Washington Capitals: 2018-2019 By the Tens -- Forwards: Devante Smith-Pelly

Devante Smith-Pelly

“If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.”

-- Henry David Thoreau

As long as hockey is played in Washington, Devante Smith-Pelly’s game-tying goal in the third period of Game 5 of last season’s Stanley Cup final will be among the most celebrated plays in team history.  It was a spring full of clutch goals for DSP.  Of the seven he had in the postseason – a career best – two were game-winners, two others tied games (including the goal in the Cup-clinching Game 5 against Vegas in the final), and one other gave the Caps a lead (the only goal he scored in a loss, in overtime to Columbus in Game 1 of the opening round series).

In addition to earning him the everlasting gratitude of Caps fans, it earned him a one-year/$1 million contract with the club last June, a raise of $350,000 over his expiring contract.  One might have thought that Smith-Pelly was going to be one of the mainstays among the bottom six forwards, lightening the burden of losing fellow forward Jay Beagle to Vancouver in free agency.  But in our prognosto last September, we were left with the “Big Question”… Can Devante Smith-Pelly use the 2018 postseason as a springboard into 2018-2019?  Two weeks after posting that prognosto and raising that question, there were ominous signs.  There were reported to be conditioning issues that put the player behind the curve in getting ready for the new season.  It would be a hole out of which Smith-Pelly found difficult to climb.

Smith-Pelly’s ten-game segments reflect those difficulties.  He managed more than two points in only one of the six segments in which he played and had none in the last two of those segments.  Although he did dress for the Caps’ first 37 games of the season, he was just 4-4-8, minus-1.  He dressed for 20 of the next 26 games, did not record a point, and posted a minus-5 rating.  On February 20^th he became an odd casualty of the trading deadline, the Caps choosing to place him on waivers to free up a roster spot and cap room in anticipation of further moves.   Smith-Pelly cleared waivers and was assigned to Hershey where he remained for the rest of the regular season, going 6-8-14, plus-2, in 20 games with the Bears.

Fearless’ Take… When he skated more, the team remained successful.  True, that might reflect the team being able to roll four lines more often, but in the 18 games in which Smith-Pelly skated at least 11:30, the Caps were 14-3-1.

Cheerless’ Take… It was a season that started bad and pretty much stayed there.  Numbers-wise, it was might have been his worst NHL season, slightly worse than the season he spent in New Jersey that ended with the second year of his contract being bought out three days before he was signed by Washington (4-5-9, minus-19, in 53 games). 

Odd Smith-Pelly Fact… Smith-Pelly managed only one point in 25 road games, a goal in a 3-2 overtime win in Colorado over the Avalanche on November 16^th.  He was one of only four players among 536 playing in at least 25 road games an only one of two forwards among 365 to play in at least 25 road games to record only one point (no player in that group was shut out).

Game to Remember… November 5^th vs. Edmonton

Devante Smith-Pelly, like many other Capitals, celebrated the Opening Night banner raising contest against the Boston Bruins by entering a crooked number on the score sheet, in his case recording an assist in a 7-0 win.  However, over his next 11 games he recorded only one more point, a goal in 6-5 Gimmick loss to the Florida Panthers on October 19^th.  Smith-Pelly wasn’t alone in dealing with a slump.  Over those first 12 games of the season the Caps were just 5-4-3, and they took a two-game losing streak into Game 13 against the Edmonton Oilers.

Washington opened the scoring early on a play started by Travis Boyd.  Skating into the Oiler zone, Boyd cut around Ryan Strome and put a shot on net that was turned aside by goalie Cam Talbot.  Smith-Pelly collected the loose puck at the goal line to the right of Talbot, circled, and threaded a pass through three Oilers to Jakub Vrana cutting down the middle.  Vrana one-timed the puck past Talbot to give the Caps a 1-0 lead 2:44 into the game.  Three minutes later, Smith-Pelly and Boyd worked together again.  Smith-Pelly started the scoring play by sweeping the puck off the stick of Strome along the right wing boards.  Boyd picked it up and circled into the slot.  He faked a shot and dropped the puck for Smith-Pelly trailing the play.  Smith-Pelly snapped a shot high over Talbot’s glove and under the crossbar to make it 2-0, 5:44 into the first period.

