Both solid pure defense first type of d-man, both bring out their best on nightly basis and u can even argue that these guys have been the heart and soul of their respective clubs d-core this entire season.
That being said, Who in your opinion is the better player of the two?
And who would u take on your club for the next 3 years?
Smid has been unreal this year. I dont see much of Alzner though, so I wont say ones better then the other.
Agreed, I think Smid is one of the most underrated d-man in the entire league, he has rebounded nicely and the guy was the Oilers defense this year. The same can be applied to Alzner who has been anchoring Caps defense to the play-offs as arguably their best d-man this year.
Admittedly I don't see much of Smid, but Alzner is a rock defensively and is only going to get better. If he ever develops offensively I feel pretty confident in saying he could be a top 10 defensemen. Alzner/Carlson(assuming they stay together, which they should) is going to be a top pairing in the league for a long time.
Admittedly I don't see much of Smid, but Alzner is a rock defensively and is only going to get better. If he ever develops offensively I feel pretty confident in saying he could be a top 10 defensemen. Alzner/Carlson(assuming they stay together, which they should) is going to be a top pairing in the league for a long time.
Smid imo this yr has been top 5 among defensive defensemen in the league but his offense has never really panned out.. ive seen alzner a few times and hes impressive id say in the future he could be def the better of the two.. pretty close right now ...
Statistically speaking, Alzner faces much tougher competition (0.083 vs 0.049) with fewer offensive zone starts (41.9% vs 49.3%). The Caps lean on Alzner defensively far more than the Oilers lean on Smid. His usage - trailing only Josh Gorges, Brent Seabrook, Dion Phaneuf, Zdeno Chara, Dan Girardi, and Ryan McDonaugh in quality of competition, while getting fewer offensive zone starts than all of the above - along with what I've seen personally watching him play, points to the reality that he is already a top ten stay at home defenseman in this league at the age of 23. I haven't watched Smid enough to get a proper read, but the numbers suggest he's not the same caliber as Alzner.
Smid is the only D on the oil that can be trusted. He's criminally underrated. He will be someday known as one of the elite shutdown guys in the league
Statistically speaking, Alzner faces much tougher competition (0.083 vs 0.049) with fewer offensive zone starts (41.9% vs 49.3%). The Caps lean on Alzner defensively far more than the Oilers lean on Smid. His usage - trailing only Josh Gorges, Brent Seabrook, Dion Phaneuf, Zdeno Chara, Dan Girardi, and Ryan McDonaugh in quality of competition, while getting fewer offensive zone starts than all of the above - along with what I've seen personally watching him play, points to the reality that he is already a top ten stay at home defenseman in this league at the age of 23. I haven't watched Smid enough to get a proper read, but the numbers suggest he's not the same caliber as Alzner.
Smid has been a beast this year though. 184 blocked shots in 78 games compared to Alzner's 139 (Smid finished 7th, but wouldve been in top 4 or 5 if he played all 82). Also 186 hits (tied for 36th, 13th for defensemen, compared to Alzner's 74 hits). Tied for 25th in takeaways by defensemen (31, compared to Alzner's 18)
He was also +4 on a -136 team. One of 6 players on the oilers on the + side of things.
Not taking away from Alzner. Just wanted to point out that Smid definitely had a fantastic year.
Smid imo this yr has been top 5 among defensive defensemen in the league but his offense has never really panned out.. ive seen alzner a few times and hes impressive id say in the future he could be def the better of the two.. pretty close right now ...
Well, Smid did have 5 goals this season which is solid for a defensive defenseman.
I feel that he has a little more to give offensively, he could be a 20 pt rock solid defenseman regularly. He does tend to play aggressive offensively from time to time.
This is a good question, i would probably give Alzner the edge because he has more room to grow but they are fairly similar players.
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Exhibit A as to how hockey doesn't matter on ESPN:
Last night an ESPN program was discussing how the Detroit Pistons needed a hero citing the heroes on the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions and no mention of the Detroit Red Wings. All this despite the Red Wings probably being the most succesful team in Detroit right now.
