Confirmed with Link: Sens sign free agent Jiri Smejkal 1 year ELC

[Sens Vader]

Has he been playing well enough to deserve a callup?

The guy was a healthy scratch for a bit in Belleville from what I understood, not sure calling him up sends the right message.

Yeah AHL has this new rule where you can only have a certain number of veterans play

I don't read too much into his AHL perfromance, I think the demoting was a surprise to everyone and the flow of AHL games is far more chaotic than at the NHL level

Smejkal brought a calm, structured, and safe approach to playing that looked like it was gonna fit in well at the NHL level.

If we were winning I dont mind it, but we have had another trash start and to not give him a chance is moronic imo

 

[Melgene Eunyk]

I remember when DJ called him 'schmeck'. Won't ever forget him.

DJ stands by his biggest fan, Parker Kelly. Parker put his body on the line, every day, without complaint. Schmeck just couldn't hold the line like DJ's best man.

All the best to schmeck.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

Stephane Da Costa 2.0

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

That wasn't me but it adds up.

Sorry 'bout that .. My bad; Went back and looked and it was @PlayersLtd

 

[Senator Stanley]

Or they actually were watching the guys who they had to determine earned it. Or have you been in the rink for every Belleville game?

No, I didn't watch those two games before JBD got the call. And maybe Guenette totally shit the bed, and if he did, then I might change my opinion on this.

But if you tell players they can win jobs in camp, and a guy outperforms someone else over multiple weeks and multiple pre-season games, to me that should mean something when two games into the season the big team needs a call-up. The "who's playing better" line is just this convenient, bullshit line they use, because it's totally subjective and it doesn't define the amount of time that's being judged. Who played better over the last month? Who played better over the last two games? Who played better the last period? Looking at their decisions, I think they start with the player they've already decided to call-up - for reasons that are not exclusively based on who's actually playing better (e.g. cap, one-ways, optics, personal favourites, etc.) - and then they work back from there. This time it's who's played better over the last two games. Next time it might be who's played better over the last month. Whatever fits the decision they've already made or have to make.

 

[Dionysus]

Was very good in preseason. A shame they didn't get him into the NHL lineup.

 

[Korpse]

I thought he looked good in pre-season but I'm not going to over look the possibility I could have missed something. Even in the AHL he had not clearly won a roster spot over the likes of Boko, Pilon or Currie.

 

[Senator Stanley]

Apparently he's still in Belleville.

https://x.com/SunGarrioch/status/1721571558760595570?s=20

 

[swiftwin]

Who's to blame for not calling him up? Staios? Bowness? DJ?

 

[Micklebot]

Yeah AHL has this new rule where you can only have a certain number of veterans play

I don't read too much into his AHL perfromance, I think the demoting was a surprise to everyone and the flow of AHL games is far more chaotic than at the NHL level

Smejkal brought a calm, structured, and safe approach to playing that looked like it was gonna fit in well at the NHL level.

If we were winning I dont mind it, but we have had another trash start and to not give him a chance is moronic imo

There are other vets on Belleville , I believe pilon, Highmore, Currie, and Imama all crossed the 260 pro game mark as well, not to mention MacEwen. They chose him to scratch one way or another.

I liked Smejkal, but he had a lot of issues handling the puck in camp, not sure that gets any better when the pace ramps up and guys are on you quicker. Maybe he just wasn't cutting it, idk.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Odd situation. Stats show 2 points in 5 games and a dreadful -8 (from CapFriendly). Also looks like he has played in North America before, so it shouldn't be a culture shock thing. But, just looking at about the last decade of stats, dude doesn't look all that great. He had a decent camp but..I dunno.

Perhaps it's a personal or family thing going on?

 

[Micklebot]

I remember when DJ called him 'schmeck'. Won't ever forget him.

DJ stands by his biggest fan, Parker Kelly. Parker put his body on the line, every day, without complaint. Schmeck just couldn't hold the line like DJ's best man.

All the best to schmeck.

Kelly has played pretty well this year, not sure why people are picking on him

Kastelic wasn't good. MacEwen was Meh. Those are the guys I'd have liked to see someone push out.

 

[Sens Vader]

There are other vets on Belleville , I believe pilon, Highmore, Currie, and Imama all crossed the 260 pro game mark as well, not to mention MacEwen. They chose him to scratch one way or another.

