That’s just it though, like the stretch pass that worked so great for a season, teams have scouted it. They aren’t coming as deep, creating the separation. I find our zone entry is actually better with Rittich in net. It’s a great weapon to have but can actually be detrimental when over used.
IMO Smith passing the puck up isn't the problem. The problem is the formation in the neutral zone. When Smith passes the puck, we are too close to the opposition blue line. When Rittich is in net, we are closer to the red line. (I think). If our team stacks the red line with Smith passing up rather than blue line, then we can more aggressively enter the opposition zone IMO.
My theory on that was because the flatfooted players in the neutral zone have issues bringing in the puck into the opposing team's zone without speed. The puck is the fastest moving object yes, but without the speed and aggression of the players in the neutral zone, they hold the blue line and there's less room to work with.
Our players are great at rushing the puck into the zone. IMO Smith's current puck play is fine. My complaint would be that the neutral zone system design isn't fluid enough which means we lose momentum there. There are too many damn players flat footed and incapable of joining a rush situation with speed. I don't know how to resolve this, but I wonder if a 1:2:1 system (less puck carrier for rush and majority of players stacked on red line vs blue line could work.If Smith plays the puck and passes to the red line, then our team should have enough space to figure out a good rush or possession entry of multiple players into the opposing team's zone with speed. But if we stack at the blue line, then our players are sitting at 0-5 kmph on the blue line vs other players already cruising at 20-25 kmph.
On thing I've noticed is Gully's system relies too much on acceleration. Hartley's system IMO had our players cruising at 15-20 kmph constantly to get that extra step or two every time on the other team. IMO, Hartley's system trained many of our players to process the game at relatively high speeds.