What led to Sharks rookie Smith's improvement, offensive explosion originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Editor’s note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
Since mid-January, Sharks youngster Will Smith arguably has been the NHL’s best rookie.
Since Jan. 20, Smith’s homecoming game in Boston, the No. 4 overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft’s 14 assists and 21 points lead all rookies. His seven goals are tied for third.
What’s behind Smith’s offensive explosion?
Microstats from Stathletes, NHL scouts, Smith, and Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky tell the story.
It all might have started … with a benching?
On Jan. 11, Smith was benched in the middle of a 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild because of his puck management and defensive engagement, among other reasons.
Coincidence or not, his game has taken off since then, even before his triumphant return to Boston.
“I’m not going to talk about it too much,” Smith said in late February, when asked about that benching. “But I keep stuff in my head.”
Safe to say getting benched got his attention?
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “Obviously, I don’t want to get benched.”
So he took that … personally?
“I’ve always kind of been that way,” Smith said. “I don’t forget about too much, so I’ll tell you about plays that happened three years ago that I don’t forget about.”
Of course, it’s not as simple as getting mad to succeed in the NHL.
“The pace of the game, it’s slowed down for him,” Warsofsky said.
For a remarkable talent like Smith, maybe it was just a matter of time.
After all, Smith, who just turned 20, was taking on the best league in the world as a teenager.
An up-and-down campaign for a rookie is normal, especially one so young: Smith started the 2024-25 NHL season with zero points in his first eight games, followed by an 11-points-in-14-games run. Then in 15 appearances, up to his Jan. 11 benching, he had just three points. Since then, he has 22 points in his last 25 games.
“I feel more comfortable,” Smith said.
Here’s an example of Smith looking comfortable, and how he’s learned to not just survive NHL pace, but control it.
For about 30 seconds on the power play, Smith (No. 2) sets up along the left wall, takes what the Calgary Flames give him, mostly short perimeter passes to point man Jake Walman (No. 96) or low man Tyler Toffoli (No. 73). But when bumper William Eklund (No. 72) returns a short pass, Smith sees a passing line and one-times a hard pass to Macklin Celebrini (No. 71) on the right flank.
That pass sends the Flames PK scrambling, and Celebrini takes advantage by feeding Toffoli in front for a dangerous scoring chance.
Smith and the Sharks almost lull the Flames PK to sleep before the rookie steps on the gas.
Here’s another example of Smith dictating pace:
Smith slows pace down, hits streaking Celebrini with perfect pass pic.twitter.com/27oyeZdPca
— San Jose Hockey Now GIFs (@sjhockeynowGIFS) March 25, 2025
Smith gains the zone before slowing it down at the point. He knows a hard-charging Celebrini is likely to beat his check down the slot. He also knows the puck is faster than the feet.
Smith’s patience, vision and touch all come together for a Grade-A chance.
Another expression of the 6-foot center-winger really processing NHL pace?
He isn’t getting stuck as often in puck battles that he can’t win as a teen in a man’s league. Per Stathletes, in the last 20 games, he has gotten into the second-least puck battles among Sharks forwards with 4.4 Puck Battles at 5-on-5 Per 60. That’s about half the Puck Battles he was getting in earlier this season.
This isn’t a bad thing: Around the NHL, the bottom-five forwards in Puck Battles are Patrick Kane, Toffoli, Alexander Ovechkin, Mark Stone and Kyle Connor.
Offensive wizard Kane, a hero of Smith’s, is a fantastic example of a smaller skill forward who’s able to dart in and out of tight spaces to win pucks and keep it away from bigger players with his skating and stickhandling. If you can’t catch him, you can’t battle him for the puck.
As for teammate Toffoli, because of his unremarkable foot speed, he’s smart enough to move the puck instead of losing it in an unnecessary battle.
So to quote Kenny Rogers, Smith has learned better when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em.
