Brendan Smith’s House Has Reportedly Hit The Market…Has His Time With The Devils Come to an End?

Brendan Smith’s House Has Reportedly Hit The Market…Has His Time With The Devils Come to an End?

Brendan Smith not the best player on the rank but he’s still valuable just in a different way what do I mean by that we have a lot to break down in today’s episode of Locked on Devils buckle up everybody you’re locked on Devils your daily podcast on the New Jersey Devils part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hi this is Bryce Salvador and you’re locked on devil Trey Matthews SC oh Steven stepped up nail got the what a shot the Devils win the Stanley Cup all righty now what is up New Jersey welcome back to the lock on Devils podcast here on locked on network I’m your host College hockey pl Play announcer Del rer for Puck of pitchforks and also parttime credential Mia member Trey Matthews in today’s episode we’re gonna shake things up the last four episodes have been me covering the Sheldon Keef hiring it’s an exciting time for the New Jersey Devils organization but I think we all get the point the chief has arrived or the Keef has arrived the Devils have a new leader behind the bench it seems like a majority of the devil’s discourse is happy with the hiring I went to the press conference I gave you guys some sound bites but let’s get back to our regularly scheduled program in which I break down exit interviews from Devil’s players reflect on their season and give you guys my opinions in today’s episode we’re gonna focus on Brendan Smith now why Brendan Smith in particular well I’ve already done most of the star players for the Devils but this tweet surfaced on X courtesy of Daniel amoya of the hockey writers and he said Brendan Smith’s New Jersey house has now hit the market listed at 2 .95 million I have no idea how he knows that but I will take his word on it and I figured that’s an interesting talking point why not reflect on Brendan Smith’s time with the Devils because if we’re being completely honest I think his time has come to an end and I think he utilized what he was supposed to do and a lot of people are wondering what does Brendan Smith even do what value does he bring to the organization and I get that people have some mixed emotions in terms of his playing capabilities and that’s what we’re going to discuss on today’s episode in the first segment I will share you guys some stats and where Brendan Smith ranked amongst other Devil’s players then in the second segment I will give you my thoughts as to whether or not the Devils should resign him because he is a pending unrestricted free agent and then in the third segment just to give more context let’s reflect on his past two seasons with the devils and I’m sure a lot of people would like to hear a different perspective on Brendan Smith and the value he brought to his organization because it’s there believe it or not when reflecting on the 2023 2024 season for Brendan Smith he appeared in 63 games he had five goals that is the most goals he has scored since being a member of the New York Rangers during the 2021 56 game covid shorten season he had 10 assists for a grand total of 15 points which is the most points he netted since his time with the Red Wings during the 2015 2016 season fun fact about his five goals two of them came at the hands of the Ottawa Senators it’s a shame that the Devils don’t play him more often because maybe we could have seen Brendon Smith just tally up a few more goals here and there but here’s where we get to the meat and potatoes of his game play penalty minutes 61 second on the team right behind Kevin Ball defensive point share he had a rating of 1.8 fifth on the team blocks 101 third on the team and hits 117 fourth on the team remember I think the blocks in the hits category is where the Devils struggled for the most part because a lot of people have been complaining about their physicality and how they’re a little bit too soft but the one thing I can reassure you brended Smith certainly does not fall into that category sometimes he’s a little too chaotic for his own good we see him sometimes get beat a lot by the opposition sometimes we see him in a lot of two-on-one odd man Rush situations that he sometimes creates and there’s been a decent amount of games in which he was on the rank for a slot of goals from the opponent Brandon Smith is not the best player on the rank and I think that’s safe for me to say and he’ll even admit to it but the one thing I can respect from Brendon Smith is that he brings physicality and he was actually pretty decent on the penalty kill which is why I think he was out there on the rink the Devils actually had the 10th best penalty kill in the entire NHL tied with the pitch for Penguins so that’s where I think Brendan Smith really earned his money but we’re going to listen in to a few sound bites from Brendan Smith during exit interviews and he talked about what’s next in his career and what he hopes to accomplish come the new year take a listen Bron you talked about you know your next step your next chapter I mean have you talked