Hope for Ladislav Smid

by Jonathan Willis on May 10, 2008 9:22 PM MDT

To the left is the title character of this post, Ladislav Smid, wiping out a fellow named Gaborik along the sideboards. The 2007-08 season was Smid's second in the NHL, and superficially it wasn't nearly as good as the first.

In 2006-07, Smid got a job in the top-six out of training camp after being acquired as part of the Chris Pronger deal. He put up 10 points and a -16 rating in 77 games on a team that started out mediocre and went downhill from there.

In 2007-08, Smid lost his roster spot to the Tom Gilbert/Mathieu Roy combination, and started the season in the minors, where he put up 5 points in 8 games before being recalled. He tallied 4 assists and a -15 rating over the rest of the year. He was also the goat on all three Calgary goals at the only game I personally attended this year, an ugly, emotionless, 3-0 loss to the Flames. I came away from that game with a real anger towards the Oilers, and Smid, but I've gotten over it.

Looking a little more indepth (by which I mean we look at the statistics at Behind the Net rather than NHL.com) we see that Smid's quality of competition rating is fairly static (.05, .01) while his quality of teammates dropped (.08, -.12) by quite a bit. Smid's EVGF/60 stayed even at 1.91, while his EVGA/60 rose (2.74, 2.93).

This season, Smid was option #5 on the penalty kill, and with good reason. The only defenders with uglier numbers were Denis Grebeshkov and Matt Greene. So, even looking in depth, this season was an ugly one for Ladislav Smid.

Where am I going with this, you ask? Simple. I was looking at the ages of Oilers players, and Smid's stuck out at me. He's 22 years old. The same age as Rob Schremp, Devan Dubnyk and Brian Young. A year younger than Marc Pouliot and J-F Jacques. Looking at the Oilers defenseman, he's younger by 2-3 years than Matt Greene, Joni Pitkanen, Denis Grebeshkov and Tom Gilbert. Sometimes he gets lumped in with that young core group, but he's still a few years behind.

Defensemen generally take longer to develop. Tommy Albelin is a player that Lowetide has compared Smid to over the years, and at 22 he was putting up a 12-point season in the Swedish Elite League. I've always thought of Smid as stylistically similar to Jaroslav Spacek. At 22, Spacek was putting up a 13 point season in Czechoslovakia. Toni Lydman is another name that could be tossed out there. At 22, he posted an 11-point season in Finland's SM-Liiga.

Smid was listed at 6'0, 209lbs on draft day. Four years later, he's 6'3", 226lbs. He's developed physically to the point where he can be a tough guy on a blueline that going forward is going to need some muscle. The mental development of his game will come along behind it, and I'm willing to predict that we see a breakthrough season in the next two years. And this is a good thing, because it's a decent bet that Smid will be coming into his own at the same time as this team looks to be a contender. At the very least, at this point he's a much safer bet than Matt Greene.

Sorry about the stars- I couldn't get Blogger to put spaces between paragraphs, which made for some jumbled reading.

Tweet Comment 6 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Just throwing it out there, maybe he becomes a Czech version of Vitali Vishnevski. Numbers are similar in their early 20s, and both were high draft picks.

by doritogrande on May 11, 2008 7:03 PM MDT reply actions

Just throwing it out there, maybe he becomes a Czech version of Vitali Vishnevski.

It's certainly possible- I'm outlining best case scenarios I suppose. I like Smid, and I really wouldn't be surprised if his career progress mirrored Spacek's, but it's certainly possible he turns into a depth journeyman who does some stuff right like Vishnevski.

Or is my evaluation of Vishnevski off? I'm not sure I've ever even seen him play.

by Jonathan Willis on May 12, 2008 12:25 PM MDT reply actions

Vishnevski is the hardest hitting defenseman I've seen since Kasparitis. But he's clean. Rock solid in his own end. The only reason he's regarded as a "journeyman" now is because Anaheim got screwed in arbitration, and dumped him because he was given too much money.

Personally, I'd love to see Vishnevski in Oiler silks alongside Pitkanen. But I could settle for Smid.

by doritogrande on May 12, 2008 3:42 PM MDT reply actions

The only reason he's regarded as a "journeyman" now is because Anaheim got screwed in arbitration, and dumped him because he was given too much money.

I'd wondered why he got sent out of Anaheim. I personally would be awfully happy to see the Oilers bring in a no-nonsense veteran to keep things calm in the defensive zone. The way you describe Vishnevski sounds like what we keep hoping Matt Greene will turn into.

by Jonathan Willis on May 12, 2008 4:19 PM MDT reply actions

Just received my Masters in the Obvious so I'll throw this out there:

Spacek actually has a shot

Smid doesn't:)

by Dennis on May 14, 2008 10:53 AM MDT reply actions

Spacek actually has a shot

I'm being optimistic here- I think Smid has a chance to turn into Spacek; I wouldn't necessarily put money on it ;)

by Jonathan Willis on May 14, 2008 2:55 PM MDT reply actions

Comments For This Post Are Closed

Oilers Schedule

Last 5 Games

@ Vancouver Nucks Misconduct	Sat 04/07	L 0 - 3
Anaheim Anaheim Calling	Thu 04/05	OT - L 2 - 3
@ Los Angeles Jewels From The Crown	Mon 04/02	L 0 - 2
@ Anaheim Anaheim Calling	Sun 04/01	W 2 - 1
Los Angeles Jewels From The Crown	Fri 03/30	L 1 - 4

Clear Victory Standings

Western Conference

Detroit Red Wings (27-11, .711)
St. Louis Blues (24-10, .706)
Vancouver Canucks (22-10, .688)
Los Angeles Kings (18-11, .621)
San Jose Sharks (18-13, .581)
Phoenix Coyotes (20-15, .571)
Nashville Predators (18-14, .563)
Chicago Blackhawks (21-19, .525)
Colorado Avalanche (16-19, .457)
Dallas Stars (18-22, .450)
Anaheim Ducks (14-19, .424)
Edmonton Oilers (18-25, .419)
Calgary Flames (13-21, .382)
Columbus Blue Jackets (14-31, .311)
Minnesota Wild (8-22,.267)

Eastern Conference

Pittsburgh Penguins (31-13, .711)
Boston Bruins (27-11, .711)
New York Rangers (25-16, .610)
Philadelphia Flyers (21-17, .553)
New Jersey Devils (18-16, .529)
Ottawa Senators (19-17, .528)
Washington Capitals (20-19, .513)
Montreal Canadiens (16-19, .457)
Winnipeg Jets (15-19, .441)
Buffalo Sabres (14-18, .438)
Carolina Hurricanes (13-17, .433)
Florida Panthers (14-19, .424)
Toronto Maple Leafs (17-24, .415)
New York Islanders (8-23, .258)
Tampa Bay Lightning (10-30, .250)

Division Standings

Central (79-58, .577)
Atlantic (68-50, .576)
Pacific (62-54, .534)
Northeast (69-65, .515)
Northwest (49-69, .415)
Southeast (51-81, .386)

Network Bar

The Copper & Blue -

An Edmonton Oilers Fan Site - poise of analysis and discussion