It didn’t take long for Alberts Smits to provide a glimpse of what Mike Sullivan had hinted at.
asserted
Sullivan → take → what
Late in the first period Thursday, less than a minute before the Devils goal that began the Rangers’ unraveling at Prudential Center, Smits slammed his stick on the ice four times from the left circle.
asserted
Smits → begin → circle
As play cycled behind the net, Smits knew he had an open shooting lane.
asserted
he → cycle → lane
Alexis Lafrenière slid the puck over.
asserted
Lafrenière → slide → puck
And Smits, the No. 5 pick in June’s draft, sent a shot toward the net around traffic that Nico Daws turned aside.
asserted
Daws → send → that
tRY IT NOWSo much of Smits’ acclimation to the NHL, as a rookie who skated on the third pair from the first day of training camp and never looked back, has revolved around the defensive layers.
asserted
who → try → layers
But the Rangers also think he has “an offensive dimension to his game that might be untapped,” Sullivan said.
uncertain
Sullivan → think → game
There have been flashes through 10 games, even as Smits has yet to log a point — and, entering Monday’s game against the Ducks, remains the last Blueshirts regular without one.
asserted
Smits → have → one
But the Rangers, who remain impressed with how he has performed with inevitable growing pains and mistakes mixed in, think that part of his game will eventually emerge too.
asserted
part → remain → game
“I think the offense is gonna come,” Smits said Thursday.
asserted
Smits → think → ?
So that’s what I’m focusing on right now.”
asserted
I → ’ → what
Smits, who recorded a pair of assists with Latvia across four games at the Winter Olympics while stringing together six goals and 13 points in 38 games with Finland’s Jukurit last year, picked up his first unofficial point in the preseason — sending a nifty pass toward the slot that Taylor Raddysh deflected into the net.
asserted
Raddysh → record → net
Sullivan has continually raved about Smits’ passing and physical poise, about how he doesn’t look like an 18-year-old on the ice, and that served as a tangible example in a game setting.
asserted
that → rave → setting
The Rangers have waited for the first instance of that in the regular season.
asserted
Rangers → wait → season
They entered play Sunday with 20 points — two goals and 18 assists — from defensemen this season, tied for the eighth most in the NHL, according to StatMuse, but have gotten 19 of those from their top four and the 20th via an assist from Braden Schneider.
uncertain
They → enter → Schneider
Smits rank second on the Blueshirts in expected goals per 60 minutes (0.22) behind just Adam Fox this season, per MoneyPuck, and when Smits was on the ice Saturday, the Rangers carried an expected goals for percentage of 82.94, which marked the highest rate on the team, according to Natural Stat Trick.
uncertain
which → rank → Trick
The Blueshirts also had a team-best expected goals against number (0.25) during Smits’ shifts in the team’s 1-0 overtime loss in Columbus too.
asserted
Blueshirts → have → Columbus
Smits was on the ice for the Blue Jackets’ winning goal at 4-on-4 in overtime — unable to disrupt a pass fully in the neutral zone and unable to get his stick on two others in the Blueshirts end before Kent Johnson’s winner — and only logged five shifts after the second period.
asserted
Smits → win → period
Part of the ice time issue, Sullivan said, stemmed from the Rangers being on the power play three times in the final frame.
asserted
Rangers → say → frame
He has yet to carve out a role on either special teams unit, limiting his availability, and Smits skated just 14:46 — the lowest number among Rangers defenseman by over four minutes — in Columbus.
asserted
Smits → have → Columbus
“That’s [assistant coach David Quinn’s] call back there,” Sullivan said of Smits’ limited shifts in the third.
asserted
Sullivan → ’ → third
“He’s running the defense.”
asserted
He → run → defense
The sentiment echoed by the Rangers since the start of training camp hasn’t strayed from Smits looking like he belongs.
asserted
he → echo → camp
Sullivan reiterated that again Thursday, labeling miscues as “mistakes of enthusiasm.”
asserted
Sullivan → reiterate → enthusiasm
Smits, when asked about evaluating his game so far, said Thursday that he has continued to try and get better each game, to stay on the right development track.
asserted
he → ask → track
The Rangers have given him the runway for that, opting for Smits’ upside over more experienced left-handed defensemen such as Matthew Robertson or Urho Vaakanainen.
asserted
Rangers → give → Robertson
They embraced the potential for growing pains and learning curves that’d inevitably follow.
asserted
that → embrace → pains
“The biggest challenge [for young defensemen] is the reads,” Sullivan said.
asserted
Sullivan → say → defensemen
When to cut your losses, stay inside the dots, manage the dots, let the play come to you a little bit.
asserted
play → cut → you
That’s the hardest part, I think, of playing defense in this league, and that’s, I think, Smitty’s challenge moving forward.
asserted
I → ’ → league
But we love his aggression.”
The defensive play, for the most part, has transferred to the regular season.
asserted
play → love → season
The offense, for now at least, remains a work in progress from a production standpoint, with Sullivan believing that the Rangers — over time — could unlock more.
uncertain
Rangers → remain → more
The Aporia
