Trade Smith ASAP!

[xtrememachine1 795]

Smith is far too young to be giving up on him. The guy is 24 years old and playing in his first full NHL season. Sure he's making mistakes, I would expect him to. He's gaining invaluable NHL playoff experience playing in these pressure games right now. He won't get that experience sitting in the pressbox. This will pay off big time down the line when we're ranked higher and not having to plow through the 1st and 2nd seeds in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

[krsmith17 7,191]

Smith is like a Ferrari without an engine. Most people will see Kenny post it on eBay and be like "Well, there must be something wrong with it." I will be hoping for that one GM that is like "F*ck! That's a Ferrari. Here's a bunch of money!" (aka prospects and a 2nd liner to replace Cleary).

Great analogy... But once that Ferrari is restored it's still a Ferrari... Point is, you would regret trading away Smith in a few years. Luckily for you and the rest of the wannabe GM's on here you will not have the chance to have such a regret because you are not in the position to make such knee jerk decisions and thankfully Kenny is such an outstanding GM and sees the future of a player not just how he is playing today.

I'm willing to bet you were one of the many people on here saying trade Ericsson too. I've been defending many of our players (including Ericsson) and for the most part I have been right in my assessments. Not saying I don't occasionally hate on a player but I don't immediately say "trade him". Players make mistakes, play bad games and go through rough patches just like everyone else.

[hattrickz331 4]

kenny is Not a great GM. he has made this team a soft european team. wait til next year when they play in the east with teams like boston and philly.

it's time 2 gets some size on this team. like chicago, they have skilled players like kane, toews, sharp and hossa. but they have bickel and shaw.

we have floaters like frazen, a guy with nice size, but is as soft as they come.

[Guest Hatethedrake!]

The same Flyers who missed the playoffs?

[Guest Playmaker]

Trading Smith is an overreaction. However, I have to say, his blatant mistakes are getting difficult to tolerate game after game. Yes, he's young, no he doesn't have Nick Lidstrom. It isn't even just on the goals. How many times has he given the puck away? Kronwall, Ericsson, Lilja...yes, they all had difficult games and poor stretches, but I can't recall a defenseman who has had so many mistakes in such a short amount of time leading directly to goals.

In the regular season, I had no problem seeing lots of Smith and the other young players. But, we made the playoffs, surprised the Ducks and there we were on the brink of the WCF. Its not the time to be getting your feet wet.

At this stage of the game, it's clearly too late to put Ian White in, but I don't get the free pass Smith is getting. When Lashoff couldn't cut it, he was sent back to GR. I really don't think Lashoff played as poorly as Smith. I like the offensive upside that he has and I'm confident in the future he will be a decent defenseman, but he's painful to watch at times.

Losing now won't be gravy and I won't see it as a positive. After being up 3-1, we should be resting for the next round, not looking at a game 7. No, it is NOT all Brendan Smith's fault, but he sure hasn't helped any. The Wings are where they are in spite of him, not because of him.

[lwing 68]

I can't imagine any of us feel worse than he does, but I have to wonder how effectively he is being coached. There are some fundamental issues here that can be corrected. Play simple and smart. Either he is a complete ditz, nervous beyond belief or is not being coached and mentored very well.

[ben_usmc 253]

Smyth by far was the worst player on the ice, in the series, and perhaps the entire playoffs. He deserves all the s*** he gets, he played terrible. But he's young and he is like every other Wings dman through the system looks like bust to most. In about 2/3 years he will be praised.

Right now he should be slapped though

[StormJH1 231]

I can't imagine any of us feel worse than he does, but I have to wonder how effectively he is being coached. There are some fundamental issues here that can be corrected. Play simple and smart. Either he is a complete ditz, nervous beyond belief or is not being coached and mentored very well.

I can't tell on television if he feels bad or not, but I really don't care. What difference does it make to me if he's crying alone in a dark room after the game or blowing up wads of cash like Evander Kane on Twitter? I'm a fan. Watching him piss away Game 1 hurt MY feelings. The fact that we couldn't close out Chicago at home leading 2-1 going into the 3rd period makes ME upset. I could care less about Brendan Smith's feelings right now.

