Craig Smith 2023 Report Card

Next up on our Washington Capitals end of season player report cards we look at one of the newer members of the team, Craig Smith who was acquired from the Boston Bruins the week before the deadline in the Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway trade.

Honestly I feel bad for him. Dude literally goes from the best team in the league to a team that missed the playoffs. That has to stink.

Overall Smith had a total of nine goals and seven assists for 16 points in 64 games this season between the Caps and Bruins. Four goals and six assists for 10 points with the Bruins. Then five goals and one assist for six points with the Capitals.

That’s definitely OK offense for a team not making the playoffs but was still fighting till the very end. Five goals in 22 games is pretty good.

Smith had two goals in a win over the San Jose Sharks on the road in March. He then scored in a win over the New York Islanders in the third to last game of the season before scoring in the season finale against the New Jersey Devils.

Smith had a 48.88 percent Corsi For percentage, a 48.26 percent Expected Goals For percentage, and a 46.30 percent High Danger Chances For percentage via Natural Stat Trick.

In the season finale against the Devils, Smith’s goal was the 200th of his NHL career. He tricked Jack Hughes into passing him the puck.

https://twitter.com/NBCSCapitals/status/1646657889283473409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1646657889283473409%7Ctwgr%5E054c62ed68dcb88489d7791bb130b8554c1ea985%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthehockeynews.com%2Fnhl%2Fwashington-capitals%2Fnews%2Fwashington-capitals-craig-smith-tricked-jack-hughes-goal-new-jersey-devils

Smith explained to NBC Sports Washington’s Al Koken during intermission:

"“I called for it, I was wide open in the middle. There was a lot of open ice in the middle there. Figured I’d give him a holler and see if he’d throw it over.”"

Grade B-: Five goals down the stretch is not too shabby. Tricking Jack Hughes on one of them is good enough to get your grade up to a B-. He is an unrestricted free agent July 1.