Am I the only one who is very put off on this guy being a constant healthy scratch?
4 million dollars, some grit and snarl, is sitting in favor the likes of Kamfer and Holden.
Is there an injury? Is there an issue with his efforts in practice? How does a guy like this go from top four D man, to a healthy scratch? This guy was probably the teams most consistent guy during the playoffs. He wanted to come back and the team was eager to get him signed.
What's going on here? Why the short leash?
I don't understand why he isn't given a chance to work through whatever is going on with some actual ice time. He hasn't looked as bad as how Holden consistently has looked.
He's been fucking terrible. What else do you need to know?
completely wrong.Originally Posted by McDougalfaschnitzer
I wouldn't say terrible. But definitely not up to par, which is as a top six guy.
Smith was signed to that contract and it was deemed a solid move at a fair price.
I'm not getting how you sit a guy like this, yet give endless opportunity to Holden and Staal who have been consistently BAD over the years.
Josh. There's a reason why Smith just got 4.3 million as a free agent and there's a reason why Nick Holden makes 1.8 and was acquired for a 4th round pick and was deemed the teams 7th D man before the season started. He's just a better player. You don't make Brendan Smith a healthy scratch in favor of Kamfer or Holden. Not when you won't scratch Staal or Girardii for YEARS of unspectacular play. Not for these two
Smith has been awful, but I do think it's bullshit that AV has a relatively short leash with him this season. And I say that not because he doesn't deserve to be scratched but because there were multiple times he should have done with Girardi, Staal, Holden etc and didn't.
Either way he needs to get Smith back and try to get him going. He's suppose to be an important player for this defense.
I've posted this in multiple threads, but Don Maloney reported that Smith didn't do much cardio this offseason (married, honeymoon, moved, etc) and has been struggling at the end of shifts. He said he worked hard with weights, but not enough cardio. It showed as he made some bad plays after rushes and at end of shifts. Cost a couple of goals and AV benched him after the play where he was one of two Rangers that let the scorer skate and push past him.
I agree though, the leash is pretty short. aV tends to keep benched players in the box during a win streak.
Josh is nuts if he thinks Holden is half the player Smith is, on either side of the ice. Though Holden was fine tonight. Can he put together two good games in a row? Smith will return eventually and should get back to where he should be. AV and Ruff do not impress me with their personnel decisions on D. There are holes, but still.
Kampfer was good again.
Last edited by Giacomin; 11-04-2017 at 10:44 PM.
We've just won three straight without him. I'd let him marinate a little longer. He'll be a key piece again before long. It's a long season.
Maybe instead of riding the pine he should ride the stationary bike and get himself in better shape.
Yeah, because the Rangers only gave out one of those contracts.
Holden is criminally underrated. He's a solid bottom pair guy. And he's easily outperformed Smith this season.
I have no issue with sitting smith. The guy signed a big contract and immediately showed up out of shape. What's that say about the player? Shame on him. He's trying to catch up now and it's not working.
Holden starting to grow on me, though could be because he plays with a smile on his face entire game.
I'll agree with you that Holden is underrated. I really think he had a pretty good season last year but lost his game at the end of the season. He's definitely a quality bottom pair D man. Problem is, AV uses him in spots he doesn't belong in. First pair, out there late in tight games. That's what Smith was brought in to do. Skjei and Smith we're the teams best pairing late in last season and in the playoffs. I'm not getting why AV isn't trying to make that work again by forcing the issue and continually put them out there like he has done with Girardii and Staal.
With how Kamfer got walked through last night, I'd imagine Smith gets back in there.
One of the teams highest paid D men isn't playing and there's no talk about it. Not getting it.
Ok, so do you think they should try to move him? That's a big contract to have sitting out of games. And for as bad as he's been, had Girardii or Staal been any better in years past? If he were sitting for a better player, I would agree with those who have no problem with it. But Kamfer and Holden are not better players and frankly are defensive liabilities.
I'm sure staff is disappointed that he showed up out of shape, but maybe they're just waiting for him to get his legs back and they can move forward.
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This is an interesting thread: an active debate over whether Smith is playing badly orreally badly. I'm not sure. Watching on TV I can see that it is at least badly but I'd have to be at the game and see him more off the puck to decide whether its really badly. There have been a lot of defensemen of his pedigee who have signed nice contracts and tanked. Think about the Flyers a few years back giving Andrew MacDonald $5m for 5 years and he ended up being sent to the minors. I hope that's not where we are headed! AV is not Torts, Keenan or even Ted Sater when it comes to benching a veteran, so if AV is surprisingly scratching a guy like Smith, I'd lean towards believing it must be warranted.
He's obviously not as bad as kampfer or Holden but I want av to hold players accountable and sometimes that means doing things that's best for the long term and not the short. I still don't like the selective accountability av wields but I cannot disagree with benching smith than complain there is no accountability. And yes I would trade him. That contract is a bad one when he's playing "well"
AVs defensive system requires mobile guys. Smith isn't, add poor conditioning, and he's not as effective as Kampfer and Holden. Hopefully he gets his shit together and can be effective for us moving forward.
We also need to be realistic, he played his best hockey when he came here last season - motivated by leaving Detroit and playing for a contract. Obviously, that's not his mindset.
Guy played amazing in the playoffs for us,hope he can get his game back.We need some snarl.
As for the trading, I don't think we'd get what we want. I think we are stuck with him... and the thing is, we could really benefit from what he could be. We desperately need the guy we thought we signed. A solid defender, physical, vet that shows leadership, toughness and can play with an edge. We aren't expecting Weber, but we're not getting close to what we need from him.
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