Although Edmonton did climb back to make it a one-goal game twice, the Caps scored a power play goal to make it a 4-2 game late in the second period and made that lead stand up for the final score.  For Smith-Pelly, the two-point game was his first and only one of the season, and it was his first and only two-point game as a Capital, regular or postseason.

Game to Forget…  November 1^st  at Montreal

It can be an occasion for a player to return to a place he called home, if only briefly, while skating for another team.  Such was the case for Smith-Pelly when the Caps visited Bell Centre in Montreal in mid-November.  Smith-Pelly skated for the Canadiens for 66 games over two seasons in 2014-2015 and 2015-2016, posting seven goals and 15 points.  And, Smith Pelly had a decent, if thin record over his career against Montreal, going 1-3-4, plus-2, in seven games.

The clubs battled back and forth, exchanging first period goals, and then throwing haymakers in the second period, Montreal scoring the first two goals of the period and the Caps replying with three to take a 4-3 lead into the third period.  The Caps looked as if they might escape with the win as the clock ticked down to three minutes remaining.  However, Smith_Pelly was one of several Caps who could not tie up Jesperi Kotkaniemi enough in front of the Caps’ net to prevent him from converting a centering pass into the tying goal with 3:03 left.  Montreal scored again in the last minute to take the lead, and then added an empty net goal to steal a 6-4 decision out from under the Caps.  Smith-Pelly finished the game with one shot on goal and was a minus-1 in 11 minutes of ice time. 

Postseason…  With the opening round of the playoffs between Washington and Carolina tied at two games apiece, the Caps recalled Smith-Pelly from Hershey.  If it was an attempt to recapture the magic he displayed in the 2018 postseason, it did not have the desired effect.  Smith-Pelly skated in Games 5-7, did not record a point, and posted two shots on goal while averaging 9:47 in ice time.

Looking ahead…

Devante Smith-Pelly’s one-year contract with the Caps is expiring.  Given the step back his game took this season after the superb postseason he had in 2018, it would appear that he will not be re-upped by the team, even though the team expressed some conditional willingness to re-sign him.  The salary cap arithmetic, given the restricted free agents that the club will have to consider, does not seem to argue for a new deal unless he takes a substantial cut in pay.  Arguing in his favor, however, is that the Capitals are thin in forward prospects who otherwise might be counted on to contribute with a smaller salary cap footprint.

In the end…

Devante Smith-Pelly is one of the more curious players in Caps history despite having been with the club only two seasons.  His regular season production has been of the sort that makes for frequent stops in a career (Washington is his fourth team in eight NHL seasons.  Even in his best statistical season in 2015-2016 (14-11-25), he played for two teams (Montreal and New Jersey).  However, in three postseason trips before this year, he had 13 goals in 50 games, including the seven he had in 24 games with the Caps in the 2018 playoff run.  It might be worth noting that he played those three postseasons for three different teams (Anaheim, Montreal, and Washington), but he is certainly capable of bigger things in the regular season than he has displayed, especially in this most recent one that has to be considered a disappointment.  It makes for a difficult decision for the Caps, one of many they will have to make this off-season. 

Grade: C-

Photo: John McDonnell/Washington Post

Washington Capitals 2018-2019 Previews -- Forwards: Devante Smith-Pelly

Devante Smith-Pelly

“There is a saying that every nice piece of work needs the right person in the right place at the right time.”

-- Benoit Mandelbrot

Devante Smith-Pelly is something of an odd hockey player insofar as his performance numbers are concerned.  In seven seasons in the NHL, his overall numbers are rather ordinary.  Since he came into the league in 2011-2012, he is 40-53-93 in 341 games.  There are 298 players in that span who have appeared in at least 300 games, posted at least 40 goals, and recorded at least 50 assists.  His is not a resume that jumps out.  For the Anaheim Ducks, the Montreal Canadiens, and last season (his first) with the Washington Capitals, it was the resume of a bottom-six forward.

