Revisiting The John Marino, Ty Smith Trade
Ty Smith was waived today and that means it’s the perfect time to revisit one of the worst trades over the last calendar year or so. Smith was swapped for John Marino and it’s pretty safe to say that the Devils robbed them blind.
It doesn’t take very long to analyze this trade. Marino was a stud for Jersey last year and Smith mostly played in the AHL. There is a reason why the guy got cut. He’s not an NHL player.
The box score doesn’t totally tell the story with Marino. His defensive excellence is what makes him valuable. He defends well, gets the puck out of the zone, and make really good outlet passes to start the breakout. That’s his game. Never going to be a point getter but guys like Marino are valuable. It’s a big reason why Jersey improved and made the postseason for the first time since 2017-18.
The crazy part is this wasn’t surprising coming into the year. Smith had bad metrics the season before the trade and was showing all the signs of what a bust first round pick looked like. Jersey took Smith with the 17th pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. To be able to turn him into Marino is a great piece of business by Tom Fitzgerald.
Look, there is a reason why Ron Hextall got fired. Pittsburgh missing the playoffs last year was the tip of the iceberg. Bad decisions like this is what got Hextall fired.
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