For me, Smith is a marginal upgrade on Elliott, if for nothing else that he won't be dogged all year for his crappy playoff performance from last year. Hopefully, Smith can provide average goaltending with a few steals along the way. I think he is fully capable of that.
Just as importantly, although some have derogatively called this "stop-gap", I think that is entirely the point of the acquisition. They weren't looking for a long term savior, as I think this trade indicates they feel they have some home-grown talent that will step up. They aren't ready yet, but I think this is in some way a vote of confidence that the young guys will be ready in a couple of years.
__________________
From HFBoard oiler fan, in analyzing MacT's management:
O.K. there has been a lot of talk on whether or not MacTavish has actually done a good job for us, most fans on this board are very basic in their analysis and I feel would change their opinion entirely if the team was successful.
|