But here is the thing.  Smith-Pelly has been an extraordinary performer in the postseason.  He made his first appearance with the Ducks in 2014.  Since then, he is one of only 19 players in the league to have appeared in fewer than 50 games (he played in 48) and posted more than a dozen playoff goals (he has 13).  To be in the same group as better known goal scorers such as Vladimir Tarasenko, Steven Stamkos, Marian Gaborik, and Jeff Carter is no small achievement.

And, while one can look at his record and think, “slow starter,” perhaps he seems to sense those games that matter coming.  His overall career numbers, by month, cleave into two distinct pieces.  From October through February, in no month does he average more than 0.12 goals per game (seven goals in 58 career October games being his highest).  But in March he has 11 goals in 57 career games (0.19 goals per game), and in April he has four goals in 22 career games (0.18 goals per game).  And, it is not a case of more frequent shots.  His shooting percentage in March (12.1 percent) and April (14.8 percent) is markedly higher than in any of the other five months of the hockey calendar (8.8 percent in October being his best in that group).

Odd Smith-Pelly Fact…

Devante Smith-Pelly is more than twice as efficient a goal scorer in the playoffs as he is in the regular season.  Over 341 regular season games in his career, he averages 0.12 goals per game.  In 48 career postseason games, he averages 0.27 goals per game.

Fearless’ Take…

Devante Smith-Pelly made his first postseason appearance in 2014 with the Anaheim Ducks.  He had five goals in 12 games, foretelling what would be a seven goals in 24 games performance for the Caps last spring.  In between, he had one goal in 12 games with Montreal in the 2015 postseason.  His 13 goals over the last five postseasons rank in the top 50 players over that span (tied for 41^st), more than Patrice Bergeron (11 in 29 games), more than Chris Kunitz (10 in 79 games), more than Max Pacioretty (10 in 34 games), and more than Mats Zuccarello (10 in 47 games).  His teams have never lost a playoff game in regulation in which he scored a goal (10 wins, one overtime loss).  He has a knack.

Cheerless’ Take…

Seven goals in 2017-2018 tied Devante Smith-Pelly’s second-highest goal total in his career.  His year-to-year progress has not been one like, say, Tom Wilson, of regular improvement.  He had 14 in 64 games with Montreal and New Jersey in 2015-2016, but then he had 11 in 128 games over the next two seasons (including seven in 75 games with the Caps).  And, even though he played on some pretty poor teams, he has one season in seven in which he finished as a “plus” player (plus-5 with Anaheim in 2013-2014; he was minus-6 with the Caps last season). 

Potential Milestones:

• 400 career games played (he needs 59)
• 50 career goals (he needs 10)
• 100 career points (he needs 7)
• 5,000 career minutes played (he needs 621)

The Big Question… Can Devante Smith-Pelly use the 2018 postseason as a springboard into 2018-2019?

There just is not a lot to go on here.  Smith-Pelly had five goals in 12 postseason games with Anaheim in 2014, and then he followed that up with five goals in 54 games with the Ducks in 2014-2015 before he was traded to Montreal for Jiri Sekac and posted one more goal in 20 games.  It was a big postseason followed by a more characteristic unremarkable regular season.  On the other hand, it was one instance, and it was a 22-year old in what would be his first full regular season in the NHL.  And he did follow up that regular season with a 14-goal season in 2015-2016 (again with two teams – Montreal and New Jersey). 

Looking at a demographic profile similar to Smith-Pelly, if we look at forwards who, since 2005-2006, played in seven or fewer seasons up to their 25^th birthday season, appeared in 300-400 games (Smith-Pelly has 341 games), and scored fewer than 50 goals, does it say anything about being a mid-career bloomer?  Well, here is the population of 20 in that group.  It does not inspire a lot of confidence that Smith-Pelly is going to emerge as a reliable mid-to-high teens scorer.  But, it is a group that includes Tom Wilson, so there is that, and he has fewer career goals than Smith-Pelly in more games played.

