Givani Smith’s Promising Camp Bodes Well for Hurricanes’ Depth
September 29, 2025
Givani Smith’s Promising Camp Bodes Well for Hurricanes’ Depth
3 comments
I’ve enjoyed seeing his grit and willingness to step in when someone was taking liberties with one of the Canes. A team needs that, especially come playoff time.
he looked fantastic in the preseason, definitely made the shortlist for callups
I’ve seen enough to take him… his passing looked a little weak in game 1 but that could have been from a variety of factors (ie. other guys not being where they’re supposed to be, when they’re supposed to be there, or smith not knowing the same, or just game 1 jitters in a new system)…. But that’s easily coachable.
Human behavior is much harder to teach and Givani has that in spades via the grit we need in forechecking and applying pressure, digging and leveraging his body along the boards to win puck battles, as well as the obvious enforcer role to make teams think twice before laying hits on aho/jarvy/blake/etc.
3 comments
I’ve enjoyed seeing his grit and willingness to step in when someone was taking liberties with one of the Canes. A team needs that, especially come playoff time.
he looked fantastic in the preseason, definitely made the shortlist for callups
I’ve seen enough to take him… his passing looked a little weak in game 1 but that could have been from a variety of factors (ie. other guys not being where they’re supposed to be, when they’re supposed to be there, or smith not knowing the same, or just game 1 jitters in a new system)…. But that’s easily coachable.
Human behavior is much harder to teach and Givani has that in spades via the grit we need in forechecking and applying pressure, digging and leveraging his body along the boards to win puck battles, as well as the obvious enforcer role to make teams think twice before laying hits on aho/jarvy/blake/etc.
Smith and Nikishin would be a hell of a line
