Out of place in AHL, Penguins defenseman Ty Smith is working to return to NHL

You don’t need to be a scout or general manager or anyone else with even a modicum of experience in evaluating hockey talent to know Ty Smith is out of place.

Just a quick glance with the naked eye would confirm Smith is not where he should be.

And a thorough review of his professional accolades would confirm those suspicions.

A member of the NHL’s all-rookie team for the 2020-21 campaign, the left-handed defenseman spent the first two seasons of his professional existence with the New Jersey Devils, appearing 114 games and scoring 43 points (seven goals, 36 assists).

And he didn’t spend a single second at the AHL level.

So seeing Smith dicing things up on the Penguins’ blue line — the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ blue line — is almost like seeing Pablo Picasso paint a garage.

That’s to say his skills dictate he should not be riding buses to locales such as Allentown and Utica.

But his contract and the combination of a surplus of defensemen and a lack of salary cap space on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ roster dictate that the AHL is the only place he can play for the time being.

A first-round pick (No. 17 overall) of the Devils in 2018, Smith — whom the Penguins acquired via trade in July — is in the third year of a three-year entry-level contract. And as such, he is exempt from being exposed to waivers for any transactions involving Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

With the Penguins bumping their heads against the salary cap ceiling — they had only $83,158 of cap space to open the season according to Cap Friendly — and a glut of NHL-caliber defensemen who would need to go through waivers for any assignments, management opted to send Smith to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, even after he was regularly deployed on their third pairing throughout training camp and the preseason.

For his part, Smith professed he hasn’t ruminated on his fate — as unfair as it may seem — a great deal, even going back to training camp in September when the possibility of him being assigned to Northeast Pennsylvania was prevalent.

“I didn’t really think too much about it,” Smith said via video conference. “I was just trying to play hockey. Then when it happened, yeah, maybe I was a bit surprised. At the same time, obviously, all the guys there are really good players, and they had good (training camp performances).”

Primarily deployed on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s top pairing with veteran Mark Friedman, Smith has been pretty good this season. In eight games, he has five points (two goals, three assists).

As one might imagine, Smith has been a big part of the offense for a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins team that is in the midst of a six-game winning streak. His 23 shots are the second most on the squad.

During a 5-1 home win against the Cleveland Monsters on Wednesday, Smith opened the scoring with an impressive individual effort. After stealing a puck above the right circle of the offensive zone, Smith made a slick deke around Monster defenseman Cole Clayton in the slot and ripped a wrister behind goaltender Jet Greaves for his second goal of the season.

“That goal he had was really nice,” Penguins forward Drew O’Connor said. “He kind of had the shot right away but held it a bit longer and made something else open up. That patience was pretty nice. You see that with a lot of things in his game. Working the point on the power play, he’s been really good. He’s deceptive and he kind of helps run that unit a lot.”

Beyond his obvious skill, Smith’s professionalism in a less-than-ideal scenario has stood out to his coaches.

“The nice part is — although he has that talent, we’re all aware of that — he’s willing to work,” Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach J.D. Forrest said. “That makes it even more enjoyable because now you know, he’s not just going to rely on his gifts, his talents. He’s going to try to go to work and become a better hockey player.

“He could be here going through the motions, but he’s not. He really isn’t. Other guys see that, too. It’s important that his teammates know that he’s going to be here. That’s really the more enjoyable part.”

Even with his ample acumen, Smith acknowledges there are several parts of his game that can be refined at the AHL level, particularly with regard to defense.

“My puck play and the way I think the game, it’s something that I kind of pride myself on,” said Smith, 22. “You can always be improving at your strengths. And continuing to work at defending, closing quick in the (defensive) zone, playing the rush early and things like that to try to round out my game a little bit more.”

At some point this season, Smith likely will get recalled to the NHL level. An injury or trade will open up space, even if just on a temporary basis.

Smith belongs in the NHL. But not just based on his talent level. His commitment to his craft dictates that as well.

“Everyone wants to get called up,” Smith said. “Kind of just trying to work on my game here and keep going.”

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