In the end…

Devante Smith-Pelly is an intriguing character.  He turned just 26 years old this summer (a week after the Caps won the Cup…happy birthday), so one might reasonably think that there is some potential upside that has not yet been tapped.  What he established last year with the Caps could be something on which to build.  He appeared in a career high 75 games. That’s not a small achievement in itself.  Although he averaged 64 games per season in the three seasons preceding last season, Smith-Pelly had not really established himself as more than a player occupying a spot on the margins of the lineup, eventually waived and bought out by the New Jersey Devils before landing in Washington.

Now, he gets another chance to demonstrate that his postseason work is something on which he can build.  Until last season, Smith-Pelly had not played more than 54 games in one season for any of the other three clubs for which he played, and he was traded in that season (from Anaheim to Montreal).  After a 75-game season, scoring the game-tying goal in the Cup-clinching win – one of a career high seven goals scored in one postseason, and signing a one-year/$1 million contract, he gets a chance to parlay “nice work” at the right time into a longer career as an NHL’er if he can carry over his fine work last spring into the upcoming regular season.

Projection: 74 games, 10-11-21, minus-3

Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2017-2018 By the Tens -- Forwards: Devante Smith-Pelly

Devante Smith-Pelly

“Luck is not chance, it's toil; fortune's expensive smile is earned.”

-- Emily Dickinson

When the sun set on July 3, 2017, the third day of the 2017 free agent signing period, Ales Hemsky signed a one-year/$1 million contract with the Montreal Canadiens.  In Dallas, the Stars inked Alex Radulov to a five-year/$31.25 million deal.  Tucked away in the contract trackers was a one-year/$650,000 contract for Devante Smith-Pelly to play for the Washington Capitals.  Hemsky ended up starting the season on Montreal’s fourth line, played six games without recording a point, suffered a concussion in his seventh game, against the Anaheim Ducks, and did not dress again this season.  Radulov played in all 82 games for the Stars, recorded 27 goals and 72 points (both career highs), but his Stars failed to reach the postseason.

Smith-Pelly had an unremarkable regular season for the Capitals, posting seven goals and 16 points in 75 games.  The 75 games were a career high for “DSP,” but the offensive numbers were somewhat less than his career average per 82 games over his first six seasons with three clubs (Anaheim, Montreal, and New Jersey) – 10-14-24.  He averaged 12:21 in ice time, the median ice time in his seven NHL seasons.  Yes, “unremarkable” might be the adjective to describe his regular season, very much a “fourth line” sort of profile.

And nothing in his stretch run suggested he would be a particularly noteworthy player in the post season.  In his first six ten-game segments, he recorded at least one goal in four of them, and his point totals ranged from two to four points per segment.  What might have been an ominous signal for the postseason, he did not record a point after February 11^th, going his last 24 games without one.  And, he had just one “plus” game in that span, going minus-9 overall in that span.

Still, his seven goals was exceeded only once in his career (he had 14 split between Montreal and New Jersey in 2015-2016), and his 16 points was the second highest he posted with one team in a season (he had 17 54 games with Anaheim in 2014-2015 before he was traded to Montreal).  In a way, he might have been precisely what the Caps might have bargained for when signing him to modest terms in July 2017.

Fearless’ Take… DSP displayed the importance of getting multi-level production.  He had points in 16 games for the Caps, who posted a 13-1-2 record in those games.  And in those 16 games he was a plus-16.  And more ice time corresponded to more success.  In 36 games in which he skated at more than his average (12:21), the Caps were 25-9-2; they were 19-16-4 in the 39 games in which he skated under his ice time average.

Cheerless’ Take… Sometimes, fourth liners provide an edgy kind of play that teams feed off of.  That was not the case, at least so far as DSP and those “grittership” numbers were concerned.  In 21 games in which he was credited with three or more hits, the Caps were 9-9-3.  They were 8-9-1 in games in which he had at least two blocked shots.  And the Caps were barely a .500 winning percentage team when he did not find his way to the score sheet (31-24-4).

Odd Smith-Pelly Fact… Devante Smith-Pelly and Tom Wilson were the only Capitals to average at least two hits per game and at least one shot on goal per game.

