The Wings Nation Top 20 Prospects: #16 Givani Smith

I’d love to have the confidence of Givani Smith to rock a bowtie in my draft photo.

A second round pick of the Wings in this year’s draft, Smith carries an interesting distincition: 

He was the most penalized player in the OHL in 2015-16.

Wait, what? That’s probably not a good thing in the modern NHL, but does Smith have a future with the Wings organization?

It’s far too early to tell, but let’s get a closer look at the secondary Smith in the franchise right now.

Okay, maybe Smith doesn’t have mind-blowing numbers and they brought him in as a role player, using a second-round pick on him when they probably could’ve waited another round or two to pick him, and there were other, higher scoring options on the board. But what they did draft him for, he’s pretty good at — being a shift disturber and getting in people’s faces.

The Wings like a player who’s scrappy yet still brings an offensive side.

Currently this is what the Wings have:

Justin Abdelkader, signed through 2023.

Luke Glendenning, signed through 2021.

Darren Helm, signed through 2021.

Frans Nielsen, signed through 2021.

Henrik Zetterberg, signed through 2021.

Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha & Andreas Athanasiou need new deals within the next few years, and will probably sign in Detroit to stay for at least a few more seasons.

Not to mention Riley Sheahan and Teemu Pulkinnen, both aged 24. Will the Wings sign them through 2021? Recent history proves it to be likely…

So what does this all mean? By 2021, there are two forward spots left on the Wings roster. This is of course, assuming no trades (which is near impossible), but the fact of the matter is there are a lot of players locked up for the long-term, or that will be locked up for the long term and not a lot of spots.

Does Givani Smith make those two spots? Maybe as a bottom-six player, but he’s not coming in to save the franchise.