Jason Smith signed as a free agent with Ottawa this summer. He exemplifies what Brian Murray looks for in players. Big? Yes. Tough? Yes. Mean? Yes. A playoff performer? Yes. Willing to sign in Ottawa? Yes.
Many people have not been overjoyed by his somewhat invisible play thus far this season. But I feel that the problem is not Smith's play, but the plethora of defense like him that are currently on the roster. He is not a PMD by any stretch, and he does not pretend to be one.
What he brings to the table is a player that can help mentor our younger players, be a physical presence on the blue-line, stick up for other players, and block shots. He is exactly what we we thought he would be when we signed him, albeit a little bit slower than expected, and leadership does not come cheaply. As a former 2 time captain, he has all the leadership qualities that Brian Murray covets.
The problem is that we have 3 players in the role of shutdown, and none of them are very mobile, or have any offensive upside. We simply have too many one dimensional shut-down defenseman. And while he has been doing exactly what we paid him to do (top 10 blocked shots in the league, anyone remember him messing around with Crosby? Or dumping Maxim Afinogenov after he took a late shot on Auld? Or fighting Dominic Moore?) the fault lies in Ottawa signing him to begin with. 
Murray should not have signed him unless we were serious about a playoff run and had our PMD already locked up. Jason Smith is great in his niche, however, not necessarily a great fit in Ottawa, especially for his contract. I would love to have him if we didn't already have Philipps and Volchenkov, however, we do have those players. He is playing in a niche that has already been filled.
Smith is built for the playoffs, and with the direction of the team, it might be a few years until the Senators are serious contenders again. I fear that the payment for Smith might have been too much given the fact that the playoffs are looking like a mirage.
5 comments:
I agree with your thoughts on Jason Smith, just a poor fit in Ottawa given our current roster!
Jason is done (was a great defenceman) is done.
BM has proved in the past he's a great GM. I must say that right now I am questioning the direction the team is taking as well, however. I think some of the signings(or at least amounts)have been questionable, particularly Fisher and Kelly, but I think Muckler's drafting is really hurting the Sens now, and BMs left holding the bag. BM has at least drafted really well, I think. It takes at least 3-4 years to see how a GMs really doing, but drafting aside, it definitely hasn't been a great success so far. Time will tell. I must say I still think the Heatley and Spezza long-term signings were good, but Smith's wasn't such a good idea.
I disagree. I think he'll be good value for money during the season, and will be really valuable come trade deadline. Sure, we may miss the playoffs this year, but Jason Smith traded to the right team could get us a good puck moving defenseman prospect along with a nice draft pick in this upcoming deep draft pool. Cudos to you Brian Murray. Cudos!
And as far as between now and March 3 is concerned, well, uh. Hrm. :)
Hambown, you must be a goal scoring forward. Jason is of questionable value as trade bait (too expensive to be playing this poorly). As for the Cudos, Mr. Murray's bigger, tougher, older (read Experienced) team is getting too many lessons from the other teams kids for me. Balance, bring up Zac & Zub & let 'em play & stay.
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