Outside of one year, Smith has been a middling (that means average) goaltender at best. His style is unorthodox and he does not rely on his size like you expect. You would expect a large goaltender to play his angles well and block more pucks than anything, but this is not Smith's strength. I'm not sure if it is the smaller equipment, but Smith is playing very small for a goaltender his size, and sits way too deep in his net, making the holes that much larger.
One of the fundamental things about Smith's game that really bothers me is his ability to get beat on the cross the net deke. A guy with the reach of Smith should be active with his stick, and his stick is always out of position. He never attempts the poke check and relies on the downward facing snow angel, which opens up his massive five hole as he splays himself. If he is not engaging the poke check a guy like that should be keeping that paddle down and closing off that five hole. Real simple stuff that most goaltenders are taught at an early age, but Smith is terrible at, and consistently gets beat.
There is going to be an argument that he played on a crappy Coyotes team, but when you look at the goaltending statistics of the team there wasn't a great discrepancy between starter and backup. In some years the backup posted better statistics in both major measures.
One of things that made me bristle when the Flames traded for Smith was his history with the Coyotes. He was not a great team mate and was always looking form someone else to blame for his performance than himself. He would toss the team and specific team mates under the bus in interviews, and would even have meltdowns on the ice when he thought a defenseman did not get the job done. This type of stuff does not lend itself to high performance for the individual or the team. This was a major concern for me, but he has not displayed this stuff with any frequency in Calgary. The stringer veteran leadership may have something to do with that, or Smith being happier on a competitive team.
The Flames need a guy they can rely upon to make saves, something Smith is failing at. Smith's S% is a horrific .888, good for 51st, or 10th worst in the league. He fairs a bit better with his 2.99 GAA, but that is only good for 38th in the NHL. Both lag well behind David Rittich's .921 S% (tied for 12th) and his 2.31 GAA (6th). I'm not confident that David Rittch is the guy to carry the mail, but I would be giving him a shot. I am 100% confident that Smith is not the goaltender for this team and we are looking at a disappointing end result with him being the go-to guy.
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