by Michael Ham-Fan, Staff Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine
MONTREAL, QC. — Let’s start by declaring that I am not ready to give up on Devante Smith-Pelly, yet. (How’s that for an opening?) Needless to say, Smith-Pelly’s first 10 games with the Montreal Canadiens have been lackluster. The 22-year-old forward has recorded just one assist with his new team and most importantly, it appears that he is lacking intensity.
The 6-foot, 222 pound right-winger was acquired, on February 24th, from the Anaheim Ducks, in return for forward Jiri Sekac.
The Anaheim Ducks’ entourage initially described Smith-Pelly as a hard-hitter who can score big goals, but who sometimes lacks intensity and willpower. Smith-Pelly has been hitting a lot, 32 hits in 10 games to be precise. That is one aspect that we cannot criticize him for. His offensive production, on the other hand, is problematic. The young forward has only put up one point in 10 games, while playing over 11 minutes in all of them. Actually, the most worrying part is that he is not getting scoring opportunities either.
With all that said, I still think that we should give him more than 10 games before calling this trade a bad one. He is still only 22 years old, and he has come from a very offensive team to a very defensive one in the middle of the season. His play in the playoffs and his play next year will be more telling of what he can really bring to this team.
In my book, I do not think that it is necessarily a problem of intensity. When you observe his play without the puck, he doesn’t exactly make wrong decisions. However, it seems that his foot speed is causing problems, especially now that he is in the Eastern Conference, where teams play a more high-tempo style.
You can look at his hit totals from the 10 games he has played. Against the Los Angeles Kings, a team he knows well and a team that doesn’t play a high pace game, Smith-Pelly put up eight hits. Afterwards, looking at his hit totals in his two games against Tampa Bay, he has one single hit per game.
The Tampa Bay Lightning is, in general, a faster team than the Canadiens, and for the players that aren’t quick on their skates, like Smith-Pelly, it is much harder for them to keep up with the quicker opposing team, which makes them look bad.
In my opinion, his impact in the playoffs will depend on the matchup that the Canadiens will get. Against a team like the Boston Bruins, I can see Smith-Pelly being a contributing factor, but against teams like Tampa Bay or Detroit, he will be hard to notice.
Following the Canadiens – Sharks game on March 2nd, Michel Therrien said that it would be a priority for the team to get Smith-Pelly into better condition. Whether he is significantly out of shape or not, I never remembered him as a player that was really quick on his feet even back in his junior days. He was always a bulky kid with a scoring touch around the net and that playing style got him drafted in the second round of the 2010 NHL draft despite his average skating.
The adaptation to the NHL has been hard on the Mississauga-native but I still think that it is way too early to throw in the towel on him. Easier said than done, but if he could work on his skating and find a way to adapt himself to the Canadiens’ style, he could be a useful player, as the Canadiens lack heavy-weight players and hard hitting players.
If it doesn’t turn out to be a good trade, it would be one of General Manager Marc Bergevin’s first bad moves. It is also interesting to note that Jiri Sekac had a great start to his stint as a Duck with three points in his first five games, but he has cooled down and has been pointless in his last five and shot-less in his last three. He is, also, seeing his ice-time trending downwards, just like Smith-Pelly.
When a trade concerns two very young players, it often takes a while before we can judge of who got the best end of the deal. Obviously, Habs fans want to see Smith-Pelly contribute more to the team’s success as soon as possible, but his evaluation will be a long-term one and patience is necessary.
Sources :
http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8475758&season=20142015&view=log
http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8478137&season=20142015&view=log
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=116086