Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
For perspective: last year Mike Smith posted an eye-popping 0.923 SP—the second highest of his entire career, and the highest since 2012. Since then he has waffled between seasons of 0.898–0.916.
I think it is abundantly fair to expect that he will not continue to play at the same level in his 39- and 40-year-old seasons.
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I like Mike Smith, I didn't dislike him as a flame, and he can still hit high levels of play and steal games for his team. But they downgraded their defense, which wasn't exactly world class to begin with, and I agree with you that it's just not likely that he continues to put up numbers near career highs going forward.
I know as a backup he sounds like a solid deal, but like so many others have pointed out, he is not one of those goalies that age gracefully and then mentor their replacement, he's going to demand being the starter until the day he's no longer under contract. And even if the team doesn't give in, a sulking pouty backup goalie isn't good for a team.