Brendan Smith

What about the defensive pairings? With Zellweger and Timmins out, who is getting the minutes?

Look for Carson Soucy and Brendan Smith to see increased time.

They're the stay-at-home defenders.

Pair them with Jay Christiansen and Denis Malakhov.

Guys who were playing middle six minutes in the Swiss League for five years, those are not top sixers on NHL teams.

I always used to joke, the year Brendan Smith, when he was on the Rangers, was playing forward, back and forth going between forward and defenseman, A lot of people were asking, is there any other team in the NHL that would ever play a guy as a forward, a defenseman, and a healthy scratch all in the same season because they were so desperate? Of course, the Rangers were so bad that year.

They were the team.

How does a guy who couldn't play in the NHL for five years and wasn't good in another league that's not the NHL, how does he get to be in the top six? Why does Ike Howard, who was a first-round pick and was good in the AHL with Bakersfield last year, how does he not get a sniff before we go to the bad veteran? This is the type of confounding stuff that always perplexes me about hockey coaches in particular.

Let's pivot to the blue line depth.

Sarah from Cleveland asks, with Eric Gudbranson and Brendan Smith back, do we have enough young talent to challenge for playing time?

Sarah, you're looking at Dante Fabbro, Dinan Matejchuk, Igor Zamula, Kayla McDonald, and Jay Christensen.

Yes, there is depth, but it's a mix of experience and youth.

Right? We haven't played them yet.

But yes, Buckburger, Jay Christensen, Dante Favreau, Ivan Provorov, Carson Soucy, Damon Severson, Eric Gudbranson, Brendan Smith.

That's a lot of bodies.

But Favreau was mentioned in prior episodes as injured too?

Big, physical limits damage.

He pairs well with someone like Carson Soucy or Brendan Smith for heavy minutes.

Then Dante Favreau and Colton White likely form the third pair.

Favreau moves the puck.

...

Brendan Smith.

[laughs] Yeah, they were tough, the Bunnies.

Yeah, yeah.

Brendan Smith was on the wing at one stage.

Um, yeah, d- they were tough, but it was over early.

Well, Wayne Bennett wasn't, uh, overly wrapped with things after the game, obviously.

The defensive core is huge.

You've got Zach Wierenski, Ivan Provorov, Damon Severson, Dante Favreau, Eric Gudbranson, Dinan Matejchuk, Brendan Smith, Jay Christensen, and Igor Zamula.

Nine defensemen.

That's too many.

Matichuk is trending up.

He's big, he skates well, and he's learning from the veterans.

I think he beats out Brendan Smith for the seventh defenseman spot.

Smith is older, slower.

The coaching staff likes his upside.

Brendan Smith and Igor Zamula are depth options, but Matty Chuck is the one to watch.

Okay, final question for the segment from at JacketNation22.

Adam Fantilli is highly touted.