[united]

To me, the problem with his puck-handling isn't so much putting the defensemen in a bad spot as it is causing uncertainty in the centremen's route on the breakout.

When a defensemen is retrieving the puck on his own, it is fairly predictable which way the puck is going to go, and the centreman can mirror that defenceman's movement, and subseuqnelty the puck's movement, to offer an efficient breakout outlet...or, if the defenseman gets pinned, retrieve the puck himself. With Smith handling the puck behind the net, often the two defensemen head to the opposite corners, as they should, but the centremen must make a much quicker decision on which route he needs to take to provide a solid outlet option because Smith doesn't move the puck until the last moment. Often times this results in the defenceman getting the puck in the corner with no outlet option in the middle of the ice which means banging it up the boards or punting are the only options.

That said, I still think the pros of Smith's puck-handling outweigh the cons, giving a net benefit. But not as much as I expected.