Smith talks importance of training camp
With Sens training camp in full swing, Smith discussed what impact the extra camp time will have, the depth of his team and more.
How important will conditioning be during the condensed season?
One of the strengths we're going to have to have is the ability to skate with theses teams. You look at the Canadian division and the amount of talent and high-end talent on these teams, if you can't skate with them you're going to be in real trouble. One of the things we have to is make sure our conditioning is at a level where we skate all night.
How important are the extra few days of training camp for the team?
As you're going through day-by-day, you're finding other things you haven't touched on and to have this allows us to get that skating and things out of the way so that we can get more down to systems and special teams as we know is so important when the season starts.
How important is training camp for making decisions pertaining to young players when there's no preseason?
A lot of it has to go on what they did in the American Hockey League and what they did this summer but I think when you make a young guy earn their spot, it gives you a better chance that that kid isn't going to up and down, up and down or put him on the team because you think it's his time and then all of a sudden the league eats him up. If a young player outplays an older player and takes his job, the likelihood is he's ready. I think sometimes when you see young given a job, the guy gets there and it's overwhelming and 15-20 games in you're bringing a veteran in to do that job and the kid is going back to the AHL. I think Pierre has done a really nice job of bringing in older players that have been in the league and know the league. If our younger players are ready to take their job and run with it every day, they're going to play.
Regardless of what happens, we're going to have the most rookies in the Canadian division by far. Younger players are going to play; that's not the issue. It's when they're going to play and how much they're going to play.
How does the centre position currently look?
With Stepan and Paquette coming in, we've got a much deeper battle at centre right now. I think a lot of it will depend whether we're at home or on the road. I think the reason Pierre brought someone like Stepan in is certainly leadership, but he's the kind of the guy that can protect young centres whether it's Logan brown or Josh Norris. He can play the hard minutes and can play against the league's best. For me, bringing in a guy like Stepan is really going to help with the development and probably speed up the development of guys like Logan and Josh and these guys down the middle because he can help these kids and show them the way the NHL should be.
How will you utilize the taxi squad?
We have to be a next man up mentally. For us to have success and take a step this year, we're going to have to do it with depth. We're going to have to skate all night and stay above you and work and there's going to be fresh bodies. There's going to be back-to-backs and guys and young players sitting out that are going to be able to come in and help you. I foresee a lot of bodies coming in and out. I don't want to rock guys confidence and making them nervous every night but there is going to be some guys that come in and out and that's going to make us more competitive.
How competitive will the North Division be?
It's going to be really competitive hockey with the back-to-backs and it really is like old school hockey when it comes to inner-division play. You're going to know guys tendencies and it's going to come down to obviously talent and ability but also come down to will and which team wants to play the hardest every night.
