San Jose Sharks forward Will Smith has finally stepped up in the way his head coach has wanted him to.
Smith has five points in his last four games (three goals, two assists). Although all of those points came in two of those four games, Smith’s impact on the game has been much better as of late.
Smith’s effort and aggressiveness from a shift-to-shift standpoint have taken a step forward. The Sharks forward is up to nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) in nine games so far this season.
Against the Los Angeles Kings, Smith finished with an expected goals for percentage of 90.69%, according to Natural Stat Trick. That ranked third on the Sharks for the game behind his two linemates.
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Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky detailed what is working so well for Smith besides rejoining Macklin Celebrini’s line.
“Will has been a lot better. Competing for pucks, more engaged without the puck, and being in the right spots defensively,” Warsofsky said. “[He’s] winning more pucks down low, and being more comfortable fighting the panic on the walls.”
A perfect example of fighting the panic on the walls would be the pass he made to Celebrini at the end of the second period to complete Celebrini’s hat trick against the New York Rangers.
Board play is arguably the biggest thing the San Jose Sharks’ young forward needed to learn as he switches to the wing. After playing center for his entire life, Smith and the Sharks have decided to slide him to the wing.
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Part of the decision was to keep him and Celebrini together, but with Michael Misa in the fold, Smith’s skill set fits better at wing than Misa.
Warsofsky detailed the specific habits that Smith is improving, which have led to his recent success.
“The big thing is staying off the walls. He gets his back put up against the wall quite a bit, and that’s not a great spot to be in. He’s getting better at that. He works hard on it,” Warsofsky said.
“Before practice, after practice, of things that we’ve talked to him about. In practice, you don’t get a lot of it, but there’s been a lot of video of what we’re expecting and what we need from him to continue taking steps in the right direction. We forget he’s only 20 years old.”
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Warsofsky sent Smith a stern message during the preseason. The San Jose Sharks coach told reporters that Smith had an “inconsistent” training camp. The step up Warsofsky has been searching for appears to have happened.
Smith will continue to play with Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli on the Sharks’ top line.
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