Just an idea

I’m not sure leaf want a oder forward

Both Smith & Jarnkrok are 32, if anything Smith is signed to less term.
They get slightly older going from Robertson/Samsonov to O'Connor/Nedeljkovic.

Tough call. If Ludvig/Smith are given sufficient playing time before the deadline and they perform well - then moving POJ could be a possibility. But I wouldn't dump POJ just to try and give Smith playing time. POJ is a legitimate NHL dman - Smith and Ludvig are question marks/fringe NHLers at this point. Unfortunately Smith seems to be way down on the totem pole - so not sure if we will get that chance before the deadline to know if POJ is somewhat expendable. It could obviously work out - just not sure if I would take that risk without seeing Smith/Ludvig play together.

Ty Smith has proven he's not an NHL talent.

That Leafs trade is geniunely terrible. It makes absolutely no sense at all for the Pens.

That's fair. I feel like Smith has been playing well offensively in the AHL, but also putting up 3 points in his Spengler Cup game yesterday. A physical partner in Ludvig could be really nice, but I guess that partner could also be POJ. If anything, we can keep the 5-6-7 spots with Ludvig, POJ & Ruhwedel, but there were reports that the Pens wanted to upgrade the bottom pair, so internally, Smith could get a chance. However, this is the smaller part of this whole armchair-GM post.