You could tell me that Brendan Smith might be a Top 4 defenseman some day, and that this is part of the growing process, and that all might be true. That doesn't change the fact that this is the worst individual defensive performance on the Red Wings since I can't even remember when. Yes, Ericsson has been a goat in the past. There was also reason to expect that he'd be a late bloomer (drafted as a forward, long lanky body more difficult to coordinate, spoiled by playing early with Lidstrom, etc.). Ericsson was never THIS bad. It's basically a running bit me and my brother have this series - you might not even know who's on the ice, but as soon as a complete defensive screw-up happens: "Okay, what did #2 do wrong on that one".

I would say that his goal in Game 2 (which happened because he was pinching and in which Zetterberg did all the work) was the "worst thing that could have happened", except that with White as the only available alternative, Smith was never going to sit. White has been pain in the ass since his "60%" comments during the lockout and basically demanding to be traded after they started scratching him. Still, it's impossible to believe that a half-interested Ian White could be this bad.

I'm not interested in what happens to Smith right now. We can worry about that in July. I just want to win Game 7, and it seems like the more Smith is on the ice, the less of a chance there is of that happening.

[rick zombo 3,739]

Maybe if Smith played a full season here last year like he should have, the ride would be a little less bumpy right now.

I feel like he's the one prospect the Wings have mis-managed up to this point. But I also feel like he'll be fine moving forward.

[joesuffP 1,746]

My favorite plays from smith is when he has the puck and both teams are changing and he flies around and can't make the red line and ices the puck. Once a period. I can't stand this guy wearing a red wings jersey he may get better but for everything he has cost us I can't stand him. How can you be a competitor when you are obviously the worst defenseman on either team night in night out with out making any slight adjustments. Add that to Quincey playing great. If we had any kind of real athlete on his side we would be nice defensively but smith makes it our huge weakness

[StormJH1 231]

My favorite plays from smith is when he has the puck and both teams are changing and he flies around and can't make the red line and ices the puck. Once a period. I can't stand this guy wearing a red wings jersey he may get better but for everything he has cost us I can't stand him. How can you be a competitor when you are obviously the worst defenseman on either team night in night out with out making any slight adjustments. Add that to Quincey playing great. If we had any kind of real athlete on his side we would be nice defensively but smith makes it our huge weakness

That's what makes it more frustrating. The entire defensive corps has been night-and-day better than it was in February. Kronwall was good all year. Ericsson has been a rock. Kindl really improved down the stretch and is playing like a Top 4 guy now. But Smith has yet to mentally find the defensive game. His offensive contributions don't do anything to excuse or mitigate his failure to defend our end of the rink. I was a huge Smith supporter before the season (albeit based on very little information), and I was completely wrong.

[Guest The Axe]

The Red Wings Defensive Line-Up would look like this if the organization listened to all our griping:

DeKeyser.

[joesuffP 1,746]

Smith is an embarrassment he is directly costing us huge goals. Why would you want him to keep playing so when he scores a goal you can be like I told you guys?

For the most part out defense has been great actually. Then smith comes out and takes a dump on everyone's effort. How many times has Quincey broken up breakaways and odd man rushes because of smith. Those would be goals during our regular season

Smith has been brutal all season none of this is new either. Game 4 was the only good game I've ever seen him play in the NHL and that wasn't outstanding it was not ******* up

Edited May 28, 2013 by joesuffP

[T.Low 1,011]

Smith skates. He makes bonehead rookie mistakes, but guess what? He's a fricking rookie!! When will LGW people give a defenseman longer than 2 years to get his groove? Its disturbing how short sighted some are. Havent you seen that I was right all along in that our young guys should be playing?

I totally agree that less experienced players like Smith are going to struggle and make a ton of mistakes. I think what people are upset about, well me anyway, is that if Ian White were playing instead of Smith we would have won the series with Chicago by now.

