Edited Jul. 4, 2022 at 12:30 p.m.
Quoting: NHLfan10506
Value wise it looks okay, but may not be addressing a need with Ducks. I imagine Verbeek will want that latter pick to grab big defensive dman like Pickering or Bischel. Smith would provide more of what Drysdale and Zellweger can. And with Helleson, Moore, Lacombe, Thrun they have plenty of 2-way depth. They need a stalwart with size with that pick.
Spot on as far as the prospects in the Org go. It's also quite possible the Ducks take a D at #10, most mocks are trending toward them taking Korchinski.
I think its safe to say Smith would become the Ducks second best LHD after Fowler but the age doesn't line up very well. He gets added to a pool already too full in that age range: Vaakanainen, Benoit, Mahura, Guhle and Larsson. Verbeek needs to sort all these guys out and some of them need to move on / get cut loose. For sake of argument let's say they keep Vaak (3rd pair) and Benoit (7th D) and send the rest to the Gulls. Do they then want Smith on the 2nd pair? I don't, even though he's good enough in the long term. The defense is going to be too young and shaky this season that way. Pretty darn soft too.
For my money I'd much rather bring in an older guy to keep that 2nd pair slot warm until a kid (Zellweger) is ready for it. A Brendan Dillon type player would be ideal. Big, physical. Makes decent money to help reach the cap floor but isn't on a bad contract. A contract that most importantly expires in 2 years. The rub is what guy like Dillon is actually available and for what cost?