I dunno, I think you can make the case for Smith. For this question, he needs to be judged on that initial 2 year, 2 mil per contract. Yeah the 2012 team was defensively structured, but so were the previous years under Dave Tippett. Years in which Ray Whitney was also impressive (57 points, behind only Yandle (59) and Doan (60)) but years in which Ilya Bryzgalov also **** the bed when it mattered, despite playing under the same defensive structure.
This franchise made its greatest playoff run ever and Mike Smith was the biggest reason for that. Had we won the Cup that year, is there any doubt that Smith wins the Conn Smythe? Remember Game 6 in Chicago? He dragged this team into Round 2.