Zack Smith is wicked

[Pierre from Orleans]

I think my post came out a bit too aggressive than what I intended to mean.

When I mean first line player in the playoffs I mean a guy who scores a goal, gets an assist, plays pivotal PK's and is on the ice against the best team's line with great physical presence. Not 4-5 points; I didn't mean it in that context.

The good thing is, with Turris on board, Smith knows his role and doesn't have to concern himself with being the go-to-go to get points and give this team offensive talent if we were lacking a true number 2C. With a straighter mindset, he'd be able to focus on his game and the points will come. I think he'll float around 40 points, remains to be seen if he hits 50 on a career year.

All of your posts regarding our players are a bit over exaggerated

 

[langcam]

I'm a big fan. It will be interesting to see how he continues to grow as a player within the org. Contributes well to the concept of team toughness. Always giving it his all..

 

[aragorn]

The 4th line doesn't have both of those players. Only 1 which is Condra.

Regin- Obrien- Condra

Condra is going to get replaced by one of Hoffman/Stone/ Zibenejad during this season or next.

And DD is at least 2 years away from the big show, Grant, Cowick, Stone, Schneider (He's over 6'0, its ok to like him) are ahead of him, basically all of the bingo forwards are ahead of him of NHL readiness and effectiveness.

When Daugavins plays he is usually on the 4th line, Condra is now on this new 4th line that Maclean created. They are not on the 4th line at the same time because Daugavins is a healthy scratch, otherwise he would be. Regardless my opinion is that they are the two weakest links on the team & should be gone for sure next yr or maybe even sooner. I have said it often that Stone should be playing instead of Condra regardless that he has stamina.

I don't agree with your assessment of DD, just because of which line he plays on is not an indication of whether others are ahead of him on the depth chart. It will depend more on what Ottawa needs at any given time & who from Bingo best fits that need. Most here said that JOB was a bust & wouldn't play in Ottawa (except me that is) & even though he was playing on the 3rd line in Bingo he filled a need in Ottawa when Winchester went down & then stole his job. I often said I would rather have JOB in Ottawa than Winchester. I like Schnieder too, I will be pumping him & Culek next yr. This yr I'm pumping DD, Gryba, Stone & Grant.

 

[BondraTime]

When Daugavins plays he is usually on the 4th line, Condra is now on this new 4th line that Maclean created. They are not on the 4th line at the same time because Daugavins is a healthy scratch, otherwise he would be. Regardless my opinion is that they are the two weakest links on the team & should be gone for sure next yr or maybe even sooner. I have said it often that Stone should be playing instead of Condra regardless that he has stamina.

I don't agree with your assessment of DD, just because of which line he plays on is not an indication of whether others are ahead of him on the depth chart. It will depend more on what Ottawa needs at any given time & who from Bingo best fits that need. Most here said that JOB was a bust & wouldn't play in Ottawa (except me that is) & even though he was playing on the 3rd line in Bingo he filled a need in Ottawa when Winchester went down & then stole his job. I often said I would rather have JOB in Ottawa than Winchester. I like Schnieder too, I will be pumping him & Culek next yr. This yr I'm pumping DD, Gryba, Stone & Grant.

Where are you going to be pumping Culek? He won't be in Bingo again next year more than likely.

 

[aragorn]

Where are you going to be pumping Culek? He won't be in Bingo again next year more than likely.

Why won't he be in Bingo next yr? He should have been in Bingo this yr but unfortunately got cut mostly because he was one of the youngest in camp. I think he has the skill to play in Bingo next yr, he has good size, is good defensively & has some scoring offence to his game. If Stone & Zibanejad graduate, if Petersson does not come back to NA, if Caporusso & Peltz are not re-signed, there are many possibilities.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Why won't he be in Bingo next yr? He should have been in Bingo this yr but unfortunately got cut mostly because he was one of the youngest in camp. I think he has the skill to play in Bingo next yr, he has good size, is good defensively & has some scoring offence to his game. If Stone & Zibanejad graduate, if Petersson does not come back to NA, if Caporusso & Peltz are not re-signed, there are many possibilities.

Its never a great omen if you're battling Caporusso or Brad Peltz for ice time.

