Fantasy Take: Smith Ships Up To Boston
Ian Gooding
2020-10-10
The Boston Bruins have signed right wing Craig Smith to a three-year contract worth $3.1 million per season.
The Bruins get:
Smith, a 31-year-old winger who was one of what seemed like an unlimited number of middle-six forwards in Nashville. Having said that, he has been consistently at or near the half-point-per-game mark for the past seven seasons, all with the Predators. Before the 2019-20 season was paused, Smith was also on pace for his sixth 20-goal season, which is another example of his consistency.
Fantasy players impacted:
The top line in Boston is a fixture, so Smith will settle in somewhere in the middle six. This would put him in line for roughly the same level of production that he had in Nashville. It's possible that he could push Ondrej Kase down the lineup, even though Kase has a bit more upside. Smith also seems destined for the second-unit power play, but it's worth mentioning that there have also been Jake DeBrusk trade rumors. If DeBrusk is dealt, Smith may become an option for the first-unit power play, which is one of the strongest power plays in the league.
The Predators continue to shuffle around their non-first line options, as Smith, Kyle Turris, and Nick Bonino have already left, and Mikael Granlund is set to leave. This should bode well for Luke Kunin (acquired in the Bonino trade) to slot in the top 9 somewhere. Kunin can either play center or right wing. Otherwise, Rocco Grimaldi (fourth on the Preds with 2.2 PTS/60) might also be looking at a promotion. Grimaldi recorded 31 points in 66 games in spite of averaging under 13 minutes of icetime and almost no power-play time in 2019-20.
Fantasy Impact: Wild Trade Kunin to Nashville for Bonino
Fantasy players this helps, in order:
Grimaldi
Kunin
Smith
Fantasy players this hurts, in order:
Kase
Debrusk
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