Here’s another example of Smith keeping the puck away from his opponents with his poise and skill, which leads to a Sharks goal post.
Smith, in the corner, is able to keep the puck away from Joel Hanley (No. 44) and Nazem Kadri (No. 91), getting it back to the point. Eventually, Smith makes a play, hitting Fabian Zetterlund (No. 20) with a long, surprising pass.
“I’ve been holding onto it more, the corners, coming out there with more speed. Trying not to get held up [at] the glass is something that I’ve been trying to try to work on,” Smith said. “Definitely trying to move my feet more.”
“He’s putting himself in better positions,” Warsofsky said.
“Opportunistic” is how one NHL scout described Smith’s recent play.
Of course, Smith has to win the battles that he gets in, like Stone does, but that’ll come with time. He appears to be demonstrably stronger and quicker than Day 1 of the season, perhaps a small credit to the development days, i.e. healthy scratches, that he went through, mostly for back-to-back games, in the first half of his rookie year.
Smith has gained about 15 pounds from where he was at the end of last season in the NCAA, a lot of that seemingly muscle.
“He’s not playing with fear. The game’s slowed down. He’s not chucking pucks all over the ice. He’s holding onto pucks when he’s got time and space. He’s starting to understand when he can’t make a play, what he needs to do with it,” Warsofsky said. “You got to have that feel [of] when to make a play and when to live to fight another day.”
More comfort, strength and quickness seemingly have upped Smith’s willingness to attack the middle of the ice.
In the last 20 games, he’s fifth among Sharks forwards with 1.93 High-Danger Chances in All Situations Per 60, more than double his rate than earlier this season.
“Definitely want to shoot more. Shooting more obviously creates more, and definitely getting more inside is something I’ve been focusing on,” Smith said.
He’s no Zach Hyman, the net-front warrior who’s league leader in High-Danger Chances, and he’s never going to be, but Smith is getting his nose dirtier.
“You watch the 4 Nations. We’ll watch these playoffs in a couple months, and everything is done in the inside of the ice. If you don’t have the courage to go there, you’re just going to be another … good NHL player. We want him to be a great NHL player,” Warsofsky stressed. “How do you do that? You got to do all the little things. Well, you got to get to the inside of the ice. You got to play with courage.”
Speaking of those little things, Smith has improved in that regard too. The recent point-per-game pace, of course, is obvious. But also?
“His D and compete are better,” another NHL scout said.
Credit to Smith, his camp and Sharks management, who both were firm and flexible in their development plan with the teen phenom this season.
They stuck to their guns, when many pundits thought Smith was better served developing in the AHL.
“He’s come a long way since Day 1. Still got a ways to go, but we’re seeing some improvement,” Warsofsky said.
No doubt, Smith is playing NHL-caliber hockey right now.
The Sharks also were flexible, moving Smith from center to wing, benching him when necessary and giving him development days.
They were confident that Smith would get much better over the course of the NHL season, and he has.
Between Smith and Leo Carlsson, who followed a similar development plan in his rookie 2023-24 campaign, this might be the way of the future for top teenage prospects in the NHL.
Of course, Smith isn’t done. Like Warsofsky says, he’s still got a ways to go.
Ex-Shark Nico Sturm summed up Smith’s next step.
“He has all the tools that the best players in the world have — his shot, his vision,” the veteran’s veteran said last month. “He’s gonna have to get stronger in the offseason. I think that’s the biggest thing.”
© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Los Angeles, CA — The Los Angeles Kings (39-21-9) defeated the Boston Bruins (30-33-9) with an impressive 7-2 victory at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, March 23.
With the victory, the Kings continue their latest winning record, beating eight of the nine opponents they’ve faced so far as they inch closer towards the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Notably in tonight’s victory, seven different Kings players scored goals for the team, Additionally, sixteen players registered points for LA, establishing a franchise record for the most players on a scoresheet. Their back-to-back blowout wins were also the first time the team has scored seven or more goals in consecutive games since 1995.
