but anyone watching the Smith from the beginning of the season and Smith now can absolutely see improvement in his game.

It’s also more than just producing points that Smith needs for development. If the goal was for Smith to get as many points as possible (like what is happening for Michkov and Hudson) then he would be PP1 and stapled to Granlund. I am thankful that the coaches aren’t just wanting empty points from him and are working on details with him such as picking picks up of the boards or defensive intensity.

If you want to get more clarity on the development of Smith I would recommend reading the article Sheng Peng posted about Smith. It explains a lot of things that stat watching doesn’t.

I posted this in the Game 50 thread but I think it is a helpful explanation of the evolution of Smith’s game that many of the Smith is struggling crowd needs to read.

 

[Hodge]

Smith is outscoring (pts/gm) Leo Carlsson and Zach Benson who people wanted us to take over Smith even though both had the advantage of playing a full NHL season last year. He's also outscoring Cutter Gauthier.

 

[gaucholoco3]

Smith now ahead of Michkov in 5-on-5 rookie scoring, behind only Hutson and Celebrini.

If you look at just 5-on-5 primary points, Macklin leads with 17, and Smith is 2nd with 14. Next is Jackson Blake with 12.

I'm not saying Smith is having a good year - he's not - but at 5-on-5, by every measure, he is performing offensively at the level of a top-6 forward.

He needs to work on his defensive game and needs to start clicking on the power play but there is a lot to be positive about. And people are out to lunch if they think he hasn't improved as the year has gone on.

Smith with minimal PP time and less than 15 min per game and he is out producing almost everyone in the NHL from his draft class 5 on 5. He has been great whenever paired with legit top 6 talent. He will be a great complement to Celebrini creating to different style lines that will be difficult to shut down. I am personally very happy with Smith’s development this season.

 

[CHALUPA]

Will looked great yesterday. Moving his feet more and attacking the puck when it’s not on his stick.

I’m sticking to my conspiracy theory that his development assignment was to crush his legs for the first half of the year and get stronger.

 

[Forlan]

Indeed, I admit that Smith has begun to adapt to the pace of the game. He chooses positions better and finds free zones. His ability to find partners and give passes is at a high level

 

[StrawHatEklund]

5 game point streak for Will.

 

[coooldude]

Could have had at least another point, too. Starting to show a better sense for when to go for the home run pass, when to make a smart play, when he has time and when he doesn't. Lots fewer giveaways in the past 5 games.

 

[Kcoyote3]

Has looked confident. The vision is starting to show that he’s always had. Just needed to catch up to the speed of the game and it’s just now happening. Still going to go through stretches of poor play but I suspect they get shorter and shorter

 

[karltonian]

still a defensive liability but i dont think that is going to change this year. offseason will do wonders

if he gets an eklund like improvement, it's gonna be the sheeit

 

[OrrNumber4]

Has looked confident. The vision is starting to show that he’s always had. Just needed to catch up to the speed of the game and it’s just now happening. Still going to go through stretches of poor play but I suspect they get shorter and shorter

Higher and longer highs, shorter and lower lows...

 

[Jargon]

His little subtle passes through feet and sticks are so slick.

 

[CHALUPA]

Has looked confident. The vision is starting to show that he’s always had. Just needed to catch up to the speed of the game and it’s just now happening. Still going to go through stretches of poor play but I suspect they get shorter and shorter

Just in time for the AHL playoffs, where he belongs

 

[Barrie22]

Smith in his 5 game point streak has 2 goals, 4 assists, +6. And also takem 25 faceoffs going 11 and 14.

 

[gaucholoco3]

Smith in his 5 game point streak has 2 goals, 4 assists, +6. And also takem 25 faceoffs going 11 and 14.

I would love to see Smith’s stats in games with Granlund vs games without him. He has gone on both his big point streaks in games when paired with Granlund.

I know it is such a shock that pairing a skilled offensive player with another skilled offensive player would lead to increased production. Who would have guessed that?

