"Smitty's been a great character guy and that's why we re-signed him," Senators coach Guy Boucher said. "The players enjoy his character. They enjoy his grit. I think as a team that's one of the things this team needed, more guys like him. We want to surround our skill guys with more grit, more -- without saying grinders -- people who are able to have the skating abilities and grinding to play with the better players, but also do the dirty work."
"He's one that can hurt people with his size and his strength," Pageau said. "He's always in the gym trying to get stronger."
Smith is part of the penalty killing rotation and ranks fourth among Senators forwards in average shorthanded ice time per game at 1:57 behind Pageau (2:10), Tom Pyatt (2:06) and Chris Kelly (2:05). He is tied for second in the League in shorthanded goals with four.
"He's a big lefty on faceoffs, too, really strong," Pageau said. "That helps our penalty kill, too, to have him starting on the left side on the draws. It's really good."
Smith also ranks fifth among Senators forwards in SAT at 50.66%.
"He's a great penalty killer, but also 5-on-5 he's one of those guys who can pierce through the opponent," Boucher said. "In today's game, the neutral zone is extremely hard to get through against anybody. Everybody's got either a 1-1-3, a 1-2-2 that slanted on one side, it's very jammed. All five guys are in the neutral zone. You need guys who are able to pierce through. It's very hard to make plays and get through the natural zone unless you get an odd-man rush. You need guys who able to pierce through the opponents' wall and he's certainly one of those guys. I think those guys are absolutely one of the most important guys in your lineup."
It's good news for the Senators that they expect to have Smith back for the playoffs.
"We want him back as quick as possible, healthy," Pageau said. "He's a big difference."