about resigning or is that is that hanging up the skates talk I I don’t know uh personally I hope it’s not hanging up the Skates um um I have not talked to uh management here uh obviously I’ll be restricted to the team till what July 1st which is unrestricted free agency and uh I think I know that they have a lot of stuff going on so at this moment uh they probably have their pecking order and uh hopefully there’ll be some talk and and see where I stand I love it here uh I do want to be back um but more than that I want to be back in the end so we’ll see how that goes um and I thought I had a good year and and helped out uh in multiple ways I know that um my voice or my my game away from on the ice is proba almost as impactful or more than it is on the ice but uh I’m still very pleased where I’m at as as a hockey player in this in this league and uh um and so we’ll see how everything unfolds uh but uh if I’m if I’m back I I’ll be quite happy because like I just said in my cliche answers we did take a step back but I want to be a part of that club going forward and um I think we have the right tools there’s probably a couple things that uh additions that we can can use and that’s like guys that were injured coming back it’s not even just like additions to the team but it’s like douy coming back it’s like a lot of guys that kind of filling in and and um I want to be a part of that so we’ll see how that all goes but uh right now it’s just kind of deal with um everything U at foot at the moment and then uh go forth I know a lot of people have their opinions on Brendan Smith but the one thing I love from him is that he knows how to speak and I love interviewing him I’ve interviewed I believe every single Devil’s player from this season and last and he is one of my top five players to interview even if he’s not the best player on the rank he’s detail oriented he’s well spoken he goes into more areas than I think a lot of players will do during their postgame interviews or pregame interviews whatever the case might be the bottom line is Brennan Smith is one of the top five players that I love to interact with in the locker room and I got to give credit to Christy flandry the hockey news for getting me HIIT to Brandon Smith before I got my credentials because last season I was talking about how he should be waved or he’s taking up an extra spot and Christie enlightened me and she was like you need to talk to him in the locker room because he’s a ball of energy and that sort of leaks over to the rest of the team and that’s going to lead into my next talking point Brendan Smith touched on his future how he was a little unsure and honestly it was somewhat heartbreaking because Brendan Smith is a nice guy but you hear the old saying nice guys finish last and this is a business and he’s already put his house on the market according to Daniel amoya which means I don’t think his future in New Jersey is likely but we’ll talk about that momentarily before we continue I want to tell you guys 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price guaranteed all right before I give my thoughts on Brandon Smith and what his future might look like with the Devils I want to play a sound bite in which he reflects on the season in general in which he talks about what went wrong for the Devils what was their demise and he Compares this Devil’s team to last year’s team and he gave some concrete examples as to what went wrong and the reason I want to play this sound bite is because I think this should Enlighten a lot of people as to what Brendon Smith is like behind the scenes take a listen um Smitty obviously you were here last year you were here this year where where did things kind of go wrong for this group maybe injuries aside yeah uh yep um I I don’t like wrong yeah the part there when you say it wrong I think that I mean it’s the best league in the world um and obviously injury there’s a lot of variables but obviously injuries was a big part of that um I think last year was as you’re talking about me being here last year I thought last year we we had an amazing year I think we rode the wave of um early in the season where I talked about that’s where you kind of need to get your points because then it kind of solidifies you uh down the end and we did the opposite uh this year where we didn’t get them early and then we were kind of in a dog fight late and uh and then that’s where you it becomes really difficult cuz everybody’s trying to everybody’s scoreboard watching them trying to find out what they need and H how many points and how to sneak out points and uh the games get a lot tighter and I’ve talked to you about that where like it feels like there’s three different seasons during the season and um if you can kind of get yourself in the playoffs around Thanksgiving Christmas time it really gives you that that chance and when you say wrong we’re everybody’s like measured on the playoffs right and that’s what we’re measuring I know that’s what I we’re talking about here but um there was a lot of great stuff that we did um but we are in the business of of winning and I understand