Smith Set to Make Bruins Debut

BOSTON - Gemel Smith has never known anything other than Dallas during his six-year professional career. Drafted by the Stars in the fourth round of the 2012 NHL Draft, the 24-year-old suited up for 77 games over parts of three seasons with Dallas, forming plenty of relationships and memories along the way.
But now the Toronto native is set for a new chapter. Claimed off of waivers by the Bruins on Thursday afternoon, Smith will make his Black & Gold debut on Saturday night against the Maple Leafs at TD Garden.

"I'm excited. A new experience," said Smith, who had two goals and an assist in 14 games with Dallas this season. "I'm happy to be here and excited to get going. I've been with that organization since 2012, so I knew a lot of guys for a long time. It was a tight bond, but it's all part of the game.
"I want more opportunity and I'm glad I got it here and I'm ready to show what I've got."
Smith will start off as Bruce Cassidy's fourth-line left wing, alongside Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner, and is likely to contribute on the penalty kill. Cassidy said he expects that the 5-foot-11, 195-pound left shot will provide a solid all-around presence.
"He's got some time in the league, he's fast. He should help us be effective on the forecheck. He's done some penalty killing," said Cassidy. "Played in a good program there in Dallas. I suspect he'll be good away from the puck. Not sure what happened there, why he got pushed out. We're gonna put him in tonight.
"With him being out West, we don't see him a lot, so we're going more on probably our pro scouts. [GM Don Sweeney] might have a better answer for you, but he's gonna play tonight with Kuraly and Wagner and we'll see if he slides up or moves around."
Smith also brings some versatility, having played all three forward positions at different points of his career.
"I think I can play up and down through the lineup, bring energy," said Smith. "I think I've got skill. I can score, make plays. So I just want to be a gritty two-way kind of player that's responsible and can provide offense."

DeBrusk Sidelined

The hits continue for the Bruins, as Jake DeBrusk - the team's second-leading goal scorer - will miss at least the next two games. Cassidy said the winger was physically "not feeling well" after Thursday's loss to Tampa Bay and was not at the practice facility on Saturday.
"Came in yesterday, was not feeling well, was not feeling great during the Tampa game - and after," said Cassidy. "He hasn't come in today. Right now, I can only speculate. I know he got hit in the head in Toronto - the back of the head with a puck. But he played.
"Right now, we're waiting for him to come in and let us know where he's at. He's definitely out tonight, definitely out tomorrow, and hopefully feels better when we see him next."

McAvoy Improving

One positive for the Bruins amidst their three-game losing streak was the return of Charlie McAvoy from a 20-game absence with a concussion. The 20-year-old played a tad over 21 minutes in the B's loss to Tampa and said he felt his game improved with each passing shift.
"Coming off the game two days ago, I'm feeling pretty good," said McAvoy, who was a minus-1. "I think the game started a little bit iffy in the first. But natural, though - I felt like I was gonna make mistakes. I was playing pretty mentally loose.
"I don't think I was too bad on myself after that first goal. Just was optimistic to keep going and growing as the game went on and I thought I did that in the second and third."

Opposing View

Things aren't getting any easier for the Bruins, who welcome the Maple Leafs - the league's second-best team with 41 points - to Boston on Saturday night for the teams' third meeting of the season (they split the first two matchups).
But this will be the first time since last year's playoff series that the B's will see Auston Matthews (injury) and William Nylander (holdout), making Toronto's high-octane offense that much more difficult to contain.
"It doesn't change your overall game plan, per se, because we know how they want to play," said Cassidy. "They want to score, they want to get going, they want to turn turnovers into transition and into odd-man rushes. That's not gonna change with those two guys. It will make it that much more difficult.
"But we've seen both those players before, we know what they bring. Good challenge. Moves [Nazem] Kadri down, now they've got three - [John] Tavares, Matthews, Kadri - three guys that can score in the middle. A challenge for the third D pair, whoever that happens to be….the challenges are still there, just bigger."

Saturday's Projected Lineup

Brad Marchand - David Krejci - David Pastrnak
Danton Heinen - Colby Cave - David Backes
Ryan Donato - Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson - Joakim Nordstrom
Gemel Smith - Sean Kuraly - Chris Wagner
Torey Krug - Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
John Moore - Steven Kampfer
Jaroslav Halak
Tuukka Rask