After Ty Smith nearly made the Devils’ roster as an 18-year-old during his first training camp with the team in 2018, it was a logical expectation to see the defenseman make an even harder push to secure a spot the second time around.

The 2018 first-round pick entered 2019 camp with all eyes on him. Coming off another strong junior season where he was named WHL defenseman of the year, Smith looked like a player ready to make the NHL leap.

The smooth skating and puck handling of Smith have been displayed in flashes during the preseason, but so far, the Devils haven’t seen the consistency they want in his play.

“Need more urgency to his game. A lot more urgency to his game," Devils coach John Hynes said. "Defending, ending plays, net-front defense, play away from the puck, moving his feet, getting back to pucks and breaking out. He’s got some work to do.”

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Smith is the only junior-eligible player left in training camp, so he’s certainly shown enough for the Devils to still be giving him a serious look at staying in the NHL in 2019-20. But if Smith is going to play in the NHL, it will have to be in a role where he gets regular playing time. He wouldn’t stay as a seventh or eighth defenseman where he would be missing valuable developmental ice time.

He still has about one week and two preseason games to make his case for the NHL roster during camp, and he can even stick around for nine regular-season games while still being eligible to go back to junior hockey.

“If he winds up going back to junior, it’s where he’s supposed to be. So that’s going to be the thing, whether he’s on our team and he’s here, it’s going to be the right thing for him,” Hynes said. "If he has to go back to junior, it’ll be the right thing for him. And that’s what we’re going to do, is do the right thing for the player and the organization. And that’s still to be determined, still over a week left in preseason for us to be able to make that decision and an opportunity for Ty to put some work in.

“He’s going to meet with (assistant coach Alain Nasreddine) this afternoon and go through some clips of some areas that he has done well, but some areas that we really need to see better play in to be able to make the team, so he’s still in that tryout situation.”

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