Game to Remember… November 24^th vs. Tampa Bay

When the Tampa Bay Lightning visited Capital One Arena on the day after Thanksgiving, the Caps had not won consecutive games in regulation in three weeks and had not won consecutive games in regulation time on home ice all season to that point.  They were looking to end those skids against Tampa Bay after having dispatched the Ottawa Senators, 5-2, on Thanksgiving Eve at Capital One Arena.  It was a tall order, since the Lightning came to Washington winners of six of their previous seven games.

The teams exchanged first period goals, Vladislav Namestnikov opening the scoring for the Lightning on a power play and Alex Ovechkin tying the game late in the period.  Then, with the clock ticking down to the five-minute mark in the second period, Dmitry Orlov spied Smith-Pelly heading up the middle through the neutral zone and fed him the puck in stride.  As Smith-Pelly got to the Tampa blue line, he fed the puck to Jay Beagle, who fired a shot on goal.  Smith-Pelly tried to redirect the shot from in front of goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, but the puck got through to the goaltender.  Vasilevskiy made the save with his left pad, but the puck came right to Smith-Pelly, who buried the rebound before Vasilevskiy could reset, and the Caps had a lead they would not relinquish.  Beagle added an empty net goal late, and the Caps had their second straight win in regulation on home ice for the first time this season.  Smith-Pelly got credit for the game-winning goal, his first and only one in the regular season.

Game to Forget…  November 30^th vs. Los Angeles

The next time the Caps took home ice after that win against Tampa, things did not end as well for Smith-Pelly or the Caps.  Things started well enough for Washington when Evgeny Kuznetsov opened the scoring in the fifth minute of the contest.  Things quickly went sour, though.  The Kings tied the game mid-way through the first period, and after the Caps regained the lead early in the second period on another Kuznetsov goal, Los Angeles scored twice in nine seconds mid-way through the period to take the lead for good.  Smith-Pelly was on ice for both goals, as well as the first one the Kings scored.  It was more action, perhaps, than he might have wished for, given that he skated just 9:35 for the game that the Caps would go on to lose, 5-2.  His minus-3 was his worst of the season, and at the offensive end of the ice he was frustrated with all three of his shot attempts blocked.

Postseason… Some players have a sense of the moment and step up their game when it matters more.  Devante Smith-Pelly made two playoff appearances before this season and went 6-2-8 in 24 games, a 20-goal scoring pace per 82 games.  Not exactly what one might expect for a bottom six forward, even if five of those goals came in 12 games with the Anaheim Ducks in the 2014 postseason.  When he scored on his only shot in the Caps’ first postseason game this spring, it was in retrospect a good omen, even if the Caps lost that game to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

It would be the last time the Caps would lose a game in which DSP scored a goal in the postseason.  Six times he scored in a game, six times the Caps won.  Two of those goals were game-winning goals, one of them coming in the series clinching Game 6 win over the Blue Jackets, the other coming in Game 4 of the final against the Vegas Golden Knights that put the Caps on the brink of clinching their first Stanley Cup championship.  In addition to the two game-winning goals he scored, DSP scored another goal that gave the Caps a lead and two that tied contests, including his third-period goal in Game 5 against the Golden Knights in the final that set up the Lars Eller goal later that would clinch the Cup for the Caps.

In the end…

Some players just rise to the occasion.  Nothing in his regular season numbers this season indicated that Devante Smith-Pelly would be a factor in the postseason, let alone a critical ingredient to the success the Caps enjoyed.  But there he was, inserting himself into many meaningful moments with an impeccable sense of timing that should not have been altogether surprising given his postseason history coming into this season.  It demonstrates that good fortune can be had for those who toil in relative obscurity, but whose hard work in those situations can prepare them for their moment in the spotlight.  Devante Smith-Pelly earned his good fortune.

Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: Luck is What You Make of It

The difference between winning and losing, success and failure, joy and despair might be thinner in hockey than in any other team sport.  The Washington Capitals and their fans could testify to the veracity of that statement.  For years – decades – Capitals Nation always seemed to be on the dark side of that margin.  It could hardly be helped if many in the Nation asked themselves over the years in frustration, “what if?”  As in...

