Red Wings Q&A: Brendan Smith

Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith has some untapped offensive potential.

(The Associated Press)

DETROIT - Brendan Smith is a good skater with some offensive upside that hasn't been exploited since he joined the NHL. The Detroit Red Wings might seek to tap that potential this season.

Smith was an offensive defenseman and power-play quarterback at Wisconsin and Grand Rapids. He averaged more than a point game in his final season with the Badgers (15 goals, 52 points in 42 games in 2009-10) and put up 86 points (including 27 goals) in 152 games for the Griffins.

Former Red Wings coach Mike Babcock refused to give Smith much of an opportunity on the power play, for reasons he declined to reveal. He likely had concerns about Smith's penchant in pinching in, which has resulted in defensive mistakes, and his tendency to turn over the puck. Babcock in 2013 famously commented how Smith creates as many scoring chances for the opposition as he does for his own team.

New coach Jeff Blashill is more open-minded about giving Smith, who signed a two-year, $5.5 million extension last week, a chance on the power play.

"I think Brendan has that ability to do that (power play)," Blashill said. "You have to see where the whole puzzle fits at camp. He's somebody I know that's done that in the past because he's done that for me in the American League (for half the 2012-13 season)."

Blashill has a vision of how Smith can be best utilized.

"I think Brendan's best offensive ability is kind of roaming around below the tops of the circles," Blashill said. "If he's a weak-side guy on the power play, going to the net a lot, he can retrieve pucks because he's quick, he's strong, he's competitive. He's got good offensive instincts once he gets below the tops of circles. I know at Wisconsin he was on his off-side (right side) hitting one-timers. That's something we'll explore going into camp."

Defenseman Mike Green and center Brad Richards give the Red Wings two more options for a power play that ranked second in the NHL in 2014-15.

Green and Niklas Kronwall could play together on the top power-play unit or be split. Richards plays the point on the power play. Teemu Pulkkinen, with his tremendous right-handed shot, is a possibility. Other point options include Smith as well as Jakub Kindl and Danny DeKeyser, who played there on occasion last season.

"I think the positive thing for us is you'd rather have more guys that can do it than not enough," Blashill said. "I think we have more guys (now). That's a real positive from the competition standpoint and from the production standpoint."

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