Will Smith will not play Thursday night against the Los Angeles Kings as the winless San Jose Sharks are giving their 19-year-old center another development day amid a four-game road trip against Western Conference opponents.
It’s the second time in four games that Smith will be scratched, as he also watched the Sharks’ 8-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 18.
Smith, who went without a point in his first six NHL games this season, took two costly tripping penalties in the Sharks’ 3-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, dropping San Jose’s record to 0-5-2. So far this season, Smith has averaged 13:57 in ice time per game.
To try to prevent future injuries and help them adapt to a busy NHL schedule in their first seasons as professionals, the Sharks plan to give Smith and fellow rookie center Macklin Celebrini — once he’s fully healthy — scheduled games off throughout the first half of the season.
General manager Mike Grier said earlier this week that when Smith and Celebrini are not playing, they’ll be in the gym trying to improve their strength and conditioning or doing skill development drills on the ice.
Celebrini is on injured reserve with a hip issue. While he has resumed skating, his status remains week-to-week. Grier said the Sharks will give another update on Celebrini early next month.
Smith had 12:56 of ice time and a season-high three shots on goal on Tuesday as he formed an effective line with Barclay Goodrow and Ty Dellandrea, which out-chanced the Ducks 12-4 during 5-on-5 play, per Natural Stat Trick.
Blackwood starts tonight.
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 24, 2024
Will Smith won’t play, development day
Smith also took two tripping penalties, both resulting in Anaheim power-play goals.
Smith’s first tripping penalty, against Ducks defenseman Olen Zellweger, came at the 6:29 mark of the second period. Anaheim’s Troy Terry scored 27 seconds later, firing a shot from inside the blue line that got past Sharks goalie Mackenzie Blackwood.
In the third period and the game tied 1-1, Smith, just 10 seconds after a Mikael Granlund power play goal, was called for tripping Ducks forward Isac Lundestrom at the 5:05 mark. Forward Leo Carlsson scored 31 seconds later, giving the Ducks the lead they would not relinquish.
“Can’t take those types of penalties, the stick penalties,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said when asked about Smith after Tuesday’s game. “He’s got to move his feet in certain areas. I thought he did some good things tonight. That was his best first period I’ve seen him play, so he did some good things, but obviously, he can’t take those penalties.”
The Ducks had six power plays in the game, as the Sharks had been shorthanded 35 times in seven games before Thursday. Five of Tuesday’s penalties were stick infractions, a recurring issue for the Sharks this season.
“You’ve got to compete and try to be physical, but the stick penalties, the lazy penalties, us not skating, are the ones that got us in trouble big time tonight, and it’s been the story the last few games here,” Warsofsky said.
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Smith was also victimized late in the game after the Sharks pulled Blackwood. As he carried the puck over the blue line, Smith was bodied off the puck by Lundestrom. Alex Killorn then controlled the loose puck and fired it 150 feet into the Sharks’ empty net to cap the scoring.
The Sharks became the first NHL team to go winless in its first seven games in back-to-back seasons since the California Golden Seals went 0-7-2 in 1970-71 and 0-5-2 in 1971-72.
After Thursday, the Sharks, who started last season 0-10-1, finish the road trip with games against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday and the Utah Hockey Club on Monday.