“It’s a kick in the balls for us.”
That’s how Matt Duchene summed up the Ottawa Senators‘ decision to place Zack Smith on waivers Tuesday.
The Senators are a team in transition and Smith is one of the few proven NHL forwards currently on Ottawa’s roster, so seeing the 30-year-old get waived came as a surprise to his teammates.
“It’s tough because we love Smitty,” Duchene said. “He’s a great leader. He’s a great player. Unfortunately, I guess, sometimes in this business things happen that are sometimes beyond hockey reasons and stuff like that.”
Smith has three years and an annual cap hit of $3.25 million remaining on his contract.
“As a friend I want what’s best for him so I’m hoping he’s doing OK,” Duchene added. “I know it’s gotta be a tough day for him. Our thoughts and hearts are with him right now through this. It’s a tough thing and it’s a bad part of the business I guess, but it’s the way it is.”
Smith only registered five goals and 19 points in 68 games a season ago – his lowest totals in a full NHL season since 2010-11 – but is lauded for more than how many times his name hits the scoresheet.
“He’s been here ever since I stepped foot in this organization and he’s done a lot for me ever since I stepped in,” star winger Mark Stone said. “He was one of the leaders for us at development camp when I was 18. He took me in my first call-up. He’s always been the first guy to invite me over for dinner, so it’s always tough to lose friends but at the same time there’s opportunity that he could still be with us.”
The Senators can assign Smith to the AHL’s Belleville Senators if he goes unclaimed.
“It sucks for sure,” Mark Borowiecki chimed in. “We don’t have control of our roster in here and obviously those decisions are out of my job description but I do know that he’s a really, really, really good friend of mine and a lot of guys in here. He’s universally loved and respected in this room and now our job as friends and teammates is to be there for him in kind of a tough situation.”
When asked about the move, head coach Guy Boucher didn’t have an answer other than to direct the question to the team’s general manager.
“That’s more of a question for Pierre [Dorion] to be honest with you,” Boucher said. “The players have been honest. It’s a tough day for the players. He’s a good person that we all feel for that’s given a lot to the team and still does, and until further notice his name’s on my board. That’s the way I’m approaching it.”
There is plenty of pessimism surrounding the Sens this season after an off-season rife with off-ice distractions and one that saw them trade away both Erik Karlsson and Mike Hoffman.
“We don’t have enough [skill on our roster],” Boucher told reporters Monday. “We have to say it like it is. I think it’s good that the players recognize that we have some skill, but we’re not going to win because we’re going to over-skill Toronto or Tampa or those teams.
“We’re going to be a young team with a few guys that are vets, but we’re going to have to outwork teams to win a game. It’s plain and simple.”
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