[Guest Johnz96]

I totally agree that less experienced players like Smith are going to struggle and make a ton of mistakes. I think what people are upset about, well me anyway, is that if Ian White were playing instead of Smith we would have won the series with Chicago by now.

lol

[joesuffP 1,746]

If white was playing instead of smith last night I believe we would have won. Also in our other losses the game got away from us but with a real athlete playing for him that may have never got to that point

[b.shanafan14 733]

Smith 2013-2014 will be fine. He'll learn, he'll grow, and he'll be forced to either sink or swim. Ericsson was the same way. Kindl was a spare part before Babcock showed him his "ticket home" so-to-speak. Smith has Kronwall-caliber potential, and I think we the leadership in the room and the faith of the coaching staff, he could very well reach that sooner rather than later.

That said, Smith 2012-2013 has been a mess. The 2nd goal the other night was a prime example of a young player getting lost in the play, trying to do too much instead of manning his post and playing his part. Puck along the boards, man-on-man trying to retrieve the puck and he gets preoccupied with the battle in the corner, moving to support 30 feet from his net and forgetting his responsibility.

He'll eventually work these gaffs out of his system, but in the meantime, its going to be a bumpy ride. I do agree with rick zombo in that regard. Should have had Smith in more last season, getting his lumps while we had a more potent back-end to support and mentor. As it stands now, he is playing Top 4 minutes, getting costly education on the job, and the only steady veteran defenseman worth leaning on for support is Kronwall.

If Smith costs us this series, he won't have done it alone, and he'll learn. Let's just hope he plays level in Chicago tomorrow.

[Z Winged Dangler 2,082]

Maybe if Smith played a full season here last year like he should have, the ride would be a little less bumpy right now.

I feel like he's the one prospect the Wings have mis-managed up to this point. But I also feel like he'll be fine moving forward.

You mean if he got the chance to play with and around Lids like everyone else did? We got Ian White to play with Lids and like I said before, a pilon could be +20 with Lids and get 40 points. White got low 30's I believe.

[joesuffP 1,746]

So far smith plays a good game after about 55 terrible ones so around mid season he'll be a stud for a game

[matt198913 932]

Still leads the D in points

[Z Winged Dangler 2,082]

I totally agree that less experienced players like Smith are going to struggle and make a ton of mistakes. I think what people are upset about, well me anyway, is that if Ian White were playing instead of Smith we would have won the series with Chicago by now.

Ian White is a far bigger defensive liability than Smith. Sure Smith was 90% responsible for 2 of the goals against last night, but White would have done the same, and that's why he's not in the line-up. At least Smith can make a breakout pass without icing the puck or turning it over, White cannot.

[T.Low 1,011]

lol

Yep, funny, sad, and true. Playing Smith over White is mortgaging the present Cup run for the future.

[b.shanafan14 733]

Smith has easily been our worst defenseman these playoffs. Every night I am cursing at the TV to get him off the ice. He is out of position, turning over pucks, and being none-too-reliable in his own or the attacking zone. I hate this Brendan Smith. Period....

Now, replace Brendan Smith with Jonathan Ericsson and you'll be transported to a far away time called 2009-2012. Doesn't change the fact that in the moment he is goat #1, but it also doesn't change the fact that he is a rookie goat. You don't trade away rookie goats.

...and Ian White would be just as horrible. White lost his spot to Smith, Kindl, and Lashoff for a reason (EDIT: and Cola, and rookie DeKeyser. If DK was healthy, White would be 9th on the depth chart).

Edited May 28, 2013 by b.shanafan14

[joesuffP 1,746]

I don't see how this experience is good for smith either. Half his NHL career is all negative and he seems to not have a problem with it cause he hasn't made the slightest adjustment to to improve. Bench his ass and show him how much better you have to be for playoffs next year. And for him to be guaranteed a top 4 spot is making him entitled to the role no matter how he plays. I don't understand how you don't put Kindl up he has been great and has more experience

[rick zombo 3,739]

You mean if he got the chance to play with and around Lids like everyone else did? We got Ian White to play with Lids and like I said before, a pilon could be +20 with Lids and get 40 points. White got low 30's I believe.

Yup. That's what I meant,