In the beginning of the first period, the Bruins drew first blood with a backhand goal by Boston center Elias Lindholm to start off the game, 1-0.
Not long after, LA Kings team captain and center Anze Kopitar flew down the left wing to tie the game for Los Angeles with a backhand shot of his own into the Boston net, 1-1. Kings left wing forward Warren Foegele followed up with another goal of his with a wrist shot off of a Phillip Danault pass to give the Kings their first lead of the night, 2-1.
Foegele’s goal also happened to be his 20th goal of the season, as well as his 100th goal made throughout his NHL career.
During the beginning of the second period, Boston tied the game as Bruins center Morgan Geekie was left all alone in front of the Kings goal, allowing him to outwait Darcy Kuemper and beat him to the glove side. As the period progressed, Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty fired a slap shot from the right circle and past Jeremy Swayman to once again give the Kings the lead 3-2.
Notably, throughout the second period while the Kings originally drew a penalty for tripping one of the Boston hockey players, the overall body language of the Bruins’ players began to get more heated and angry. Tempers flared up, and at one point LA Kings’ Darcy Kuemper and Boston Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman had inched closer and closer until a breaking point had nearly been reached. They were about to throw their gear down and fight, but at the last second the referees had stepped in to avoid such a thing.
Each team drew two penalties from this incident, but this became nothing more than a close call.
The Kings’ newest winger, Andrei Kuzmenko scored an insurance goal t late in the period to increase the lead to 4-2. For Kuzmenko, that’s goals in back to back games and 3 points in two nights. He had previously gone scoreless in the seven games since LA acquired him.
Boston never recovered afterward.
Once the third period rolled around, the Kings blew open the floodgates when Quinton Byfield continued his hot streak with a wrist shot to extend the LA lead to 5-2. The fourth line joined the frenzy to cap the scoring for the Kings as Tanner Jeannot and Samuel Helenius put the game completely out of reach..
With this victory, the Kings take that momentum with them as they face the New York Rangers on Tuesday, March 25.
During this past off-season, the Buffalo Sabres acquired Ryan McLeod and prospect Tyler Tullio from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for 2022 ninth-overall pick Matthew Savoie. With Savoie being one of the Sabres' top prospects at that time, there was understandable concern following this move.
However, since his arrival to Buffalo, McLeod has been everything the Sabres had hoped for and more. Due to his strong all-around play, the Mississauga, Ontario native has blossomed into an incredibly important part of the Sabres' forward group. Right now, he is seeing time in their top six and is also used on both their power play and penalty kill.
McLeod has certainly taken advantage of his more significant role with the Sabres, too. In 66 games, he has set new career highs with 17 goals, 25 assists, and 42 points. However, what's more encouraging is that he is only getting better as this season rolls on.
McLeod is on fire right now, posting three goals and 11 points in his last nine contests. This includes scoring a goal and recording three assists in the Sabres' last matchup against the Winnipeg Jets on March 23.
Overall, McLeod has been a great addition to the Sabres, and he is only continuing to prove that the Atlantic Division club made the right call acquiring him. It will be intriguing to see how he builds on his strong play from here.
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For the third time this season, a matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers went beyond regulation.
And for the second time, things didn't go their way.
On Sunday, the Penguins surrendered a two-goal lead and lost to the Panthers, 4-3, in a shootout for the second time this season. Pittsburgh couldn't muster a shootout goal, while Aleksander Barkov scored on the very first attempt for Florida to earn the win.
The Penguins are now 1-6 in the shootout this season in comparison to their 8-5 record in overtime. They have converted on just 28 percent of total shootout opportunities this season, which ranks 22nd in the league.
"I've tried it a million ways to try to get better at it, with just different teams that I've coached throughout the years," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "My experience has been [that] you've got guys that tend to be inclined, or you don't."
