New York Rangers: Now was the time for Brendan Smith
The New York Rangers waived defenseman Brendan Smith this past week. Smith joined the Rangers last season and signed an extension this past summer.
The New York Rangers season ended earlier than they would have hoped this past postseason. Not a lot seemed to be great following the series against the Ottawa Senators. However, the Rangers thought Brendan Smith was an exception to that.
General Manager Jeff Gorton, in particular, must have agreed. He went on to sign Smith to a four year, $4.35 million dollar contract this summer. Now, it’s one of the worst contracts the Rangers have on their books.
It’s really difficult to pinpoint where it all went wrong for Smith. How could a player who looked so good in late April show up so bad in October?
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Out of shape
Smith showed up to camp this fall and apparently wasn’t in great shape. Players are supposed to keep themselves somewhat in shape during the offseason. It’s not a good sign when your latest contract signee cannot do that.
From there, no one was really sure why Smith wasn’t able to find his game. Very quickly it became apparent that Smith was in his own head and psyching himself out.
Gorton certainly isn’t sure what happened to Smith. Gorton is now forced to live with Smith’s contract as he cleared waivers and moved on to the AHL to join the Hartford Wolf Pack.
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Not too soon
It’s hard to determine if waiving Smith was the right move at this time. The Rangers are preparing for a rebuild at the end of the month, and waiving Smith seems to be the beginning of that wave.
The Rangers gave Smith plenty of time to try and find his game and get back on track. As I mentioned earlier, these were problems Smith had since the beginning of the season when he showed up to camp. Those problems transferred to the regular season too.
Now, 44 games later, Smith hasn’t shown many shades of what we saw last year. He has just eight points on the year and is sporting the worst Corsi For rating in his career (46.7%).
Not to mention, Smith hasn’t passed the eye test at any consistent point throughout the season. It’s tough to hold on to someone like that with younger defensemen like Neal Pionk and John Gilmour itching for a chance at the big leagues.
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Future for Brendan Smith
Smith was not claimed by anyone so he will go to the AHL and play with the Hartford Wolf Pack until further notice.
There is no real chance at a trade for Smith that would benefit the Rangers. Every team had the chance of taking his contract on at no cost to them. Maybe the Rangers could work out a deal where they retain half if not more of his salary, but it doesn’t seem likely.
That is all considering Smith never plays for the Rangers again. Jeff Gorton said in a press conference last week that he could return to the NHL if he finds his form in the AHL. The Rangers just got tired of watching him try to find his form at the NHL level.
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Smith is the first of likely many familiar faces to not wear a New York Rangers sweater in the coming month. The Rangers still anticipate a big sale at the deadline that could include a lot more higher profile players than Smith.