What’s Sharks’ Development Plan for Will Smith?

Will Smith knew, well in advance, that he was going to get scratched for Friday night’s faceoff against the Winnipeg Jets.

It was a surprise to us when San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky revealed in his Friday morning availability that Will Smith was sitting, especially after Warsofsky called the 19-year-old rookie’s performance on Thursday night against the Chicago Blackhawks the “best game he’s played”.

“Nothing to do with performance,” Warsofsky said, “just part of the plan.”

So what’s the plan?

San Jose Hockey Now has confirmed with Smith’s camp that this development plan has been in place since Smith signed with the San Jose Sharks in May. The plan is to get Smith physically acclimated to the best league in the world right now — it’s not an off-day for Smith on Friday, but a workout day — with an eye toward ramping up and playing NHL games without restrictions later this season.

The San Jose Sharks’ 2023 No. 4 pick hasn’t put up any points in his first four games this season, but his 19:09 played on Thursday represents a career-high, almost six more minutes than his previous-high of 13:41 on opening night.