If you look at the four-year, $17.4 million commitment Brendan Smith and the Rangers made to one another on June 28 as a kind of marriage, it is safe to say that neither party thought the “for worse” part of it would arrive so soon.
But it has. And through a confluence of circumstances involving his own disappointing performance out the gate and the Rangers having gotten onto a bit of a roll without the defenseman in the lineup, Smith was a healthy scratch for the fourth straight game and sixth of the first 17 when the Bruins came to the Garden on Wednesday night.
No Smith in the lineup. Neither Tony DeAngelo nor Neal Pionk on the roster, both young American righties learning their trade in Hartford. Alexei Bereglazov is no longer in North America, the Russian lefty having returned to Magnitogorsk and the KHL.
Instead, a defense including both Nick Holden and Steven Kampfer, who started the season as seven and eight on the depth chart. No one could have projected this. No one could have imagined Smith, who created a positive impression and impact in New York following his Feb. 28 acquisition from the Red Wings, either playing as ineffectively as he did or then becoming the odd man out for games at a time.
Smith’s turnover rate has been alarming. His lack of physical play has been unexpected, given the fact that his nastiness in the first round against Montreal was not only a key to the Blueshirts’ six-game victory, but a major reason why general manager Jeff Gorton went to 17.4 million lengths to keep Smith from becoming a free agent.
There were, of course, other teams waiting on Smith had the intense 28-year-old hit the open market on July 1. Multiple teams would have been willing to at least match the Rangers’ offer. One would think that there would be significant interest in Smith if the Rangers wanted to annul the agreement.
It is worth wondering whether, this soon into the union, there is buyer’s/seller’s remorse on Smith’s part. The answer came from Smith’s agent, Anton Thun.
“I’m not sure who’s the buyer and who’s the seller in this case, but there are no regrets at all from Smitty,” Thun told The Post prior to Wednesday’s match. “And while I don’t want to speak for the Rangers, I talk to Jeff pretty regularly and I’ve never gotten that impression from him.
“Smitty’s no dummy. He knows this is a performance-based industry and his hasn’t been where he would like it to be or where it needs to be. He’s just working hard to get back in the lineup.”
It is difficult to imagine the Rangers attaining heights with their current blue line alignment even if the defense has performed capably throughout the four-game win streak that began with Smith in the lineup against Vegas.
But the Blueshirts’ four-goal third period comeback to win the game they had trailed 4-2 at the end of two periods was achieved with Smith on the bench for the final 15:09 of a match in which he delivered a 24.2 percent Corsi night while paired with/dragging down partner Ryan McDonagh.
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We know that coach Alain Vigneault is no slave to Corsi, if he even believes in the shots-attempted group metric at all. Smith, who is a plus-one at five-on-five, ranks sixth among the seven defensemen on the roster in Corsi at 44.8 percent. Kampfer, who is a minus-three, is seventh at 42.6. Oh, and first among the eight that began the season in New York? Why that would be DeAngelo, at 55.9 in a much smaller sample size than his mates.
“I’m going to get Smitty in here at some point,” Vigneault said. “He’s working extremely hard and understands the areas he needs to improve and focus on.
“He needs to be stronger in his puck battles. We believe he can play with an edge and play with bite. [He needs to be] a little bit quicker going back for pucks and making the right initial play.”
There is no evidence that the Rangers are looking to move Smith anywhere else but back into the lineup. They signed him for a reason.
“There are no issues with AV and there are no issues with the team,” Thun said. “Seasons go in ebbs and flows. Smitty will get back in there and when he does, he’ll be fine.
“This is where he wanted to be and this is where he wants to be.”