jnk96
Registered User
Not dynamic enough offensively to be a top-5 guy in my eyes. Had an excellent game and is better defensively than some other top D-men in this class, but I see him more in the 10-15 range. Here's my report from last night:
Early in the game, my thought was “this guy is supposed to go top 15?!” Smith looked like a confident puck carrier early on, but all of his early carries ended in dump-ins and he didn’t look overly creative or dynamic. All that changed throughout the game, though.
Smith played an outstanding stretch pass from in front of his own net to the opposing blue line to send a teammate on a breakaway for the 1-0 goal. He frequently jumped in on the attack, not only to come in as the ‘4th forward’, but rather the 2nd or 3rd player on the rush, because he anticipated turnovers far earlier than the actual forwards on his line. As soon as he realised there wasn’t going to be a scoring chance, he sat right back and made sure he didn’t take unnecessary risks. He was extremely smart about jumping in on the attack. He scored the 4-1 goal with a laser of a one-timer. Incredible power and accuracy.
Smith also displayed excellent skating skill. He used his edges perfectly to spin away from forecheckers and create space for himself before jumping on the breakout. On the downside, he seemed to rely on this to work out every time and didn’t have a plan B for when it didn’t. In one instance, he he did three quick turns one after another but wasn’t able to shake off the forechecker, and eventually fell over instead of passing the puck behind the net to his D-partner.
Defensively, Smith looked reliable as well. He displayed strong gap control and used his speed and mobility to stay with oncoming attackers. He also showed solid strength and the ability to pin bigger players against the boards despite his small frame.
The final minutes weren’t great for Smith. He passed a puck right into a PG forward’s stick, who then scored the 4-2, and later stickhandled right into two forecheckers at his own blue line and turned the puck over for a scoring chance against.
Overall, Smith displayed everything that makes him a top-15 candidate, including a goal and two assists. I also had him 1st among Canada’s 2018-eligibles at the U18 worlds, and he displayed everything in this game that I had seen there. He’s not as flashy as an Erik Brannstrom, Jett Woo or Quinton Hughes, but I think he plays a stronger defensive game.
