It brings me much schadenfreude to see Cutter down there at <0.5ppg.
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In the meantime, feel free to join our Discord ServerIt brings me much schadenfreude to see Cutter down there at <0.5ppg.
Thats only since january 1st. He has been pretty consistent since early december, late november.That’s actually pretty wild considering his start.
no doubt. As a major 'Smith to AHL' supporter, I am in shock at the level of improvement. I am not sure Ive ever seen a player take the kind of strides he has within a season. He went from being physically dominated, turnover machine who was minus a ton and clearly did not belong... to a bona fide top liner, point per game producer who plays a complete game.I'm not going to post this in the main board Calder thread, because that place is a hive of villainy, but I kind of think Will Smith has looked like the best rookie in the league for the past month. Doubt he sustains it, and zero chance he's better than Macklin over the course of their careers, but Will has been unreal. Really nice to see after the slow start and all the doubt early on.
I've been hoping Smith ultimately turns into something like Scheifele. He's likely never going to be worth much defensively, but if Celebrini can be our two-way, all-situations 1C, Smith can feast as a point-per-game 2C and power play anchor. That's my hope, anyway.While I agree with the „improvement“-part of the above post, let’s not get carried away. Smith is not even close to being a stellar two-way forward. Heck, I don’t even know if he will ever be a (decent) two-way forward. Yes, he has improved his d habits and play in the d zone quite a lot. But the base line (first 20 games or so) was „clearly worst defensive forward in the whole league“
I have been watching his play in his own zone. Hes making much better decisions, whether thats pitchforking pucks up and out when there is no clear outlet to dumping pucks deeps instead of trying to make neutral zone jukes. His stick positioning for blocking passes and disrupting opposition D has improved a lot and he is breaking up plays backchecking far more. His skating off the puck is also vastly improved.While I agree with the „improvement“-part of the above post, let’s not get carried away. Smith is not even close to being a stellar two-way forward. Heck, I don’t even know if he will ever be a (decent) two-way forward. Yes, he has improved his d habits and play in the d zone quite a lot. But the base line (first 20 games or so) was „clearly worst defensive forward in the whole league“
Edit: His stat-line since that Boston game:
19 GP, 7G, 13 A, +7
hes already playing that role as a 19 year old (at least for a few more days.) If the last two months are any indication, we are just scratching the surface.I've been hoping Smith ultimately turns into something like Scheifele. He's likely never going to be worth much defensively, but if Celebrini can be our two-way, all-situations 1C, Smith can feast as a point-per-game 2C and power play anchor. That's my hope, anyway.
I have been watching his play in his own zone. Hes making much better decisions, whether thats pitchforking pucks up and out when there is no clear outlet to dumping pucks deeps instead of trying to make neutral zone jukes. His stick positioning for blocking passes and disrupting opposition D has improved a lot and he is breaking up plays backchecking far more. His skating off the puck is also vastly improved.
He's playing wing, so his defensive play is never gunna be as clear as a center's. His responsibilities are much higher in the zone, but his job centers around getting pucks out from along the boards, being a good outlet option himself, and then making smart plays through the neutral zone and avoiding turnovers. its also about not forcing plays that just arent there and lading to high turnovers and chances against. Hes improved on all those metrices by leaps and bounds.
I would say, in the last two months, he has already reached 'decent' defensive status. Maybe 'stellar' went a bit far, but I don't see bad things happening too often when he is on the ice in any zone.