Well then, nobody quite expected this. At least to begin the year, Zack Smith will either be playing in Bellevile or an a different NHL team:
Zack Smith was placed on waivers at noon today. #Sens
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) September 25, 2018
Smith still has 3 years left on his deal with a cap hit of $3.25M, and if a team wants to claim him then they will have to eat all of that money. Considering that his name has been on the trade block since last winter and a trade never materialized, I'd be shocked if a team claimed him on waivers. If a team wanted to give up a 7th round pick for him, they would have already. Furthermore, teams don't like adding depth guys like him right before the season begins because they are more willing to their own players a shot.
If he clears waivers, then the Senators will get a bit of cap relief, although it's not like they really need it:
per @SunGarrioch, #Sens have placed forward Zack Smith on waivers. Should Smith clear waivers, and is assigned to Belleville, the Sens would receive $1.025M in cap relief, reducing his cap hit to $2,225,000 against Ottawa's salary cap during any such loan. https://t.co/JyzwZRQRyr
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) September 25, 2018
When I was looking at who would make the opening night roster, Smith was always on the list for locks. That doesn't mean he totally deserves a roster spot though, because his results last year were pretty horrendous. Yes, he had a fantastic 2015-16 season where he scored 25 goals, but that was more of an anomaly than anything. I also don't think he's quite as bad as he was in 2017-18, but it's not like losing him causes a massive hole:
Zack Smith, in a tweetshell.
— Sean Tierney (@ChartingHockey) September 25, 2018
- He was dreadful last year, managing a GAR only better than Phaneuf's for OTT.
- his GAR over time has oft been negative
- he gets a lot of shots but wasted many opportunities last year and still only mustered 11 xG
- he doesn't create for teammates pic.twitter.com/9lp1vSp0I7
On a macro level, I actually like that Ottawa did this. Smith is certainly expendable, and by taking him off the roster, both Colin White and Filip Chlapik will get a chance to play, plus it looks like Alex Formenton will get a really solid look as well. It isn't easy to eat that sort of money, although I do wonder how much influence Eugene Melnyk had on this decision. Was the motivation for this due to Smith's play or due to his contract size? It could be a combination of both.
Looking at this from a different perspective though, the lack of planning and foresight from Pierre Dorion is striking. Smith signed his four-year extension in January of 2017, and a little over a year and a half later, he is deemed not good enough to be on one of the worst rosters they've ever had. At the time when he was playing phenomenal, I was hoping that they'd be able to sell high on that value, but instead they are going to lose him for nothing. It's almost as if having a larger front office and an analytics department could avoid situations like this...
Furthermore, we sometimes forget what sort of impact moves like this can have on the dressing room, as players are not robots who just play the game, they have relationships with teammates and coaches. Mark Stone and Matt Duchene are clearly upset about this, which isn't exactly good news if you want to keep both of them happy for the next nine years:
Mark Stone says its a tough day with Zack Smith being waived. Its very hard when its a good friend and a guy who welcomed me into his home when I was a rookie.
— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) September 25, 2018
Matt Duchene says Zack Smith being waived today "is a kick in the balls for us in this locker room"
— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) September 25, 2018
More Duchene:
— Brent Wallace (@tsn_wally) September 25, 2018
"It’s tough because we love Smitty. He is a great leader, he is a great player. Unfortunately, I guess, sometimes in this business, things happen that are sometimes beyond hockey reasons and things like that. It’s tough right now, we are hurting.…
This is a shocking turn of events, even if it probably won't hurt the team very much (if at all) in the end. I think White and Chlapik will be able to fill his role whether that be at centre or on the wing, and at least the team is noticing that the youth is more important right now. Hopefully no veteran gets a pass this season, because there are a few others that could easily get less ice time or cut completely.
If we assume that Smith won't be part of the team moving forward, Ottawa only has two other forwards signed past next season: Bobby Ryan and Marian Gaborik. Quite the state of affairs.