Montreal Canadiens: Claiming Brendan Smith and Marcus Kruger

There was more attention surrounding the latest waiver wire with Marcus Kruger and Brendan Smith. Could the Montreal Canadiens see value in either of them?

The last time the talk about a player on waivers was so extensive was when the Chicago Blackhawks made Cody Franson available to the rest of the league. All the talk ended up being for nothing as no team made a claim. Now, the buzz is on Marcus Kruger and Brendan Smith who found themselves on waivers Thursday morning. The Montreal Canadiens have dipped into the waiver pool before, and these two players do bring intangibles with them that could be beneficial.

Wire #1

Let’s start with Smith, a 28-year-old left-shot defenceman. Considering the New York Rangers gave up a second and third round pick in 2018 and 2017 respectively and signed him to a four-year deal, the fact that they put him on waivers speaks volumes. It looks like the Rangers are going with a younger option on the blueline after recalling 22-year-old Neal Pionk from the AHL. But what happened to Smith?

It was his strong performance in the playoffs for New York last season that earned him the contract extension. Smith skated well and was effectively physical and that, unfortunately, hasn’t been there for him this season. In fact, the Rangers have more shots directed at their net when he’s on the ice than without including those dangerous areas in front of the net.

His last game against the Boston Bruins might’ve been the final straw as he walked out a -2. Two games before that in Nashville, Smith was a -3 so management isn’t exaggerating in saying his best hasn’t been there.

However, it’s possible the Mimico native is getting a case of the ‘New Contract’ Jitters. Going from a $2.75 million to $4.35 million cap hit brings a level of expectation. Smith may be trying to do too much in order to compensate. You can see this in his shot totals for this season which is already greater than seasons past with two months left to go.

Smith has proven to be a capable defenceman, and the player he was then could still be in there. Perhaps it is a new environment, be it the AHL or a different team, that will help. Is that with the Montreal Canadiens?

If we’re attributing these struggles to confidence, then he may be an improvement over David Schlemko considering the quality of competition. Again, it depends on whether we can consider this an off year for Smith. That being said, the contract what I say the Habs should steer clear from. It’s not only the cap-hit but the fact that it includes a modified no-trade clause each year.

Montreal already has that with Karl Alzner, and I doubt management would want to pick up another one.

Claim Smith? Pass. (Unless a wish for a rip in the space-time continuum comes true and someone can go back in the past to the signing of the contract, lower the cap-hit and remove the clause)

Wire #2

Now we move on to Kruger. “HE’S A CENTRE!” Why yes, yes he is. He’s also a two-time Stanley Cup Champion and former teammate of Andrew Shaw. Defence is Kruger’s motto, and he does a decent job at it as not as many shots get across when he’s on the ice.

His blemish is and always has been his offensive numbers. The 27-year-old’s career high was an eight goal and 20 assist season in 2014 with the Blackhawks. It’s continuing this year as he only has a goal and five assists in 48 games. That has kept him in Chicago’s and Carolina’s bottom nine but with goal scoring being something the latter needs right now, it makes sense why they would part with him.