Courtesy of @NJDevils Twitter Account

Newark, N.J. — Ty Smith doesn’t want to get cut. But the possibility is looming as the New Jersey Devils look to whittle down their roster for Opening Night on October 4.

Smith has had an up and down training camp. In the Devils’ preseason home opener victory against Boston, Smith’s skating prowess and puck handling ability shined en route to a two-assist night. Two days later, a miscommunication between Smith and Devils goalie Cory Schneider led to an easy score for the opposition in New Jersey’s win against the New York Rangers. After Monday’s practice, Devils coach John Hynes said Smith has “some work to do.”

At this point in his career, keeping Smith on the roster only to serve as a seventh or eighth defenseman would cripple his development — creating a do-or-die situation. Down the stretch of camp, Smith does have one thing working to his advantage — he’s a quick study.

“When the coaches teach something, I think it’s probably easier [for me] to pick it up,” Smith said.

The ability to pick up concepts quickly stems back to Smith’s background as an exceptional student. The 19-year-old’s savvy in the classroom positively impacted his coachability and receptiveness to feedback. While any more mistakes could spell a return trip to the WHL, this skill could be the key to Smith making the Devils’ roster.

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Education has always come first for Ty Smith.

Growing up in Lloydminster, Alberta, getting top marks in school was a requirement, not an option. His mother, a teacher, made sure of that.

When his parents separated, Smith went to live with his father and the message stayed the same.

“My dad would always say I’ve gotta be good in school if I want to play hockey,” Smith said.

And so, hockey became Smith’s catalyst to excelling in the classroom. The quicker Smith got his homework done, the more time he had to sneak off to the nearest rink. Whether it be hockey or schoolwork, Smith wanted positive results.

“Everything that I do, I want to do to the best of my ability,” Smith said. “Doing [my schoolwork] well was just [me] being competitive and wanting to get the best marks I possibly could.”

Over time, these two aspects of his life brought him exactly where he wanted. On the ice, Smith became the first overall selection of the Spokane Chiefs in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft, won the team’s Rookie of the Year award in 2016–17 and earned the honor of 2018–19 WHL Defenseman of the Year. In the classroom, Smith was named Chiefs’ Scholastic Player of the Year in 2016–17 and 2017–18 and received the Daryl K. Seaman Trophy in 2017–18, presented to the top scholastic player in the Western Hockey League.

After the New Jersey Devils selected Smith 17th overall in 2018, his formal education concluded, at least temporarily. But the habits he learned as a student help him as a hockey player, especially when it comes to different styles of coaching.

“I was always taught that the way the coach teaches is the way that I should have to learn,” Smith said. “I’ve had all different kinds of coaches in the way that they try to teach and try to coach.”

And while Smith’s first training camp in 2018 didn’t go as he hoped, he’s on the cusp of cracking the Devils’ roster in 2019. With less than two weeks to the start of the regular season, Smith is one of 26 skaters competing for 21 spots.

As far as improvement, Smith acknowledges he needs to be more of a playmaker, continue to defend hard, engage physically and create offense. Hynes says Smith “needs more urgency to his game,” but also expressed confidence in his rookie’s ability to improve.

“Ty’s track record is that he’s a very coachable player,” Hynes said. “There’s some things we’re working through with him right now and I think it’s a good opportunity for him.”

For Smith, everything now comes down to the final two preseason games and handful of practices remaining. Perform well and he could find himself on one of New Jersey’s three pairings. If he falters, Smith will play a final season of junior hockey with the Spokane Chiefs.

Although Smith says it’s hard to keep the worst-case scenario out of the back of his mind, he’s focused on making the most of the final days of camp.

“Being here is where I want to be,” Smith said. “I believe that I can be, I just need to step up my game a little bit.”

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This story is part of a running series of spillover content from The Fischler Report, the longest-running hockey journal in its 27th year of publication. To inquire about subscriptions, please email FischlerReport@gmail.com.