Craig Smith is focused on finding a role with Capitals: I want to prove myself
ANAHEIM, Calif. — It’s a weird time for the Washington Capitals and for the newly acquired Craig Smith.
The Caps are sellers for the first time in 15 years and Smith is a 33-year-old unrestricted-free-agent-to-be, playing for a team aiming to reinvent itself on the fly and get younger.
“It’s always in the back of your mind,” Smith said of being traded to D.C. last week in a complex deal that sent Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway to Boston. “It’s a part of the game. It happens. When your ticket is called, you take it all in. There’s a lot going on but at the same time you just have to control what you can control.”
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With the trade deadline just three days away, a sense of anxiousness hung over Tuesday’s practice at Honda Center.
For good reason.
By the time Smith and his teammates boarded the team bus after the hour-long session, General Manager Brian MacLellan had executed two more trades, sending winger Marcus Johansson to Minnesota for a 2024 third-round pick and acquiring defenseman Rasmus Sandin from Toronto for defenseman Erik Gustafsson and the Bruins’ first-round pick.
And MacLellan might not be done.
The Athletic’s most recent NHL trade board ranks three other Capitals as potential targets — Lars Eller at No. 15, Nick Jensen at No. 17 and Conor Sheary at No. 18. On Tuesday night, Jensen signed a three-year extension with a $4.05 million cap hit.
All three are on expiring deals and would be solid additions for a contending team seeking to gird itself ahead of the stretch run and the playoffs. It could also make sense for MacLellan to trade them as he attempts to reshape the roster amid a disappointing, injury-plagued campaign.
To be clear: MacLellan’s goal is not a tear-it-down rebuild. His plan is to parlay a handful of 30-something veterans for picks, prospects and young NHLers who could step in immediately and help return the Alex Ovechkin core to contender status sooner than later. An example would be Sandin, 22. Or 24-year-old Arizona defenseman Jakob Chychrun; he’s No. 3 in The Athletic’s ranking and has been linked to Washington.
This is uncharted territory for the Ovi-era Caps. In fact, the last sell-off was all the way back in 2007 — Ovechkin’s second season — when Richard Zednik, Dainius Zubrus and Jamie Heward were flipped for picks.
So, where does this all leave Smith?
Even he isn’t quite sure.
Last Thursday, he was napping in his hotel room in Seattle when Boston coach Jim Montgomery knocked on the door. The Bruins were in town to play the Kraken that night.
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“The whole team was sleeping at that point,” said Smith, a 12th-year veteran who had not been traded previously. “I appreciate the face-to-face.”
In 42 games, Smith had recorded four goals and six assists in 42 games for the NHL-leading Bruins, skating primarily as the right wing on the third line. His inclusion in the deal was necessary to make the salary cap math work on Boston’s end.
Two days later, Smith was in Washington, meeting his new teammates and prepping for the New York Rangers at Capital One Arena. After that game, he boarded the Caps’ charter for a 10-day road trip to Buffalo, Anaheim, San Jose and Los Angeles.
“The first couple of days,” he said. “I don’t think you sleep very well, especially with travel that doesn’t really add up, too. It was a tiring couple of days. But just going through it all, you always expect something might happen around that time. The hair goes up on the back of your neck.”
In his first two games with the Caps, Smith skated on the second line with Sheary and Nicklas Backstrom, averaging 11:28 of ice. He’s looking for his first point.
“He’s working hard,” Coach Peter Laviolette said. “He brings some speed and grit and tenacity to the lineup. It’s an opportunity for him based on some of the people that have been out of the lineup to jump in, jump up the lineup and get a look.”
Smith played six seasons under Laviolette when both were in Nashville, which has proved to be a big help in terms of familiarity with schemes and expectations.
“It’s like riding a bike, basically,” he said. “You’ve just got to get back into it and get in the right mindset.”
In the near term, Smith is focused on finding a role with the Caps, who’ll have 19 games remaining after Wednesday’s game against the Ducks.
“For me, I want to prove myself just to this room,” he said, “and figure out where I’m going to fit best.”
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“It’s just day-by-day, man,” he added. “I’m literally going day-by-day here.”
“Day-by-day” is a cliche but it’s probably the right approach for Smith, particularly after a wild day for the Caps and around the league. The deadline is Friday at 3 p.m., and MacLellan is still wheeling and dealing.
“It’s the deadline,” Laviolette said, asked about the level of anxiety his players are experiencing. “Everybody probably feels a little bit of it. The message for our team is just to practice today, focus on the game tomorrow. Execute some things better than we did in Buffalo and look to win a hockey game.”
Could a contender use the type of depth that Smith adds?
It’s crossed his mind.
“I mean, yeah, I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “It was maybe a thought that I had at first. That was one of the questions I had. I’ll let things settle where they may. I’m just a day at a time here. I’m just trying to gear myself up for tomorrow.”
(Photo of Craig Smith and Evgeny Kuznetsov: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
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