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New Jersey Devils: Ty Smith Is Making It Hard To Find Him Redeemable

By Nick Villano

New Jersey Devils defenseman Ty Smith (24) skates the puck against the Arizona Coyotes during the third period at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
New Jersey Devils defenseman Ty Smith (24) skates the puck against the Arizona Coyotes during the third period at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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The New Jersey Devils defense is mostly coming back next season. Everyone in the normal top six is under contract outside of P.K. Subban. Dougie Hamilton is signed for six more seasons. Damon Severson, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Ryan Graves all have another year on their deals. Then there’s Ty Smith, who has another year left on his entry-level contract.

After ranking as the best rookie defenseman in the NHL last season, Smith is now the worst defenseman on the Devils blue line. It’s not particularly close, either. He makes several mistakes a game, and very often they turn into goals. He is making way too many mistakes in the defensive zone which puts already overwhelmed goalies in a position to fail.

It’s been one of the worst developments of this season. Last season, Tom Fitzgerald said that Ty Smith was becoming one of the core pieces they expected to be a reason they one day become a contender. Now, he’s one of the main reasons they are losing.

On Thursday night, during the second to last game of the season, Smith made another blunder that led directly to a goal.

https://twitter.com/anthonywnichols/status/1519822937062268932

Well, that wasn’t good. A one-time mistake is one thing, but it’s these mistakes that just keep happening. Smith is playing like he did in the 2019 preseason when the Devils were forced to send him back to the Spokane Chiefs. This season, the Devils let him work through his mistakes, and nothing changed. We see that because he JUST made a mistake that ended the Devils overtime game against the Ottawa Senators.

Say what you want, Smith’s reaction to that move was not a good look. He left his soul in Ottawa, and we don’t know if he will ever get it back after that play.

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The Devils need to give Smith another chance next year. Is it a guarantee? Maybe not, but none of the other defensive prospects are going to be ready or have the upside of Smith. They have Reilly Walsh, Nikita Okhotyuk, and Kevin Bahl on the roster to end the season, but nobody will be surprised if they start next year with the Utica Comets. Smith needs to spend the entire offseason fixing his mistakes. If he doesn’t, Jack Hughes will replace him as his roommate when the Devils replace him with Luke Hughes.

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