• “What if that puck didn’t graze the shaft of Rod Langway’s stick in the fourth overtime against the Islanders on Easter morning in 1987, changing its direction by an inch or two to elude Bob Mason?”
• “What if Esa Tikkanen scores that goal after he deked Detroit goalie Chris Osgood to the ice in the third period of Game 2 in the Stanley Cup final with the Caps nursing a one-goal lead?”
• “What if Sergei Gonchar doesn’t lose the puck on some bad ice at his own blue line in overtime of Game 6 against Pittsburgh in 2001?”
• “What if Jason Doig waits a second longer to jump onto the ice in the third overtime of Game 6 against Tampa Bay on Easter in 2003?”
• “What if the ref put his whistle in his pocket in overtime against the Flyers in 2008 instead of calling Tom Poti for an iffy tripping penalty, or on the ensuing power play Cristobal Huet doesn't look in the wrong direction in search of a loose puck after making the initial save?”
• “What if Alex Ovechkin scores on a breakaway early in Game 7 against the Penguins in 2009?”
• “What if one puck – one stinking puck – hit a body or a stick or a skate on the way to Jaroslav Halak in any of the last three games against Montreal in 2010?”
• “What if the Caps won a defensive zone faceoff in overtime against the Rangers in Game 7 in 2015?”
• “What if the Caps won one of the two overtime losses to Pittsburgh over the last three games of their 2016 series?”

It seemed that whenever there was a critical, game-changing, series-turning moment, it always changed or turned in the opponent’s favor.  But oh, how that script was flipped in 2018…

After losing Games 1 and 2 on home ice, both in overtime, to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Caps could have gone down, 0-3, when they went to a second overtime in Game 3, but this happened…

How many times did that puck change direction after Brett Connolly took the original shot?

And it only started there...

• What if Nicklas Backstrom doesn’t get his stick on a Dmitry Orlov shot in overtime of Game 5 of that series to give the Caps a 3-2 lead heading back to Columbus instead of the Blue Jackets taking a lead back home with a chance to eliminate the Caps?
• What if Alex Ovechkin swings and misses instead of batting the puck out of mid-air on a rebound with 67 seconds left in regulation in Game 3 against the Penguins in Pittsburgh to give the Caps a 2-1 lead in games and regain home-ice advantage that they lost when they split their first two games at home?
• What if Tom Kuhnhackl’s shot off the post just before the three-minute mark of overtime goes in instead of caroming out to send the series against the Penguins back to Washington for a seventh game instead of Evgeny Kuznetsov scoring the game/series winner two minutes later?
• What if Alex Tuch gets a couple more inches of air under his shot from point blank range with two minutes left in regulation in Game 2 and the Caps hanging on by their fingernails to a one-goal lead and already down a game in the series?
• What if, when he is tripped by Colin Miller while taking a shot, Devante Smith-Pelly is knocked off balance enough to whiff on his shot instead of scoring the game-tying goal ten minutes into the third period of Game 6 against Vegas?
• What if, less than three minutes later in the same game, the puck does not sneak between the legs of Marc-Andre Fleury just enough off a shot from Brett Connolly for Lars Eller to swoop in and bat home what would be the game-winning/series-clinching/Cup-winning/grief-ending goal?

The poet John Milton once said, “luck is the residue of design.”  The Capitals put themselves in a position to win games, clinch series, and capture the Stanley Cup by virtue of clever design and artful execution of a game plan.  But hockey being what it is, a certain randomness – luck, if you will – will present itself from time to time.  And after decades of seeing those lucky bounces swing the opponent’s way, the Caps put themselves in a position to reap the benefits of luck shining on their side of the ice.  They earned their good fortune.

Photo: Getty Images

Washington Capitals 2017-2018 Previews -- Forwards: Devante Smith-Pelly

Devante Smith-Pelly

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.”

-- Seneca

New beginnings and beginning’s end appear to be habit with Devante Smith-Pelly.  It happens to many NHL’ers.  In Smith-Pelly’s case, he will be donning the jersey of his fourth NHL team in seven NHL seasons, having had previous stops in Anaheim (second round draft pick and three-plus seasons), Montreal (parts of two seasons), and New Jersey (one full season and change).

