Espy's Soapbox: Trying Will Smith at Center is the Right Call

Since joining the San Jose Sharks organization, Will Smith has been forced to play outside of his natural position. While the concerns surrounding his ability to be an effective center at the NHL level could be valid, we can't know unless we see him try.

In the long run, the Sharks are hoping that they won't need to play Smith at center since Macklin Celebrini will be anchoring the top line and Michael Misa projects to be a solid second-line centerman when he reaches his prime. What happens when one of them inevitably get hurt like we saw on Monday though? If the Sharks want to be a true contender, Ty Dellandrea can't be their first line center even in an emergency.

Knowing that Smith has the ability to pivot to the center of the ice and can perform the role effectively would help the organization's center depth tremendously. If he fails to do it successfully, then it's better to get it out of the way now rather than find out five years down the line in an elimination game. 

With Celebrini's current injury, it seems that Ryan Warsofsky is willing to give Smith an opportunity at center. As reported by San Jose Hockey Now's Sheng Peng, Smith was slotted between Mason Marchment and Igor Chernyshov at practice on Monday. 

Max Miller at Sharks Hockey Digest spoke with Smith's skills coach, Dan Holland, who said: "Will has been a center his entire life, so if they throw him at center he’ll be great. Everyone sees him as an offensive player, but he makes great reads defensively as well. He has great puck support as a center."

Smith has repeatedly made it clear that he'd love to return to his natural position and after quite a bit of time, Warsofsky appears to be ready to finally give him a legitimate chance. Whether he'll be able to do it successfully remains to be seen, but the opportunity was certainly past due. There's always a chance that Celebrini is ready to go by Thursday and Smith doesn't even see game time as a center, but at least the ball is in motion.