Can someone give me a report on Schmaltz? What are leafs fans getting
The clock ran out on him here, and he’s been boxed out by Parayko and Pietrangelo and Bortuzzo on the right side. When he was called up, he never seized the opportunity, and wasn’t able to really play the bottom pairing role like we needed/wanted him to.
That said, he’s a puck-moving dman who has been a PP contributor at the AHL level. If I could use one word to describe his game, it would be “undistinguished.” There just isn’t anything he does really well, but he’s passable at everything. Not overly physical, but has thrown some hits. Good skater, but isn’t going to carry it end-to-end. Can move the puck, but his IQ isn’t super high. Has a good, accurate shot, but seems shy to use it. Can play defense, but you probably don’t want him matched up against top players. It’s just sort of hard to identify who he is as a player. With a bigger / more steady role, maybe he finally grows into himself, but right now, it’s hard to project what that looks like.