San Jose Sharks
Preview/Lines #27: Will Smith To Play 1st Back-to-Back, What Has He Gained From Development Days?
Will Smith is on a heater — three-straight multi-point games — but Ryan Warsofsky says that has nothing to do with Smith playing in the first back-to-back of his career on Saturday night.
Smith hasn’t played back-to-back games so far this season, part of a development plan this year to get the NCAA star acclimated to an 82-game NHL schedule.
But the San Jose Sharks bench boss says it was always the plan for Smith to play this back-to-back: “This decision was made throughout the summer of what the schedule is going to be. We took into [account] everything, time zones, flights, games played.”
San Jose to Seattle is a two-hour flight, same time zone, and the Sharks have two days off after Saturday’s re-match with the Seattle Kraken.
According to GM Mike Grier, the plan is for Will Smith to play a roughly normal schedule in the second half of the season, so playing this back-to-back could also be seen as part of an in-season ramp-up.
“I think his game’s translating a lot,” Warsofsky said of Smith. “Obviously, he’s scoring and he’s putting points on the scoresheet, but he’s doing a lot of other things that we’ve talked to him about, and you’ve seen some steps in the development in his game right now.”
Smith’s gradual improvement this season could be seen as the San Jose Sharks’ plan coming together.
Anyway, how have development days off benefitted Smith?
“The schedule has been heavy here since the beginning of the year. So he’s playing a lot of games,” Warsofsky said.
The San Jose Sharks are tied with the New Jersey Devils with the most games played in the NHL, 26, so far this season.
“Early on, when he wasn’t getting the points, when he wasn’t scoring, it was a lot of skill work involved of getting himself into positions to score and getting his confidence up to play with the puck,” Warsofsky said. “He’s practicing [more], which he hasn’t done a lot in his career, coming from the college schedule.”
Smith went pointless in his first eight games, but he has four goals and six assists in his last 13.
“I think it’s been really beneficial for him,” Warsofsky said.
San Jose Sharks (8-13-5)
Mackenzie Blackwood will start.
There’s also a game-time decision that Warsofsky declined to reveal.
Seattle Kraken (11-12-1)
Joey Daccord should start — and this time, he won’t have to worry about SJ Sharkie getting in the way.
Another opportunity tonight 😤
1️⃣ Center production surged on Friday—let’s keep it going.⁰
2️⃣ Joey between the pipes. Keep things tight.⁰
3️⃣ Lock things down for a crucial two points.3 Game essentials → https://t.co/JrV8Z6JjC0 pic.twitter.com/jWE84SzcX5
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) November 30, 2024
Where To Watch
Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Seattle Kraken is 7 PM PT at Climate Pledge Arena. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.
Will be nice to see them in person for the first time this year.
Nice, hope you have a great time and game.
Sometimes things just all come together at the right time, in ways you can’t predict. Granlund’s brief injury forcing Warsofsky to put together a first line that has been absolutely on fire, and a second unit that has been surprisingly good with Toffoli, Wennberg and Kunin. Smith starting to come alive and Kostin finding his game made it a no brainer to slot Granlund between them when he returned. That’s a line combination we’d never have seen earlier in the season, maybe never if not for the injury to Granlund. But when all three players are going, it’s a perfectly… Read more »