Is Smith earning his way onto Penguins' roster? It's complicated

CRANBERRY, Pa. -- There's no doubt in my mind Mike Sullivan and Ron Hextall envision Ty Smith becoming a staple on the left side of the Penguins' defense for the foreseeable future.

But is he ready right now to be a full-timer in this system?

Will the team even be able to keep him in the NHL without handicapping themselves elsewhere due to salary cap restraints?

Smith had a very intriguing rookie season with the Devils in 2020-21, in which he scored two goals and had 21 assists in 48 games. He immediately graded out as an above-average offensive defensemen, albeit in a minimal role. He was also a mess defensively.

In 2021-22, Smith's defensive issues didn't get any better and his offensive impacts dropped close to replacement-level while putting up three fewer points in 18 more games.

"Certainly nothing we’ve uncovered that’s cause for concern," Hextall responded when asked about Smith’s disappointing sophomore season immediately following his acquisition. "The upside is pretty high."

It takes about two seconds to notice Smith's skating ability. It's not top of the line, but he's typically very smooth and he can change angles rather quickly. You know how some people just make it look easy? He makes it look easy. Second nature. At 5-foot-11, combined with his passing ability, there's reason to be bullish on what he can bring to the table offensively.

However, as I wrote at the beginning of September, it's going to take some serious improvement in the defensive zone for Smith to truly tap into his offensive potential.

Throughout training camp Smith has been thrust above the likes of Mark Friedman and P.O Joseph, as Smith has spent the majority of his time alongside Jan Rutta on the Penguins' third-pairing. Joseph, Friedman, and even Chad Ruhwedel for that matter, are still on the roster, so nothing is absolute, but Smith appears to have a hold on that spot.

When I asked Sullivan if that was the case following training camp practice at the Lemieux Complex here in Cranberry on Tuesday, I received the expected answer in the sense that he didn't specifically answer my question, but I was a bit surprised at the verbiage he used to describe Smith's camp.

"I think Ty’s had a decent camp so far," Sullivan told me. "I think he’s trying to grasp some of the new concepts and the style of play that we’re trying to play, some of the details with respect to our team concept."

Decent? I don't disagree at all, but it caught me off guard considering the overly positive sentiments he's shared on Smith throughout camp. And, you know, the fact Smith is continuing to skate on the third pairing in preseason games and camp practices.

Maybe they're really trying to get an extended look at Smith here before making any further decisions, or maybe the alternatives just aren't as impactful in management's eyes as they are on Twitter.

But then came the things that Sullivan really likes about his game.

"I think he’s really shown glimpses of brilliance and what he’s capable of, especially with his offensive game," he said. "I really like some of the things he’s done alone the offensive blue line. For example, his ability to walk the line or scale the line, he’s really deceptive, he’s good at getting pucks through, he’s been pretty good on the power play. I think he’s done a good job with our breakouts and going tape-to-tape when the opportunities present themselves, so he’s making progress without a doubt."

The latter half of his answer touched on the battle for the final spot on defense, which he believes breeds a great environment.

"I think all of our guys back there have made progress," Sullivan continued. "And as I said before, this roster is in constant evolution, and I don’t know that we ever arrive. We’re gonna continue to push and try to get better every day. We’ve got a healthy competition amongst our group on defense. We recognize that we’ve got some really difficult decisions coming up, those are good problems to have from our standpoint."

I also spoke with Smith on Tuesday. He admitted the adjustment will take some time, but really feels like his game is coming along nicely.

"I think I’m still kind of learning it, but I think I’m a lot more comfortable now," Smith said of the Penguins' system. "They’ve done a really good job of helping me feel comfortable and helping me learn it. We’ve been working on stuff every day to try and advance it, so I’m just learning as I go."

One area Smith feels he has significantly improved in since training camp began is the transition game, something he gave props to Todd Reirden for.

"I think I’ve been improving playing rushes," Smith said. "Todd’s been talking to me a lot about that and how to play the rush here."

One area that's still leaving a bit to be desired, though, is his defensive work. The preseason should be taken with a grain of salt, but I haven't seen significant improvements in his own end that would lead me to believe his offense can be leveraged to the degree it's capable of.