It is a lot of traveling for a player who has been on the margin of holding a consistent spot in an NHL lineup.  In those six seasons, Smith-Pelly has appeared in 266 games, and only in the last three of them has he appeared in more than 50 games. 

He has not left a large footprint in his six NHL seasons, posting 33 goals and 77 points in those 266 games.  But some folks do see something more in him.  In fact, one person of particular importance and relevance to the matter thinks, “there’s some untapped potential.”   If one looks at the full arc of his development, one can see the possibilities.  In three years of Canadian juniors, Smith-Pelly put up increasing goal totals, from 13 in 57 games as a 16-year old with the Mississauga St. Michael Majors to 29 goals in 60 games the following year (the season preceding his being drafted) to 36 goals in 67 games in his last year of juniors.  He experienced similar improvements with the Norfolk Admirals in his two AHL seasons, scoring 14 goals in 60 games in his first season with the club and 27 goals in 55 games the following season as a 21 year old.

Odd Smith-Pelly Fact…  Oddly enough, Devante Smith-Pelly’s most productive seasons were those in which he dressed for two different teams.  In 2014-2015 he was 6-14-20 in 74 games split between Anaheim and Montreal), while in 2015-2016 he was 14-11-25 in 64 games split between Montreal and New Jersey.

Fearless’ Take…

One thing that has not seemed to intimidate Smith-Pelly in his young career is going on the road.  He has roughly equivalent numbers (on a per game basis) on the road (17-23-40 in 139 games) as he does at home (16-21-37 in 127 games).

Cheerless’ Take…

Just sayin’, but in nine career games against the Penguins, he is 0-1-1, minus-9.  That plus-minus is the worst he has against any team in the league, save one…the team he’s playing for (minus-10 in 12 games against the Caps).  He is also a minus-24 in 61 career games against Metropolitan Division teams, minus-5 against the rest of the league in 205 career games.  Sure, a lot of that was skating with a weak New Jersey team, but the number is the number.  It did not help that he had the third worst shot attempts-for (SAT) percentage with the Devils last season (40.90 percent) and the seventh-worst of 351 NHL forwards skating in at least 50 games.  And there is that postseason thing, too.  Smith-Pelly was 5-0-5, minus-1 in his first ten career playoff games.  In his last 14 postseason games he is 1-2-3, minus-4.

Potential Milestones to Reach in 2017-2018:

• 300 games (currently has 266)
• 100 points (currently has 77)
• 100 penalty minutes (currently has 84)
• 10 game-winning goals (currently has seven)
• Points against all 31 teams (currently has points against every team except: Detroit, New Jersey, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Las Vegas)

The Big Question… Is Devante Smith-Pelly an economical bottom-six forward solution?

Justin Williams and Marcus Johansson are gone.  This could open up top-six forward spots for Andre Burakovsky, Tom Wilson, or Brett Connolly.   When you couple that with the contracts that were finalized this summer, that means the Caps will have to fill in their bottom six spots with economical (read, “cheap”) alternatives, either from within or with new signings.  Smith-Pelly has the advantage of almost 300 regular and postseason  games of NHL experience.  At $650,000 on a one-year deal, he is about as economical as it gets for an NHL player with that experience level and comparable to the rookies with whom he is likely to compete (Riley Barber, Chandler Stephenson, and Nathan Walker among them).  If Smith-Pelly does have the untapped potential the General Manager Brian MacLellan seems to think he has, then he would be a bargain.  If not, his is a low-risk signing. 

In the end…

That he has not seen an arc of improvement in the NHL similar to that he experienced in juniors and the AHL does not foreclose the possibility the Devante Smith-Pelly is doomed to a lackluster NHL career.  He just turned 25 years of age in June.  But time continues to pass, too, and there is not a lot of time to establish himself as a player worthy of a sweater night in and night out.  The departures the Caps experienced in this past off-season provide a unique opportunity for players like Smith-Pelly, who have some spotty experience but are still young enough to grow into a responsible role on a team with more than a few remaining veterans.  He is likely to compete for a bottom-six spot on this roster, and in that competition his experience could put him a step ahead of those with whom he is competing.

Projection: 52 games, 6-5-11, plus-2

Photo: Steven Ryan/Getty Images North America