 

[aragorn]

Its never a great omen if you're battling Caporusso or Brad Peltz for ice time.

lol

 

[BondraTime]

Why won't he be in Bingo next yr? He should have been in Bingo this yr but unfortunately got cut mostly because he was one of the youngest in camp. I think he has the skill to play in Bingo next yr, he has good size, is good defensively & has some scoring offence to his game. If Stone & Zibanejad graduate, if Petersson does not come back to NA, if Caporusso & Peltz are not re-signed, there are many possibilities.

He really doesn't have any offensive upside, and he is the same age as Pageau, Prince and Stone. Once his ELC is up, maybe sooner he will be in Europe

 

[The Fuhr*]

I agree, Culek has size, a good defensive game and speed... He has the opportunity to develop into a solid bottom six forward.

People give up on players to easy.

Something I have learned over the years... Small offensively skilled players bust a lot... Players with size and D often develop into NHL players

 

[aragorn]

I agree, Culek has size, a good defensive game and speed... He has the opportunity to develop into a solid bottom six forward.

People give up on players to easy.

Something I have learned over the years... Small offensively skilled players bust a lot... Players with size and D often develop into NHL players

Thank you, basically what I've always said. It's why I don't see Pageau or Petersson making the NHL & maybe not Da Costa, at least not with Ottawa.

 

[YNWA14]

Huge fan of Smith and he's also my wife's favorite player. Love his game, and hope he sticks around Ottawa for a long time. I remember how panicked people were about losing Kelly as an elite 3rd line centre, but Smith more than stepped up for that loss.

 

[BondraTime]

Thank you, basically what I've always said. It's why I don't see Pageau or Petersson making the NHL & maybe not Da Costa, at least not with Ottawa.

But you will pump the tires of a guy who struggled to find a game in the CHL as a drafted overager? The org. obviously sees more in these guys seeing they are in the AHL now

 

[aragorn]

But you will pump the tires of a guy who struggled to find a game in the CHL as a drafted overager? The org. obviously sees more in these guys seeing they are in the AHL now

Yes, because I see more potential in Culek making it to the NHL some day than I do guys like Pageau, Petersson or Da Costa. Maybe the Org thinks he needed another yr of junior, or maybe they already had too many young guys in Bingo & because he was of an age that he could be returned to junior they took that route. I'm not sure it means anything though to be returned to junior, but you may be right, we'll see.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Yes, because I see more potential in Culek making it to the NHL some day than I do guys like Pageau, Petersson or Da Costa.

 

[General Granny*]

Why won't he be in Bingo next yr? He should have been in Bingo this yr but unfortunately got cut mostly because he was one of the youngest in camp. I think he has the skill to play in Bingo next yr, he has good size, is good defensively & has some scoring offence to his game. If Stone & Zibanejad graduate, if Petersson does not come back to NA, if Caporusso & Peltz are not re-signed, there are many possibilities.

HE GOT CUT BECAUSE HE SUCKED.

Guys like Prince and Pageau are younger and made the team, because they are better players and have a better chance to make the NHL than that idiot Culek, JUST BECAUSE HES 8'9 DOESNT MEAN HES GOOD. GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEAD.

SOMEONE GRAB YAO MING AND GIVE HIM SOME SKATES. HE GOTZ DER SIZZZZEE.

I wonder if the other boards have a guy like this or we are just that special.

 

[aragorn]

Maybe I should have said in Ottawa, I don't see him playing in Ottawa anytime soon because Spezza & Turris are ahead of him & I don't see him on our 3rd or 4th lines. He could be traded in the future but I also don't see him re-signing with Ottawa because of that. I would assume he would want to go somewhere where he has a better shot at playing in the NHL.

 

[aragorn]

HE GOT CUT BECAUSE HE SUCKED.

Guys like Prince and Pageau are younger and made the team, because they are better players and have a better chance to make the NHL than that idiot Culek, JUST BECAUSE HES 8'9 DOESNT MEAN HES GOOD. GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEAD.

SOMEONE GRAB YAO MING AND GIVE HIM SOME SKATES. HE GOTZ DER SIZZZZEE.

I wonder if the other boards have a guy like this or we are just that special.

