SEATTLE — When Craig Smith scored an important goal for the Blackhawks on Nov. 2 in Los Angeles, Lukas Reichel received the vast majority of the praise for his rush to set Smith up — and rightfully so, as it was impressive.
In Reichel’s mind, however, Smith deserved just as much praise for his shot: a one-timer from the faceoff circle while moving at pace and receiving the puck from almost behind him.
“I would never score that,” Reichel admitted days later. “It’s such a hard shot.”
Smith, the 35-year-old journeyman forward who quietly signed with the Hawks this summer, has impressed the whole team with his shooting ability and overall reliability dating back to the preseason. He has brought more to the table than expected.
Coach Luke Richardson, who constantly hounds his players to adopt more of a trigger-happy approach, mentions Smith as one of the few exceptions to that complaint.
“[Our guys] want to be good teammates; they want to make the play to another player,” Richardson said Thursday. “There is the odd guy that’s a shooter. You don’t have to tell Craig to shoot a puck. You don’t have to tell [Ryan Donato] to shoot a puck twice. That’s a good mentality. Because usually, when that shot is taken away, they’ll make the play.”
Shooting-wise, Smith has brought both volume and accuracy. Entering Thursday’s game against the Kraken, he ranked third on the Hawks in shot attempts per minute of five-on-five ice time (trailing only Donato and Taylor Hall) and second on the Hawks in terms of the percentage of those shot attempts making it on-goal (trailing only Reichel). His 63% on-goal rate is also the highest of his 14-year career.
That’s translating to tangible production, too. Although he has cooled off somewhat lately, Smith entered Thursday tied for second on the team with four goals during five-on-five play, putting him on pace for 23 this season.
He probably won’t maintain that pace — he tallied 11 and nine goals each of the last two seasons while bouncing between the Bruins, Capitals and Stars — but he is enjoying this increased offensive involvement, as well as his enlarged role in general.
He’s averaging 11:40 of ice time per game, up from 10:13 last season in Dallas. That’s mostly on the fourth line with Reichel and Pat Maroon, but he’s also on the second power-play unit.
“Every year, you have to recreate yourself and find your role within the team,” Smith said. “Everything is earned in this league, so you have to work hard and try to do the right things and try to be as consistent as possible. If you’re playing well, you’re probably going to be playing more.
“I’ve played numerous different roles on different teams, so it’s nothing new. Everything is kind of familiar, to be honest. The characters in the room don’t change from team to team; there’s usually some familiarity with that.”
Smith, in fact, is one of those characters that every hockey team has: he’s the guy always checking his gear or taping his sticks at his locker stall while shirtless.
And there’s a good reason for that: Smith changed his stick this season for the first time since 2010. It’s the same make (Bauer) and flex, but he switched up the type, curve and kick point (the spot where it bends most under pressure).
To adjust to the new stick, he spent more time shooting pucks on his own this summer than in summers past — extra practice that has paid off.
“I’ve always prided myself on my shot,” he said. “The key now is, if you have a [good] shot, getting yourself in positions where you can get it off and find that space. I’m still working on that. Every year, you’re a work-in-progress the whole year.”