I liked Smejkal, but he had a lot of issues handling the puck in camp, not sure that gets any better when the pace ramps up and guys are on you quicker. Maybe he just wasn't cutting it, idk.

Yeah I don't really know what hes gonna look like in real NHL games, but he significantly outperformed all of those players in training camp.

I also dont know where his head is at being sent down, when you likely feel like you deserved to make the team.

I would just say, with how bad our team is, it does not hurt to throw him in a game to see

looks like hes not gone after all! give him a shot

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Kelly has played pretty well this year, not sure why people are picking on him

Kastelic wasn't good. MacEwen was Meh. Those are the guys I'd have liked to see someone push out.

Kelly has earned his spot and playing time this year. Not the 1st to come out.

 

[Senator Stanley]

Kelly has played pretty well this year, not sure why people are picking on him

Kastelic wasn't good. MacEwen was Meh. Those are the guys I'd have liked to see someone push out.

He brought it in the last game of preseason and for the first few games of the year. Basically when his job looked like it was on the line. Since then, I've found his play has regressed back to where it was most of last season, which is indistinguishable from any number of AHL options.

In his case, he has the one-way contract, he's liked in the room and he's proven he can be a solid fourth liner even if it comes and goes too much for my liking. So he sticks around.

 

[barriers]

Does anyone have an EliteProspects account to see where the rumur source was originally?

Smejkal getting banged up early in the AHL season could explain his desire to leave for the SHL if the rumour is true(ish.) A season-ending injury in Belleville could leave him with very little income for a year considering expenses. If an opportunity presents itself in Europe to get some guaranteed salary I can't really hold much against him. Part of the problem is making 25+ guys who have several years of professional hockey played under their belt sign 2-way contracts. I understand why there are ELC limits but maybe some of them shouldn't apply to 26-27 year olds.

 

[aragorn]

Smejkal is a borderline 4th line NHL player who didn't do all that well in Belleville either. Smejkal had a decent preseason, but let's be real, he's not a game changer & both Jarventie, Ostapchuk & Sokolov have shown more in Belleville this yr. It reminds me of Abramov, a good minor league player who would never be an NHLer & Ottawa has had a few of those borderline players.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

 

[CornerStone61]

Kelly has earned his spot and playing time this year. Not the 1st to come out.

Was rightfully hard on the guy last year but he has definitely upped his game this year

 

[Gil Gunderson]

I'm pretty sure Simmer started the rumour a couple days ago.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

I'm pretty sure Simmer started the rumour a couple days ago.

Could be that it was a consideration and a decision has been made. Elite prospects reported it as a rumour . Doubt they source Simmer on that

 

[Xspyrit]

Call him up asap, send MacEwen down

Need to start doing a bit of asset management and NOT frustrate a guy who was signed as a Free Agent

The Dorion era will take a bit of time to recover from, particularly since the coaching staff is still employed

 

[Hale The Villain]

Probably has a transfer overseas lined up should he continue to get looked over for call-ups, despite clearly being better than the likes of Kelly, Kastelic and MacEwen in the pre-season.

Don't blame him one bit if he were to jump ship. Our inability to keep him with the big club due to his whopping 870K cap hit because of Dorion's awful cap management probably pissed him off big time.

 

[Boud]

Probably has a transfer overseas lined up should he continue to get looked over for call-ups, despite clearly being better than the likes of Kelly, Kastelic and MacEwen in the pre-season.

Don't blame him one bit if he were to jump ship. Our inability to keep him with the big club due to his whopping 870K cap hit because of Dorion's awful cap management probably pissed him off big time.

Yea not making the team out of camp because we had under 100K of cap space must've been a dissapointing result for him, no questions there. That and also paired with him being waiver exempt essentially made sure he would be sent down. Kelly had a decent camp and PKs so it was probably a tough decision, they likely wanted to keep Kelly as well.

I feel like he could replace Kubalik easily in this lineup.

 

[TheNewEra]

Yea not making the team out of camp because we had under 100K of cap space must've been a dissapointing result for him, no questions there. That and also paired with him being waiver exempt essentially made sure he would be sent down. Kelly had a decent camp and PKs so it was probably a tough decision, they likely wanted to keep Kelly as well.

I feel like he could replace Kubalik easily in this lineup.

Kubalik is a stretch

He could replace Kastelic and macewen easily, potentially chartier as well

Kelly has earned his spot.... Can't believe I just wrote that