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Anisimov traded for Smith; What's next?

July 17, 2019, 6:24 AM ET [588 Comments]
Tyler Cameron
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT


Stan Bowman finally made the move we were all waiting for. Well, kinda.

I have been hearing that it was only a matter of time that Artem Anisimov was dealt.

When acquired, Anisimov was that coveted 2C that Bowman was looking for. He liked him so much, Anisimov was inked to a 5 year / $22.7M deal before the 6'4 Russian centre stepped on the ice for the Blackhawks.

I'm not going to say it was a bad move, just a little unorthodox from Bowman and Co.

He was a good soldier for Chicago and slide into the 2nd line nicely and played his best hockey with Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin. I mean, who wouldn't play their best hockey with those guys though.

However, after Panarin left, Anisimov was just kind of there. He played in all situations and was a consistent 20 goal scorer for 3 consecutive seasons until his 15 goal campaign last year.

Then, Dylan Strome supplanted him in the top 6 and AA seemingly was a man without a proper role.

He still played on the PK and a little on the PP, but his style is not conducive to that 3rd line role.

In Ottawa, he will play in the top 6 - or at least he should but who knows what's going on with the Sens these days.

Finally, I'm sure Artem was ready to move on as well. I mean c'mon… how do you think he felt when he saw this:




Now, let's get into "the return", better known as Zack Smith.



(Courtesy: Chicago Blackhawks)

Versatility and competitive edge.

These are the things Bowman repeated during his take on the trade.

Let's take a deeper look into what the Hawks are getting in the 31-year-old.

Screen-Shot-2019-07-16-at-9-12-40-PM

Screen-Shot-2019-07-16-at-9-13-07-PM


What Smith isn't?

Smith is not going to be a big scorer. Bowman pointed out those 25 goals he scored in 2015-16 when he played with skilled players Pageau and Stone.

By all accounts, that season was a bit of an outlier. Smith is a guy that should be able to get you between 10-15 goals and 25-30 points. His average was 10 goals and 26 points over the last 3 years.

Smith is not the fastest guy and he isn't going to wow you with his skill.


What Smith is?

Smith is also an amazing team guy and a coach's dream (just ask Marc Crawford who raved about Smith after coaching him for a few years).

He had a couple of injuries in his career (wrist being the big one) but overall he is a durable dude. He's averaged 73 games in the last 4 seasons.

Smith is a bigger guy at 6'2 / 208 lbs, is super competitive and plays with an edge. As Bowman stated he's hard to play against. He is better suited for that bottom 6 checking role. He started 58.7% of his faceoffs in the defensive zone last year.

He's physical. He averaged 135 hits over the last 4 years. His 136 hits last year would have led the Hawks.

He is also – as mentioned above – versatile, with the ability to play centre or wing.

Zack Smith is a class act. Nice note here:





Lastly, he is a guy that will go to the dirty areas. While that 25 goal season in 2015-16 isn't going to be the norm for Smith, it's still fun to look at his goals. Here's every single one of them from that year; look at how hard he worked for some of these:



(Courtesy: Drake Orunitia)


What's next?

This trade opened up another $1.3M in salary cap space for the Hawks to sign Brendon Perlini. That's the belief anyway.

Is there a chance that the Hawks move on from Perlini? Yes. Bowman did not mention his name once in his interview with the media. He just mentioned the cap flexibility.

The more the summer goes on, the less leverage Perlini has with the Hawks. He is also staring down the barrel of the forward logjam and will need to fit for everyday playing time on the Hawks.

What I don't like about moving Anisimov, a true centre (even though he was terrible on draws) was that the Hawks got weaker down the middle.

I'm ok with the trade as I think Smith is a lunch pail kind of player that fits better in that bottom 6. He will be a great leader for the younger players and if the Hawks can make it into the playoffs, he's a guy with experience.

Smith has 45 NHL playoff games under his belt. In his most recent run with the Senators in 2016-17, he averaged 16:11 of ice time. He had 6 points, 42 hits and was 48.5% successful on the draw.

Bowman talked a lot more like the coach of the Blackhawks in his interview about where guys fit in the lineup, but ultimately, where everyone fits will be up to the players and Colliton and his staff.

The 3rd line centre spot will be up for grabs and it looks like the main candidates are Kampf, Smith, Shaw and Dach.

I think Smith fits in better as a winger from what I've seen of him. Maybe he's a guy that fits well on the 3rd line taking faceoffs on his strong side with a right-handed centre taking the draws on their strong side. Those righty potentials would be Shaw and Dach… however, I'm just spitballin' at this point.

I'll have a deeper dive into the potential lineup as the summer goes on. Who knows, maybe Stan will make another trade or signing before training camp. He has been one of the most active GM this offseason.


--

I will leave you with this; Arty was a good dude who did everything the Hawks asked of him. He never complained (from what I heard) and I hope it's not too much of a gong-show in Ottawa.

You've come along way since this incident AA.



(Courtesy: BlueLineStation)


Enjoy the Nation's Capital!


See ya out there!

TC
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