Even though the Penguins did ultimately surrender the two-goal lead, the game was back-and-forth for much of the evening. Sam Reinhart opened the scoring for Florida midway through the first period with his 34th of the season.
A few minutes later, Penguins forward Bryan Rust capitalized on a power play opportunity for his 24th goal of the season with a slick forehand-to-backhand move near the net front that fooled Florida defenseman Nate Schmidt.
Rust scored again five minutes later, when Sidney Crosby dished a beautiful elevated pass to him while breaking to the net. Rust was able to catch the puck with one hand on his stick to redirect it into the net and behind Sergei Bobrovsky to put the Penguins up, 2-1. Crosby's assist on the goal - his second of the game - put him just two points shy of breaking Wayne Gretzky's point-per-game seasons record, which he would clinch at 20.
And continuing into the next frame, the Penguins kept their foot on the gas. Pittsburgh got another power play six and a half minutes into the second, when ex-Penguin Evan Rodrigues went to the box for hooking. Twenty seconds later, Evgeni Malkin blasted home a one-timer from the right circle for his 15th goal of the season, giving his team the 3-1 lead.
Reinhart added his second tally of the game on the power play not even three minutes later, however, and things started to slide a bit from there. Although the Penguins had their chances later in the game, the Panthers did take over for large stretches in the third period, and they finally broke through with just over five minutes remaining in regulation, as Anton Lundell scored to even the score at 3-3 and force overtime.
And after an exciting overtime period with chances exchanged - and the Penguins controlling most of the possession, as has largely been the case in overtime for them this season - the shootout was forced, and Florida took it from there.
Despite the loss, Rust admires the Penguins' fighting spirit despite the circumstances surrounding the state of their season.
"I think it shows about the character and leadership of this room is that we're in here to keep fighting hard and still play really hard," Rust said. "It doesn't really matter where we are, we're in here to still prove something and still be a good hockey team."
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LAS VEGAS -- The Golden Knights lost red-hot Tomas Hertl to an upper-body injury during Sunday's 4-2 win over the Lightning, and while coach Bruce Cassidy said he was hoping for good news Monday morning, one early report said otherwise.
"It's the shoulder ... I didn't like what I was hearing on Sunday night, but I am hoping that is wrong," Elliotte Friedman said during the 32 Thoughts podcast. "Initially, the word wasn't great. I'm just hoping that's wrong.
"I don't know what to say here except that I heard they were a little bit concerned about it."
Understandably, too, considering Hertl has been on a heater of late.
While center Jack Eichel may have been named the NHL's second star this week, there's no doubt who's been the hottest Golden Knight the past few weeks.
Hertl suffered the injury when he was pushed from behind by Lightning defenseman Emil Lilleberg after a breakaway opportunity was stopped by Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. Hertl went to gather the rebound when Lilleberg grabbed Hertl's hips and shoved him.
Hertl slammed into the end boards shoulder first and did not return. Originally a five-minute major, the call was reduced to a two-minute boarding penalty.
"That is a dirty hit in that area when a player is in that position," Golden Knights broadcaster Shane Hnidy said during the broadcast. "That's gotta be a five-minute major). I'm all for physical play but there's gotta be awareness."
The Knights left for a three-game road trip on Monday, starting in Minnesota, so no update was provided. Vegas' trip begins Tuesday against the Wild, whom the Knights would face if the playoffs began now.
A message for Hertl's agent, Craig Oster, went unreturned.
A long-term loss could prove devastating for a Golden Knights offense that has come alive, ranking second with 3.92 goals-for per game during an 8-2-2 run since Feb. 27.
Hertl has been a big part of that, as he followed up Saturday's hat trick against the Red Wings with a goal against Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Hertl, whose 14 power-play goals are a franchise record, now has two hat tricks in his last eight games and leads the league with 19 goals since Jan. 17. His 28 points in the same span are tied with three others for 15th in the league.
"He’s playing some of his best hockey he’s probably played in his career, never mind with us," Cassidy said Sunday night.
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