Quote:
Originally Posted by bubbsy
Smith didn't look all that comfortable to me in most of his preseason time. That being said, he didn't look great last preseason, and is a vet. I'll give him a handful of starts into the season before starting to freak out.
I think the CP discussion around the remaining cuts and line predictions would be a lot more interesting than dwelling on Smith's average preseason.
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Yeah, we just can't know until the real games begin.
A cautiously optimistic take is that he's an older guy and has been through a lot of pre-seasons and is locked in for opening day. Annoying game but he probably knows he isn't fully engaged yet and that he doesn't need to be. Might see it as logging minutes, feeling the puck and killing time until the games matter.
Neal looks just about as engaged so far as well and he's a guy that perennially scores 20+.
These games mean the most to the guys who are trying to get NHL jobs and that's probably where most of the focus should be put. I wouldn't hesitate to say that Dube, Valimaki and Andersson have earned regular season games. The other guys, not so much.