At worst, I think, Smith and Kindl end up around the same level as Niskanen. He's another respectable puck mover with questionable defensive instincts, and received nearly the same dollar amount in his last contract.
Hopefully, though, they both round out their games and look like legitimate top 4 defenders that can also inject some life into the powerplay.
I don't think Kind's defensive instincts are poor. Not great. But good enough.
His problem is passing in his own end and the neutral zone. You can almost sense the panic when he's about to cough it up.
Defensively, his only problem is that Dumbass Babcock doesn't trust him.
But Kindl in the playoffs had 21 hits (3rd on the team, behind only Ericsson and Kronwall).
He had 20 blocked shots. More than everyone except Kronwall.
Despite his giveaways (3rd worst with 10), he had less than Ericsson (14) and Smith (11).
In the regular season he was second in hits (46) behind Kronwall and sixth in blocked shots (33).
Not to mention his +/- records. His +15 in the regular season was 8 better than the second place guy.
Again he let the team in the playoffs +4.
His stats are helped by his "sheltered" icetime. But at the same time, he's typically playing with the third line.
He also doesn't benefit i in +/- because of special teams, where he plays PP but not the PK.
Truth is, I think Kindl should be getting PK time instead of Smith. Perhaps KQ too.