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“He handled that with character and with confidence and pride,” Smith said. “He took it as this, if you’re getting an opportunity to get invited to that camp, you’re doing lots of good things.

“Sure, it’s a kick in the butt when you don’t make it but he wanted to get right back, get back on the horse and play, and it was awesome for our group.”

In Lind, Smith sees a player with a lot of offensive talent and suggests the Canucks did well to get that kind of player in the second round.

“He’s an elite offensive player and he has huge upside to his game,” Smith said. “His game is still growing and I don’t think it’s anywhere near to where it’s going to get to.

“I can’t really speak for the (Canucks), but it was probably great for them. They got a great piece, a player who is still growing and getting better.”

Smith underscored a couple of skills Lind has which suggest that the Canucks were on to something when they saw a young man who could play with Pettersson down the road.

“He has vision and poise with the puck. His ability to pass the puck and shoot the puck are at a very high level at a young age. The guys who can handle the puck like he can without staring down at the ice all the time have a lot of opportunity to have success with the pace of the game now,” Smith said. “If you can see the play develop before anyone else can, you have a pretty good chance to complete the play. He has that ability. He sees the ice really well.

“He can also shoot the puck from numerous positions on the ice and he can do it when he’s moving at full speed and it doesn’t matter if he’s off the front foot or back foot or side foot.