that and and not making the playoffs is it hurts and I uh in my career I haven’t missed the playoffs much so um obviously late uh in my career it hurts a little bit more so this one’s uh this one’s going to sting cuz I don’t really know what’s the next chapter for myself and uh where that takes me so um it’s tough but to put one thing on what what did it for us I’m not sure there I think there’s just accumulation of of a lot of things and um we unfortunately did have a lot of man loss games and that never really helps Brenda Smith sounds like a coach there’s no easy way for me to say it and I think he’s well aware that he has the the smarts to someday be a coach and now it raises the important question should the Devils resign him I really want to play Devil’s Advocate no pun attendant say yes because he does bring some leadership inside the locker room but if I’m being realistic here I’m going to have to say no I don’t think the Devils should resign him because there’s no room for him and the Devils I think one of their goals this offseason is to find more physicality on the defensive side of things and maybe find someone who’s like Brandon Smith but a lot more efficient if that makes sense because Brendan Smith like I said in the first segment the one thing I can’t deny is that he definitely wore his emotions on his sleeve and he does play physical and a lot of people say like no one sticks up for the star players I remember being in attendance for this game it was around American Thanksgiving Day the Devils were taking on the Buffalo Sabers and remember that was the return of Nico heer who missed nearly a month of action due to a head injury he sustained at the hands of Conor Clifton and because of that hit Clifton was suspended for two games first game back for niiko keeser it was a against that Sabers team and Brandon Smith wasted no time and he went after Conor Clifton and got revenge for Clifton hurting his captain I think that speaks volume as to what Brendan Smith brings to the table and even if he’s not the best out there he does put in a lot of effort I can’t deny that but unfortunately it doesn’t matter the amount of effort you’re put in if the results don’t really speak for themselves and the reality of it is is like Brendan Smith kind of put the Devils into a lot of peculiar and uncomfortable positions but he’s not the only one if I’m being completely Fair the the entire Devil’s blue line was nonexistent at times like shimo NTS Luke Hughes douge Hamilton great offensive weapons but they’re not really going to hold down the for on the defensive side of things but speaking of which Brendon Smith doesn’t really stick out on offense either and I think Brendan Smith should have been utilized as a forward more often I remember being uh in the Press Box when he was first assigned to play a forward position I was actually sitting next to Gabby Nordstrom of uh Jersey sporting news and she’s appeared on this show before and we were both just in shock when we saw the lineup combinations I’m like oh no no no no no no no no and Gabby was like what did you see because she saw it before I did and I think that was a funny story that I don’t think I’ve told on this show but anyway Brenda Smith actually surprised me when he was a forward and the one thing I could say about Brendan Smith is that he’s full of surprises he’s not a threat to score but when he does score it does Electrify uh the the the fans and his teammates a little bit because I think one of his goals was a breakaway goal against the Ottawa Senators and I think that was his first goal in over a year because last season he didn’t score for the Devils this year he walked away with five goals the most since 2021 like I said Brendon Smith is just an interesting character to say the least and I wish him the best but I don’t think the devil should lose sight on him and I know what you guys are thinking but you literally just said the devil shouldn’t resign him well they shouldn’t resign him as a player but I think there’s some sort of role for him and we’ll talk about that momentarily all right during exit interviews Brandon Smith was asked to reflect on his past two seasons with the Devils here’s what he had to say just looking back at these two years with New Jersey what is it like to be a part of this organization and what is it like to have these fans yeah now you’re trying to get me to be emotional like that’s um that was probably my highlight of the year uh was a cancer Jam uh on top of that all the guys that showed up for me that meant a ton you seen every we go so that was very for me that meant everything the fans that showed up um everybody when I’m leaving the rank chanting my name because of that I think I think that was one of my favorite moments because uh it showed what the community is like and uh I was fortunate to be with the Red Wings and the Rangers for 5 plus years and I was only here for 2 years and I feel very close to these this fan base so that meant a lot and uh it was cool so uh like I said if I’m back I’m going to do it again and try to be even more um invol involved in in the