Boston Bruins: What to expect from Craig Smith in 2021
By Matt Hawkins
What should we expect from new Boston Bruins’ right wing Craig Smith in 2021?
One of the limited moves in free agency by the Boston Bruins and general manager Don Sweeney this offseason was signing right wing Craig Smith to a three-year deal with a $3.1 million average annual value (AAV).
This signing could turn out to be one of the biggest bargains of the offseason as Smith is almost automatic for 20 goals in a normal 82-game season as he’s scored 20 goals in five of the last seven seasons.
This is extremely impressive when you realize that Smith played in a middle-six role on the Nashville Predators and hasn’t averaged more than 16 and a half minutes of ice time in any of his nine seasons. He was even on pace for 20 goals last season while averaging just under 13 and a half minutes of ice time.
Playmaking-wise, Smith is around the same as he is in scoring goals. Over his nine-year career, Smith has six more assists than goals. But, in recent seasons, he has been recording more goals than assists.
With Boston, I expect Smith to play a similar role to the one he did in Nashville — a middle-six right wing. However, for the first month of the season where David Pastrnak is out due to offseason surgeries, I expect him to be playing in a top-six role — possibly even playing in Pasta’s spot next to Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron on the first line.
If this is the case, we could see Smith with career-high paces in goals, assists, and points because of the higher level of talent he’d be playing with on the B’s first line for that first month.
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Additionally, if Smith can produce well on the first line, he may be put on the second line with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk, relegating Ondrej Kase to the third line. These two players would also help Smith put up career-bests in scoring paces.
Smith’s career paces are 0.25 goals per game and 0.25 assists per game for 0.50 points per game. In 2021, I believe would could see Smith record 0.35 goals per game and 0.30 assists per game for 0.65 points per game.
When it comes to how many games Smith plays, he seems to miss at least one or two a season, so I’ll say he plays 54 of the 56 games this year. So, at the paces I said, in 54 games Smith would put up 19 goals and 16 assists for 35 points.
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With the talent level the Bruins have at left wing and down the middle, I think it’s fair to expect Smith to have one of his best seasons in his first year with the Black and Gold. Even if he’s on the third line with Charlie Coyle at center and Nick Ritchie or Anders Bjork at left wing, there’s enough talent for Smith to succeed in Boston in 2021.