There has been a lot of commentary in Oilers circles around the fact that Smid had dropped to 5th defenceman status in Edmonton. If he was viewed as being only fifth on that defence, then there are several arguments to be made, any or all of which may apply to varying degrees: 1. Eakins is an idiot who can't manage his players well. 2. Fans over/underrate defencemen horribly (he's not their guy anymore, so he sucks. He is our guy now, so he's going to be great), 3. Smid really did fall off.
If point three is viewed as the most accurate - particularly given they expect Nurse will be more than the next Plante starting next year and push him down further -then the trade makes sense from the Oilers long-term perspective. Problem is, it definitely made Edmonton worse in the short term, and if point 1 is the most accurate, worse in the long term as well.
|