community and um uh so uh yeah you got me there but yeah no it’s uh it means a lot I I I love it here my wife loves it here the family we really enjoyed and uh we we like to make this home for for a long time but uh like it’s a business and we’ll have to see how everything unfolds but um I thought um I got real close with the fan base and it was it was great to kind of see what they’re like and be a part of them once again it’s just I I I’m running out of adjectives to describe it it’s just emotional when you listen to Brandon Smith speak and I don’t want to see anyone lose their job I don’t want to see anyone get the the can and I really want Brendan Smith to be a part of a Stanley Cup team because he’s been in this league for a while and he hasn’t missed a play us often similar to what he alluded to in one of those sound bites and that’s for good reason similar to Eric Holla is because they actually bring some value to the roster more than what you think more than what meets the eye let’s just talk about his past two seasons I think Tom ferel brought on Brendan Smith because he’s been in the league for a while and he knows what it takes to win Brendon Smith he’s played with the Detroit Red Wings when they were still good he’s played with the New York Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes basically Brenda Smith has played on playoff caliber rosters and remember he was coached under Mike Babcock during his tenure with the Red Wings and he doesn’t have too many nice things to say but that still goes a long way because he learns what not to do when leading a team despite having Championship pedigree I’m not saying that Smith has the championship pedigree I’m saying that Babcock had it but lost sight of it digressing a little bit Brendan Smith brought a lot of leadership to this team and I think that’s very valuable and I think that was one of the reasons why the Devils had a lot of chemistry last season is because when you bring in veterans like Eric kala on palot Brendan Smith guys who’ve been in winning situations before it really whips the young guys into shape that’s why when when you don’t see the impact from Hala palot or Smith night in and night out it’s still there it just doesn’t show up in the score sheet it shows up in the locker room that’s why Andre palot is one of the alternate captains of this roster Brendan Smith the past two years I would say say from a leadership standpoint it was productive because I would argue and say that he was one of the nicest guys in the locker room and I think he’s well respected amongst his peers yes it didn’t really translate all that well on the ice but he was still impactful just in a different way and this leads into my final discussion which is I think Brendan Smith if he decides to hang up the skates maybe Tom feral should entertain the idea of bring him back as an advisor of some sorts just so he can still be around the roster and he can probably get his feet wet and be primed to take a coaching position or a front office position because you just see certain players and it just goes off in your head saying like yep they are born to do something like that and I think Brendan Smith has it he has the smarts to be a coach he has the Cadence he has the personality or he can be in the front off office in some sort of role I think there is a role from Brandon Smith in this league just not as a player he’s getting up there in age a little bit he’s not all that productive I think he can definitely have some sort of role carved out for himself with this Devil’s organization so I wouldn’t say keep that house on the market Brandon Smith I really hope Tom Ferro gives him a call if he decides to hang out the skates and say we got a new opportunity for you and you might like it anyway those are my thoughts on Brandon Smith basically not the best one on the rank I don’t think the devil should resign him as a player but if they bring him in some sort of different capacity into the organization I’m all for that take it from me he is a great guy and I just love interacting with him and I think that should shine a light and give you guys a different perspective as to what Brandon Smith is like as a player well let me know what you guys think what did you think of brandan Smith and where do you think he’ll end up in the future because I don’t think it’s going to be with New Jersey I’m curious to hear you guys’ thoughts hit me up on my personal xpage app at trat 4 or the shows xpage app at lockon Devils as’s episode that’s all time I have for you continue to stay safe have a wonderful day in New Jersey no Devils I’ll catch you guys in next episode thanks for listening once again

Brendan Smith’s house in New Jersey has reportedly hit the market at $2.95 million. This probably means that his time with the Devils is coming to an end. He is an interesting player. He doesn’t perform all that well on the ice, however, he’s a joy in the locker. He is the epitome of what a veteran player should be.

Interview soundbite: Brendan Smith (Courtesy of the New Jersey Devils)

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