Wow, are you upset ... take it easy ... we are just discussing a prospect here, no need to have an aneurysm. I never said he was better than those guys, I said I think he has a better chance at playing in the NHL, there is a difference.

I disagree with you. I don't think he sucked, in fact, I remember him having a pretty good training camp. I also remember him having a couple of good international tournaments, although I can't remember which ones. He also had a decent last yr with Rimouski as well & got caught up in the numbers this yr & the import rule. He had a good start with Cape Breton after he was traded.

As the Great Below said & I agree there are a lot of examples of small skilled players not making it in the NHL. Players who have size & some skill & good defensive play can play on bottom lines where as small skilled players either make it on the top two lines or bust. I guess we'll see what happens with Culek next season, you can remind me if he doesn't make it.

 

[dpw]

Enjoyed the beatdown he gave last night after being hit.

Opponents will think twice about laying him out in the future.

Tough kid.

 

[Berserker*]

Thank you, basically what I've always said. It's why I don't see Pageau or Petersson making the NHL & maybe not Da Costa, at least not with Ottawa.

Pageau is doing just about everything you would want from a small player; he gets involved physically, tries to hit people, battles hard along the boards for loose pucks and goes to the dirty areas. These are all the things that a lot of small players are unwilling to do and end up being a big reason why the never crack an NHL roster. So far Pageau is on the right path and in a few years (3-4) he could be a full time NHLer.

Da Costa is now starting to add some grit to his game. He still has some ways to go in that department but he is making solid progress. On top of that he has some unbelievable offensive skill and is a solid skater. All of this is a good indication that he makes the NHL at some point.

Petersson on the other hand is too one dimensional to have a strong chance of becoming an NHL player. He is all offence and is fairly weak defensively. Unless he starts to develop his defensive game and grit, he would have to be putting up ridiculous point totals to get considered for a top six spot in the NHL.


A lot of small players fail to make it to the NHL and it tends to be wish full thinking by a lot of this fanbase that every small player we have in the system becomes a star. But when a small player does make it, they tend to be very good, jus look at Cory Conacher in Tampa Bay. He just cracked the roster and is playing very well, so it isn't a good idea just to write these players off based solely on their size.

 

[Berserker*]

When Daugavins plays he is usually on the 4th line, Condra is now on this new 4th line that Maclean created. They are not on the 4th line at the same time because Daugavins is a healthy scratch, otherwise he would be. Regardless my opinion is that they are the two weakest links on the team & should be gone for sure next yr or maybe even sooner. I have said it often that Stone should be playing instead of Condra regardless that he has stamina.

I don't agree with your assessment of DD, just because of which line he plays on is not an indication of whether others are ahead of him on the depth chart. It will depend more on what Ottawa needs at any given time & who from Bingo best fits that need. Most here said that JOB was a bust & wouldn't play in Ottawa (except me that is) & even though he was playing on the 3rd line in Bingo he filled a need in Ottawa when Winchester went down & then stole his job. I often said I would rather have JOB in Ottawa than Winchester. I like Schnieder too, I will be pumping him & Culek next yr. This yr I'm pumping DD, Gryba, Stone & Grant.

DD is pretty close to making the jump towards being an NHL player. He is still figuring out his game so he is prone to some slumps which has caused 2 or 3 fans on here to write him off. But aside from that he has been fairly solid. If he can get his offensive game going with a bit more consistency then he will be able to make the jump as early as next season. All he needs to do is get back to the form he had early in the season where he was one of the best forwards game in game out.

 

[Berserker*]

I'm a big fan. It will be interesting to see how he continues to grow as a player within the org. Contributes well to the concept of team toughness. Always giving it his all..

He looks like has filled out a bit this season as well. That will make him a better player as he will be able to utilize a strength advantage in driving to the net, battling for loose pucks and along the boards, hitting and fighting.

 

[2CHAINZ]

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

LMFAO, we missed you here, hahahaha, oh man.

I can't even being to recall how much posts I remember Smith hitting last year.

 

[2CHAINZ]

LMFAO, we missed you here, hahahaha, oh man.

I can't even being to recall how much posts I remember Smith hitting last year.

Oh I know I had that made from last year, last nights game just reminded me how much this guy loves the iron.

 

[IHWR]

That Neil-Smith-Greening line is a problem. Buncha tanks.