Blueshirt Banter · Sep 25, 2020
2020 Report Card: Brendan Smith
Photo by Chase Agnello-Dean/NHLI via Getty Images Expectations
Brendan Smith entered the 2019-20 season surrounded by question marks regarding his role with the New York Rangers. In 2018-19, Smith played 63 games and averaged 15:18 TOI/GP, spending much of the tail end of the season as a fourth line forward. That was rough, but still a significant improvement over the 2017-18 season — the first year of Smith’s four-year contract with an average annual value of $4.35 million — where he spent time in the AHL with Hartford. It was a significant fall from grace for a player who many had hoped would bring balance and quality to New York’s top-four.