Devante Smith-Pelly gets chance to be another playoff star
Devante Smith-Pelly became a playoff revelation for the Anaheim Ducks four springs ago, when he scored five goals in 12 games during his post-season debut. He appeared to be a rising star, a potential pillar for the Ducks at centre in the years to come, but his career since has been nomadic and sometimes turbulent. He was dealt to Montreal and then New Jersey in the following two seasons, and after enduring one of the worst years of his career in 2016-17, the Devils bought out the remainder of his contract.
He found a fresh start with the Capitals, who gave him another chance with a one-year contract and didn’t know exactly what kind of production they would receive in return. SmithPelly has had an awakening of sorts — he’s added a dimension with his physicality and has enjoyed his best offensive season since 201516 — giving Washington an unexpected bargain as it prepares to meet the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs Thursday.
Returning to the post-season, and specifically the form he showed as a 21-year-old with the Ducks during the 2014 playoffs, was not lost on Smith-Pelly as he came off the ice with his Washington teammates Monday morning. He hasn’t been on this stage in three years, when he played in 12 games during the 2015 playoffs with the Canadiens.
“It was a good experience. Obviously, I’ve played in a lot of playoff games so I know what to expect to be successful. Really, I’m just going to play the way I’ve been playing,” Smith-Pelly said. “It’s just magnified more, finishing checks, going to the net, making it hard on the other team.”
Smith-Pelly’s two-way deal with Washington last summer went for the league minimum of $650,000, a low-risk move that has paid dividends. The 25-year-old has been durable, playing in a career-high 75 games during the regular season. He finished with seven goals and nine assists, his best output in three years. And he’s been versatile piece on a team that has shifted personnel late in the season, a departure from past Capitals lineups that were essentially set before the playoffs began.
He has earned confidence from Washington Coach Barry Trotz, who has used Smith-Pelly to both plug injury holes and as a spark plug. Smith-Pelly has also shown shades of his younger potential, playing his way on to the top line alongside Alex Ovechkin multiple times. “Everywhere I’ve gone, that’s kind of been my thing, jumping up lines,” SmithPelly said. “At this point I’m used to it; it’s been happening my whole career. I like it.”
Trotz has experimented with Smith-Pelly in different spots, but he appears to have found chemistry on the third line alongside Lars Eller, who is having a career year. Both Smith-Pelly and Eller can separate the defence from the puck and give Washington capable secondary scoring, one of the team’s keys in the post-season.
If Smith-Pelly learned anything from those 24 post-season games, it was finishing checks and using his 220-pound frame to help wear opponents down. He wants to be a player Trotz can plug in anywhere. Even as his career has taken an unexpected route, that skill-set has not been lost.