This isn't the sole reason for my comment, but n Monday night against the Red Wings, both Smith and Rutta erroneously chased behind the Penguins' net on a defensive zone sequence that resulted in the Red Wings' second goal:

Personally, I'd say that's on Rutta for abandoning the net-front after Smith was already in pursuit. I tried to pull some insight out of Smith to see what happened there.

"We’ve talked about it, we figured it out," Smith said. "It’s just a situation where you gotta read off each other. It’s new, we’re playing together for the first time, obviously. We’re picking up on that kind of stuff and those reads."

Again, learning a system and feeling instinctively comfortable with it is going to take a lot longer than a few weeks of training camp. That's totally fine. But it is at least fair to question if that time will pay off in a meaningful way in this case.

Regardless, Hextall has a tiny predicament on his hands if he and Sullivan want Smith on the opening night roster. Smith is exempt from waivers and can be sent to the AHL for salary cap relief without any risk of losing him. The same can't be said for the other defenders pushing for the spot Smith is currently holding.

It's going to be very interesting to see how this all shakes out. The Penguins might not have a choice but to send Smith down until they find some wiggle room. If they don't, their plethora of defensive depth might soon be gone.

MORE FROM CAMP

• Jeff Carter, who has been dealing with an upper-body injury suffered during a training camp scrimmage a week and a half ago, re-joined his teammates for the first time in a white non-contact jersey on Monday. On Tuesday, Carter was back out there in a regular yellow jersey, indicating that he didn't have any contact limitations. Sullivan confirmed as much following the session.

• Before I could even finishing asking Carter if he could disclose any information regarding the nature of his injury or how it happened, Carter hit me with a firm "No" while cracking a smile.

• During the Penguins' end-of-season media availability for the 2021-22 season, Carter said it was a bit of a struggle to re-adjust to the 82-game schedule after a couple of shortened seasons. I followed up on that and asked if he feels more prepared for the lengthy road ahead this season.

"Yeah, I mean, we got a full one underneath us now, so (I) should be, right?" Carter told me. "I think when I said that, we had all those shortened seasons and whatnot. It’s not easy playing 82 games and the travel and time change and wake up and practice every day. It takes a toll on your body and I think it was kind of a shock to everybody a little bit. I thought we handled it really well in terms of just our conditioning and getting our rest that’s needed. I think we should be ready to go this year."

• Tristan Jarry was supposed to travel with the team to Detroit on Monday for their preseason game against the Red Wings, but didn't end up taking part in morning skate here in Cranberry or making the trip because he was sick. He was back out on the ice for camp on Tuesday and seemed to be in good spirits in the locker room afterward.

• Filip Lindberg was re-called from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to take Jarry's place on the roster Monday night. He hasn't been re-assigned yet, as he was out on the ice serving as the third goalie on Tuesday, but it wouldn't surprise me if that happens very soon.

• Teddy Blueger once again skated prior to the group session as he works his way back from an upper-body injury. Out since last Wednesday, Blueger remains day-to-day, per Sullivan.

• Injured forward Jonathan Gruden and injured defenseman Taylor Fedun also skated prior to the group session. Tuesday afternoon Gruden was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's training camp in the AHL, so it appears as if he's about ready to go. Fedun has not been cut from the training camp roster yet, but he was placed on waivers this afternoon.

The Penguins' training camp roster now sits at 27 players.

• Here are the lines and D-pairings used on Tuesday:

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Danton Heinen - Jeff Carter - Kasperi Kapanen
Brock McGinn - Ryan Poehling/Sam Poulin - Josh Archibald

Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Jeff Petry
Ty Smith - Jan Rutta
Mark Friedman/Chad Ruhwedel/P.O Joseph took turns rotating on a fourth-pairing.

• The Penguins did not get into any special teams work.

• You can tell things are really starting to ramp up. On Tuesday, Sullivan was as vocal both with the group and individuals as I've seen him since the start of training camp. Lots of detailed instructions on what he wants to see.

• Early on during the session, skills coach Ty Hennes ran a fun drill for all the skaters in which everyone started with a puck in the neutral zone at the same time. The drill was simple, really: If your puck gets knocked outside of either blue line, you're out of the drill. Last man standing wins.

It came down to the wire between Dumoulin and Rakell. The lanky defender ultimately prevailed victorious.

• The Penguins are right back at it for another day of training camp on Wednesday, 12 p.m. here at the Lemieux Complex. Taylor Haase will have your coverage for that.