Smith is a poised puck-moving blueliner who dictates play…skating is efficient, smooth and generates impressive levels of speed…transitions from defense to offense quickly…looks to join the rush regularly…excels with the puck on his stick…moves the puck smartly and quickly, with an efficiency…patient and skilled running the point in the offensive zone, and has the ability to thread passes all over the ice…shot from the point has a quick release with not much of a windup, preferring to keep the puck low and on net rather than wind up for a slap shot…overall awareness is impressive…able to protect the puck from opposing players along the wall before making a play to an open teammate…harder to knock off the puck than his size would suggest…can play an effective shutdown role…not a physical guy but will use his body to separate the puck…his active stick is a presence in his own zone causing turnovers and closing lanes…coaches dream who will do whatever is needed to help the team…an elite two-way defender with top-pairing upside in the NHL once he does fully develop. (July 2017)