Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Brendan Smith Looking For A Bounce-Back Year

09/20/2018 at 8:54am EDT

from Colin Stepehnson of Newsday,

Brendan Smith was more than willing to say that, yes, he did lose weight from a year ago, when he struggled so much in the early part of the season that the Rangers eventually sent him down to Hartford in midseason.

He wouldn’t say how much weight he lost, but officially, the Rangers have the 6-2, 29-year-old defenseman listed at 195 pounds, which is 16 pounds less than the 211 he was listed at last year. Being lighter, Smith said, makes him feel quicker in a game that has continually gotten faster since he broke into the NHL in 2011.

“I feel good,’’ he said before the Rangers lost to the Flyers, 6-4, in their second game of the preseason Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. “Hopefully there’s a little bit more pep in my step because I’m lighter.’’

Smith is hoping for a major bounceback from his disastrous 2017-18 season, and the Rangers are, too. The rugged, take-no-prisoners defenseman was such a force for the Blueshirts down the stretch and during the playoffs in 2017 after he was acquired at the deadline that they rewarded him after the season with a four-year, $17.4 million free agent contract. But after signing the contract, and getting married over the summer, Smith showed up to camp overweight and things did not go well.

continued

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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