Will Smith on Playing Wing in NHL for 1st Time: ‘It’s whatever they want’

PHILADELPHIA — The San Jose Sharks have opened the door to Will Smith playing wing in the NHL.

Smith had played exclusively at center throughout his rookie campaign, going pointless in his first eight games, but coming on recently with two goals and one assist in his last four.

But on Monday at Wells Fargo Center, Smith made his NHL debut at wing, flanking Alex Wennberg with Barclay Goodrow.

“We’ve liked our three centers there with Macklin, Granny, and Wenny there. And Sturm,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said about Macklin Celebrini, Mikael Granlund, Alex Wennberg, and Nico Sturm. “So try to give Will a different look on the wing.”

This was a different tune than the San Jose Sharks were singing a month ago.

“We’re not there yet. We’re going to continue to work with him as a center,” Warsofsky said about moving Will Smith to wing in mid-October. “His future, I believe, is in the middle. So, we’ve got to continue to work on that.”

Granted, that was just three games into the season.

Anyway, Smith’s future in the league may well be at center. But it’s good to see the San Jose Sharks being flexible. Smith, as he’s always maintained, says he’s open to the positional change.

“It’s obviously different jobs. But besides that, you got to know how to play each position and be ready for it,” Smith said. “I think I can play either one, it’s whatever they want to put me on, I’ll play. It’s something I want to be is versatile.”

The hope is likely to alleviate Smith’s defensive burden and open things up for him offensively. His recent scoring surge featured both a lightning shot release and deceptive playmaking, which perhaps we’ll see even more of on the wing.

Also, the Sharks’ best line-up is arguably Celebrini, Granlund, Wennberg, and Sturm at center.

However, it was a rough introduction to playing wing in the NHL for Smith.

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On his first shift, Smith (2) was doing the right thing covering for a pinching Jan Rutta (84) — when a defenseman attacks, it’s the forward’s responsibility to back him up.

However, Smith was too aggressive creeping down for offense, and then hesitated on the backcheck.

“I got stopped up and took a look, and by that time, they were already gone,” Smith admitted. “It was on me there. Obviously, I need to be better there.”

Playing wing might mean less defensive responsibility, but not none.

Anyway, changing positions in the fastest league in the world isn’t easy. Smith has played wing at times before but doesn’t have a wealth of experience on it.

Hopefully?

“You’re slashing more to the neutral zone and different jobs off the faceoff, so I get a little more speed,” Smith said about wing.

As always, give the 19-year-old time.

“Thought he did some things, made some plays, and at times he struggled. Got to play with a little bit more pace without the puck,” Warsofsky said. “But big learning curve for him against a heavy team.”