 

[Juxtaposer]

I don't feel like Granlund is doing anything for Smith that couldn't be done by Top-6 Forward X.

I've noticed Smith taking more and more faceoffs lately and getting more comfortable lower in the defensive zone. I suspect they're gearing up to move him back to center after Granlund gets traded at the deadline. Smith's production might go down at evens once that trade happens, but that's okay IMO. His PP production might go up as I assume he'd take Granlund's PP time, who's to say.

 

[Cas]

I would love to see Smith’s stats in games with Granlund vs games without him. He has gone on both his big point streaks in games when paired with Granlund.

I know it is such a shock that pairing a skilled offensive player with another skilled offensive player would lead to increased production. Who would have guessed that?

This basically sets up what you're looking for: Smith and Granlund have been paired up for the last six games.

Basically, they're underwater on advanced stats, but so is much of the team, and they're dramatically outscoring their matchups anyway.

They're allowing a lot of scoring chances against, but getting a lot themselves, and I suspect much of this is because our defensive corps is just so uniformly bad, they're facing tough competition, and Smith really isn't good defensively - yet, anyway.

 

[pdxshark]

I mentioned this in another thread but I feel like playing with Granlund has paid off majorly for a few of our young prospects. You can see it in Eklunds game and you can see it starting to show with Smith. I know it's tempting to try to get another second round pick for Granlund at the deadline but something about how he plays the game is contagious in a very positive way. Would much rather have him continue to aid in the development of our young guys than get an extra asset.

Smith has been slowly improving and I think the plan they have for him is paying off. I don't watch college hockey and I've been out of the prospect game for awhile so he was a complete unknown to me and to start the season I just wasn't seeing it. Now I'm starting to see the skills come out, his creativity, his hands, he's definitely a player worth being patient with. It's easy to forget in that doing something earlier doesn't mean doing something better.

 

[Barrie22]

I would love to see Smith’s stats in games with Granlund vs games without him. He has gone on both his big point streaks in games when paired with Granlund.

I know it is such a shock that pairing a skilled offensive player with another skilled offensive player would lead to increased production. Who would have guessed that?

Smith has played with Granlund and Zetterlund for 84.3 minutes, in that time they have scored 8 goals and allowed 4.

Smith has played with kunin and goodrow for 57.9 minutes, in that time they have scored 1 goal and allowed 4.

Smith has played with goodrow and celebrini for 43 minutes, in that time they have scored 0 and allowed 3 goals.

Smith has played with Zetterlund and celebrini for 40.5 minutes, in that time they have scored 2 goals and allowed 0.

Smith has played with kostin and granlund for 31 minutes, in that time they have scored 4 and allowed 3.

Smith has played with graf and Celebrini for 29.5 minutes, in that time they scored 1 and allowed 2.

Smith has played with eklund and Wennberg for 22.4 minutes, in that time they scored 0 and allowed 0.

Smith has played with wennberg and kunin for 21.6 minutes, in that time they scored 2 and allowed 2.

Smith has played with Zetterlund and kostin for 16.3 minutes, in that time they have scored 0 and allowed 1.

Eklund and granlund 15 mins, 0 for and 0 against.

Goodrow and wennberg 14.3, 1 for and 3 against.

Kunin and celebrini 11.4 mins, 1 for and 0 against.

Grndstrom and Dellandrea 10.8 mins, 0 for and 0 against.

As was said hundreds of times in the first half of the season, smith with goodrow is absolutely trash, smith with nearly everybody else is actually passable. Smith with granlund and Zetterlund is the top.

 

[Juxtaposer]

I mentioned this in another thread but I feel like playing with Granlund has paid off majorly for a few of our young prospects. You can see it in Eklunds game and you can see it starting to show with Smith. I know it's tempting to try to get another second round pick for Granlund at the deadline but something about how he plays the game is contagious in a very positive way. Would much rather have him continue to aid in the development of our young guys than get an extra asset.

