I agree with his takes, though. From a non-bias perspective, he's all you'd want in a depth player. Great forechecker, solid defensively. I think you mistook what OP was saying. If you're looking at Cole Smith from an offensive perspective, you're looking at him wrong. He has almost no scoring touch and barely any offensive skill. But in the back end? I'd want him there.

Again - you demonstrate that you don't understand the impact puck luck has on player eval.

The gist is that when pucks go in - everyone looks better than they are.
The fact he said the guy broke out and not: has been good consistently says that something has changed recently.

That change is that he has an absurdly high PDO.
Yes that affects both offensive and defensive players, it's also team based when he is on the ice, not just his s% (although that also helps).

Basically he has been getting lucky - and that makes players look better. He will come back to earth and return to being a nobody.

Generally speaking anytime you hear a player is suddenly good, or bad check PDO first. It's a great litmus test

Considering Smith has 70% dzone starts and is rarely ever in the ozone (much like his entire line), their puck luck has very little impact on their defensive game. Looking at the chart you provided, he's in the 70th percentile among players in similar roles, and has a positive defensive rating. Taking intop account his PDO and shooting%, his offensive rating is still negative. Moot point. dougford was on the money with his evaluation. Good defensive depth player.

Jesus dude I literally spelled it out for you. Still missing the point is an L
Also Ozone and Dzone stats are mostly worthless because most shifts start on the fly

You didn't spell anything out. You've been talking yourself in circles. Cherry picked a few useless stats and even tried showing a chart that still proved dougford's point.

Useless stats.
That's what everyone says about PDO, right up until it comes crashing down. You would get along with Canucks fans

Right. PDO for a 4th line defensive forward who barely sees the ozone. "His shooting% is way up!".... for all 4 goals lol. Send me another chart or something

Depth players are the guys PDO is best used as a litmus test for. When they're high - it's notable