After the 2017-2018 NHL regular season, Brendan Smith had hit rock bottom in his New York Rangers career. He could only go up from there, and though the increase was minimal, he did rise up just a bit this season.
Brendan Smith – Grade B
The New York Rangers “report cards” series here on Blue Line Station carries on as we grade the forward/defenseman hybrid, Brendan Smith. The 2017-2018 season was arguably the worst of Smith’s career, and he was in dire need of a huge bounce back.
Did Smith make it happen, finally proving his worth and completing a comeback? Or did he fall short once again?
The answer to that question isn’t as “black and white” as we’d like, unfortunately. The general consensus is that Brendan Smith performed a bit better than expected; he was versatile, avoided major injuries, and stayed in the NHL for the full campaign.
His Season
Coming into the 2018-2019 NHL campaign, Brendan Smith had a ton to prove. His 2017-2018 was filled with highs and lows, though the lows began to prevail as the season went on.
He began with being a healthy scratch from the end of October to mid-November 2017 after showing up to training camp “out of shape.” After struggling for a few months, he was placed on waivers and eventually sent to the AHL in February 2018.
Smith’s season ended in March 2018 when he got into a fight with AHL teammate and New York Rangers prospect Vinni Lettieri and sustained a broken hand injury. You can read a longer, more detailed recap of Brendan Smith’s rise and fall since joining the Rangers here.
At the end of last season, the defenseman had one goal and seven assists for eight points in 44 games for the Rangers. His AHL stats consisted of no goals and two assists for two points in 11 games.
The underwhelming numbers and off-ice drama caused many fans to become frustrated at Smith and have high hopes for him entering autumn 2018. Fortunately, he did not disappoint.
This year, Brendan Smith seemed like the Brendan Smith of old. He scored four goals and nine assists for 13 points in 66 games.
The blue-liner was just one goal away from matching a previous career high, five assists away from matching that career high, and six points from achieving a new career high in points. This was already a step up from 2017-2018’s version of Smith.
After the trade deadline we saw another side of Smith as coach David Quinn used him as a hybrid forward/defensemen on a regular basis. Smith was very productive as a forward and was adept at drawing penalties with 16 to lead the team. Th coach was generous with praise of Smith for his effort.
Why the Grade
Many would not call Brendan Smith a traditional “B” grade. He did not go above and beyond this year…or did he?
Smith deserves a ton of credit for turning himself around during this campaign. He stayed up in the NHL with no minor league stints, didn’t fight any of his teammates, stayed off of waivers, and was no longer known as “the healthy scratch.”
Of course, this is not an extreme, full turnaround for the 30-year-old. He only scored a few more points than usual, his penalty minutes still weren’t great, and so on.
However, I feel that Brendan Smith needs to be praised. He took a difficult situation and used it as motivation to have a much better season.
Does this feel like praising a child for throwing a toy at a wall rather than throwing it at their parent? Yes, absolutely; I’m fully aware of the fact that I may be named “a fangirl” or someone who doesn’t know hockey, but I think Smith had a great year.
Am I overreacting and having too much hope? There’s a chance, yes.
But that’s the fun of all of this…watching players you want to succeed so badly finally get back on the right path. Hopefully, Smith will continue on that path next year.
By the Numbers
Games Played: 63
Goals: 4
Assists: 9
Points: 13
Penalty Minutes: 71
Penalties Drawn: 16
Blocked Shots: 48
Hits: 100
Corsi For: 47.9%
ATOI: 15:18
Next Report Card: Marc Staal