Smith has been slowly improving and I think the plan they have for him is paying off. I don't watch college hockey and I've been out of the prospect game for awhile so he was a complete unknown to me and to start the season I just wasn't seeing it. Now I'm starting to see the skills come out, his creativity, his hands, he's definitely a player worth being patient with. It's easy to forget in that doing something earlier doesn't mean doing something better.

I would love to keep Granlund but the latest is that he's not interested in re-signing. So he's gotta be traded for assets.

 

[Hodge]

As was said hundreds of times in the first half of the season, smith with goodrow is absolutely trash, smith with nearly everybody else is actually passable. Smith with granlund and Zetterlund is the top.

It's not like Warsofsky didn't know that. He literally started the season with Granlund-Smith-Zetterlund as our second line.

Then Mack got injured and Smith went 8 games without scoring so he deservedly fell down the depth chart.

Ever since the benching against Minnesota, Smith has clearly taken a step forward and Warso has gone back to the original plan.

 

[Cas]

Goodrow is awful and virtually everyone on this team is better off playing without him (save maybe Kunin, who is also awful).

 

[Jargon]

Don't look now but Smith is only 15 pts back of Macklin, the way he's going that should only take like 12 games to catch up...............

 

[DG93]

Smith has played with Granlund and Zetterlund for 84.3 minutes, in that time they have scored 8 goals and allowed 4.

Smith has played with kunin and goodrow for 57.9 minutes, in that time they have scored 1 goal and allowed 4.

Smith has played with goodrow and celebrini for 43 minutes, in that time they have scored 0 and allowed 3 goals.

Smith has played with Zetterlund and celebrini for 40.5 minutes, in that time they have scored 2 goals and allowed 0.

Smith has played with kostin and granlund for 31 minutes, in that time they have scored 4 and allowed 3.

Smith has played with graf and Celebrini for 29.5 minutes, in that time they scored 1 and allowed 2.

Smith has played with eklund and Wennberg for 22.4 minutes, in that time they scored 0 and allowed 0.

Smith has played with wennberg and kunin for 21.6 minutes, in that time they scored 2 and allowed 2.

Smith has played with Zetterlund and kostin for 16.3 minutes, in that time they have scored 0 and allowed 1.

Eklund and granlund 15 mins, 0 for and 0 against.

Goodrow and wennberg 14.3, 1 for and 3 against.

Kunin and celebrini 11.4 mins, 1 for and 0 against.

Grndstrom and Dellandrea 10.8 mins, 0 for and 0 against.

As was said hundreds of times in the first half of the season, smith with goodrow is absolutely trash, smith with nearly everybody else is actually passable. Smith with granlund and Zetterlund is the top.

Yep, as expected, Smith with skilled players not too bad. Smith with plugs like Goodrow/Kunin = bad. Please do not put Smith with plugs now that his game has picked up significantly.

 

[mogambomoroo]

Don't look now but Smith is only 15 pts back of Macklin, the way he's going that should only take like 12 games to catch up...............

Would love to see race between them two for the Calder, and with both being best friends. That would be FINtastic!

 

[gaucholoco3]

I don't feel like Granlund is doing anything for Smith that couldn't be done by Top-6 Forward X.

I've noticed Smith taking more and more faceoffs lately and getting more comfortable lower in the defensive zone. I suspect they're gearing up to move him back to center after Granlund gets traded at the deadline. Smith's production might go down at evens once that trade happens, but that's okay IMO. His PP production might go up as I assume he'd take Granlund's PP time, who's to say.

Oh I completely agree that Granlund specifically is not what is helping Smith it’s just that in my opinion the Sharks have only 3 legit top 6 FWs (Granlund, Celebrini, Eklund). Celebrini and Smith play such different games that they are not likely to mesh very well. Eklund being a wing won’t help Smith as much because then Wenberg or a bottom 6 C would be on that line.