Apologies if I'm reiterating a lot of what's already been said...
- I've never been much of a fan of Smith, even less so since he became a starting goalie in the league. His prima donna theatrics scream of a "me first" attitude, not a "team first" attitude.
- He had a couple of lower body injuries in late 2015 that really seemed to limit his games played in 15-16, but he bounced back to start regularly again last season.
- Other than his first stellar season with the Coyotes, he's hovered pretty close to his career save % of .916 in his six seasons with the Coyotes
- He's due to make $1.75M more per season over the next 2 seasons than what Elliott was paid on his expiring contract.
Add all that up, and throw in that we're losing Hickey, and I can't get on board with this deal. I hope he manages to help the team while he's here, but this deal seems like a real swing and a miss from Treliving IMO.
What it does point to is the possibility that it was easier/more affordable for Treliving to get a goalie to bridge a couple of seasons until we can expect either Gillies or Parsons to step up, instead of a young goalie around the same age as the rest of the core who could step right in and play the next 5-6 seasons.