William Espy
Ryan Warsofsky wants another level from Will Smith.
“It’s time to start taking it to another level. He knows that, we’ve pushed him, we’ve challenged him,” the San Jose Sharks’ bench boss said during training camp. “We’re going to continue to do that. We’re going to try to make him the best player possible. That’s our job.”
Smith’s rookie season was a rollercoaster at times, as he had a few highs and a few lows along the way. He finished the season with strong offensive production for a rookie, scoring 18 goals and tallying 45 points.
So what’s the next level for the 20-year-old winger?
According to Warsofsky, it’s improving “his compete level, to be consistent.”
Also?
“We know he can make plays. We know he can play in the offensive zone. He’s got deception, he’s got the shot. Time and space, he can make plays,” Warsofsky said, adding, “When he doesn’t have time and space, can he make plays?”
Warsofsky is asking Smith to transition from just a scorer to more complete player: “Can we trust him late in the game? Can we trust him 3-on-3? Can his play away from the puck, [if] his minutes climb, really help us to win hockey games?”
Basically, the San Jose Sharks’ coaching staff is trying to instill winning habits into Smith. That would make for a successful season for Smith and his 19-year-old running mate Macklin Celebrini, no matter where the Sharks end up in the standings.
Winning habits like?
“Having an understanding where they are in their shift, not forcing things, and they don’t need to force things. Sometimes, the best play is a play you don’t make,” Warsofsky explained. “They see it after the fact last year, I want to see them see it live and when the bullets are flying.
Smith and Celebrini did not show off those winning habits in the San Jose Sharks’ 4-3 OT loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.
While all the attention was focused on goalie Alex Nedeljkovic’s escapades, Warsofsky saw it differently after the game, “The 3-on-3, we’re just out there too long. That’s totally not on Ned. We’re out there too long. We mismanage the puck, and then, that’s what good teams do, they score.”
That’s a Celebrini turnover, Celebrini and Smith not changing (William Eklund actually jumped on the ice but neither Celebrini nor Smith got off), and the good team that Warsofsky is referring to isn’t his own.
“It doesn’t happen overnight, as much as I wish. I’m beating it over their head with basically every meeting that we have,” Warsofsky said after Saturday’s morning skate. “We have to remember they’re 19, 20 years old, and it just takes some time.”
Good thing, Warsofsky is patient.
“I talked to Clayton Keller after that last exhibition game in Utah, and we had that conversation, and he’s like, man, it took me four or five years to figure that out,” he said. “Ask Chris Kreider, he’d say the same thing. Ask Jack Eichel, he’d say the same thing. Connor McDavid, he struggled on the power play his first year, and now, the game starts slowing down.”
What have those stars learned that the kids haven’t?
“They start to realize you don’t need to make something happen every shift. And for their whole lives, they’ve made stuff happen every shift,” Warsofsky re-emphasized. “[But] now, it’s the National Hockey League.”
The message has been passed on to Celebrini and Smith, but it’s also for William Eklund and Michael Misa and company.
“That will be the next step. Doesn’t just come down to those two guys,” Warsofsky said. “It’s all of us. It’s our whole group. Have to play with winning habits.”
Smith embraces the challenge: “I expect a lot for myself, obviously so [do the] coaches and organization. So I think taking the next step is going to be really big for me.”
“He’s got it in him. He’s a competitor. He wants to do well,” said Warsofsky. “They’re gonna have growing mistakes, but we want to see some desperation in our games. We’re trying to win now.
“He wants to get the Sharks winning hockey games. He wants to do well himself. It’s time to take the next step.”