Brendan Smith

[martinezsvsu 240]

trade him. hes good at offense and sucks at defense.

[Dabura 12,232]

What we really need is for Lids to sit him down and punch him in the face, repeatedly.

[dat's sick 1,002]

trade him. hes good at offense and sucks at defense.

If only he was good at offense. He shows glimpses, but if he'd produce I'd forgive some defensive errors.

[nuts2u 22]

Ericsson and Kindl were both like that. We knew that they had potential, but it was hard to see beyond flashes here and there.

I'm not ready to punt on Smith yet. I also don't want him playing big minutes yet. Hopefully he'll have a good season in the not-too-distant future and come around.

As was Jiri Fischer.

[Guest fat guy in a maltby jersey]

smith simply is not that intelligent

he makes stupid plays

he says stupid things

he even has a stupid look on his face


"DERP"

it was unfortunate that they used that high pick on a dumb player

Edited October 20, 2013 by fat guy in a maltby jersey

[Nevermind 363]

Smith+Tatar+draft pick for Dan Girardi when the Rangers realize they're not gonna make the playoffs. Would anyone make that deal?

Kronwall-Girardi

Dekeyser-Ericsson

Quincey-Kindl

Lashoff

[Red Crazy 201]

Brendan Smith might get better but I don't think that he is not replaceable. I say shop him and if good value can be had let him go. Lashoff>Smith

[evilmrt 636]

Quincey holds back Smith as far as development goes.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Difference to me is that E had a great stretch when he first came up, then took a step back but atleast we knew he had it in him. Also I don't think he was ever quite as bad as Smith is defensively. Imagine how bad Smith would look if we still had Lids, Raffi and Stuart? E was the weakest link of a stacked defense, Smith is by far the weakest link of a much less stacked D.

Yes but wasn't Ericsson paired with Lidstrom a lot during that great stretch?

You could put me on the ice in my socks but if I'm paired with Lidstrom I'll probably end up looking ok. Pair me with Quincey and it's a different story.

[Nyquistfan14 489]

Smith will be okay. If he had a better partner that would help. It baffles me that he doesn't get 2nd unit pp time. He's an offensive dman use him like one

[Dabura 12,232]

Yes but wasn't Ericsson paired with Lidstrom a lot during that great stretch?

You could put me on the ice in my socks but if I'm paired with Lidstrom I'll probably end up looking ok. Pair me with Quincey and it's a different story.

See: White, Ian.

[VM1138 1,921]

Ericsson would have great stretches offset by worst-timed stupidity that cost the team games.

Thus far, Smith hasn't had great stretches. Ericsson worked out but there's nothing to make is expect Smith to work out. Smith lacks confidence and as a result is always jumpy. I don't remember a lack of confidence being a flaw of Ericsson's. He worked to fix things and they got fixed. Smith says he will work on things but he continues to look totally shaken at all times.

That being said, he should be given more time.

[rick zombo 3,739]

Interesting. Ouellet's been recalled.

http://kuklaskorner.com/tmr/comments/wings-recall-helm-and-ouellet-send-glendening-to-grand-rapids

[matthewdanna 143]

Ericsson and Kindl were both like that. We knew that they had potential, but it was hard to see beyond flashes here and there.

I'm not ready to punt on Smith yet. I also don't want him playing big minutes yet. Hopefully he'll have a good season in the not-too-distant future and come around.

This is exactly right. Smith is where Kindl was two years ago. Then he has a game like tonight and you can see his potential. I think a lot of it is mental: Focus and Confidence

[marcaractac 3,963]

When it comes down to it, fast forward a couple years and so many people here will be pretty full from eating all that crow.

[Z Winged Dangler 2,082]

Quincey holds back Smith as far as development goes.

Smith and Ouellet were awesome last night, so there is that to back up your statement. I guess time will tell.

[BadgerBob 297]

I'm more upset that we wasted a first round pick on trading for Quincey. If you ask me he's the most expendable guy on D. Smith was awesome for the Badgers and hasn't even played a full 82 game season. I'd say for his experience he's doing okay. We've been pretty spoiled with our defensmen and I think our expectations for players right away are a little too high.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

When it comes down to it, fast forward a couple years and so many people here will be pretty full from eating all that crow.

I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Not that Smith won't be good, I think he will. But some people here still have heaping leftovers of crow from Ericsson that they haven't touched.

[kipwinger 8,755]

In case some of you missed it, Kyle Quincey stepped up big time last night against a VERY good hockey team and played pretty damned well. Probably the best d-man on the ice aside from Dekeyser. I have no idea why people are saying he's the most expendable, or that he's holding back Smith's development. The only thing holding Smith back is lack of experience and dim witted decision making, not Kyle Quincey, he's been very good this year.

Also, kudos to Jakub Kindl for his minutes last night. While I noticed him turning the puck over A LOT, I had no idea the kind of minutes he logged for the first time in his NHL career. Atta boy kid.

Finally, Brendan Smith. Good game. Keep it up.

[Euro_Twins 4,485]

I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Not that Smith won't be good, I think he will. But some people here still have heaping leftovers of crow from Ericsson that they haven't touched.

Ya and I'm still picking up bits of my tv and remote from big rig lol

[CMatt89 63]

Learn to love it. Brendan Smith is a Red Wing. Lower the expectation to the point where you can just simply enjoy watching him play. He's good, and he's learning how to play the hard way. Which only will help him in the long run. If the general opinions of fans towards a player is negative, that leaks all the way down through the media, coaching staff, teammates, and even the player. Accept him for who he is, a Red Wing. If everyone loved Smith for just being being a Wing, that positive energy from the fans will leak all the way down to the player. Thus, having a positive impact on his play, leaving every one fully satisfied in the end. Go Wings.

[TheXym 2,606]

I don't think it's necessarily that Quincey sucks or Smith sucks, more that they just don't mix as a pairing so it brings out the worst in them since neither is comfortable with the other. I couldn't tell you why that is, but it seems that way to me. Last night they were paired with different partners and both looked much better, imho.

Edited October 22, 2013 by TheXym

[Guest Crymson]

Smith had a decent game last night. Quincey has had three good games in a row. The common denominator: they weren't paired. I hope that Babcock will take note.

[Dabura 12,232]

When it comes down to it, fast forward a couple years and so many people here will be pretty full from eating all that crow.

I've little doubt that he's going to become a dominant defenseman in this league. My concern is the time it will take for him to get there relative to the time we have left with Z and D as true forces to be reckoned with. He is (or was) one of our more attractive assets outside the core group, and if he could be packaged away for, say, a defenseman who's already dominant, I might be very tempted to pull that trigger. That's my big thing in this discussion.

Making it a bit easier to pull that trigger would be the depth of our blue line prospects pool. Sproul, Ouellet, Almqvist, The Rise of DeKeyser....

[Hockeymom1960 5,107]

Learn to love it. Brendan Smith is a Red Wing. Lower the expectation to the point where you can just simply enjoy watching him play. He's good, and he's learning how to play the hard way. Which only will help him in the long run. If the general opinions of fans towards a player is negative, that leaks all the way down through the media, coaching staff, teammates, and even the player. Accept him for who he is, a Red Wing. If everyone loved Smith for just being being a Wing, that positive energy from the fans will leak all the way down to the player. Thus, having a positive impact on his play, leaving every one fully satisfied in the end. Go Wings.

I couldn't have said it better