For Nathan Smith, the decision to sign with the Coyotes was all about opportunity

Nathan Smith arrived back in Mankato, Minnesota at about 6 a.m. on Sunday, with the bitter taste of a 5-1 loss to Denver in the NCAA championship game in Boston still fresh in his mouth.

The flight to Winnipeg would have been much shorter for the Minnesota State junior. The NHL team that drafted him sits just over Minnesota’s northern border with Canada. But Smith wasn’t looking for convenience when he hopped on another flight that same night, crossed two more time zones, and arrived in the Valley around midnight. He was looking for opportunity, and that’s exactly what he’ll get with the Coyotes, who acquired his rights (along with Bryan Little’s contract) in March for a 2022 fourth-round draft pick.

Smith will be in the lineup when the Coyotes face the New Jersey Devils at Gila River Arena on Tuesday. Unless events conspire against him, that is where he’ll be for every one of the Coyotes’ remaining 10 games.

There was no certainty that he was going to enjoy that same opportunity with the Jets. In Winnipeg, Smith was staring at a center depth chart of Mark Scheifele, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Adam Lowry, with 2021 No. 10 overall pick Cole Perfetti knocking on the door of a permanent NHL roster spot. That’s why Smith made it clear that he would not sign with the Jets.

“I spoke to Winnipeg when the trade was going on, and they were asking why I wasn’t coming there,” Smith said. “I don’t have one negative thing to say about Winnipeg. I’m just trying to do what’s best for me and where I see the best opportunity for me. That’s simply what it was.”

Smith signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Coyotes on Monday. Shortly after pen hit paper, he took the ice for practice, skating on a line with veteran wing Andrew Ladd and fellow prospect Matias Maccelli.

All that chatter about the Coyotes’ gut-wrenching rebuild, and their oft-maligned plan to play in a 5,000-seat college arena next season? It never made a dent.

“Let’s be honest, I didn’t even care,” Smith said. “I’ve been playing in a college rink that holds about the same amount. It’s something that I’m used to and it wasn’t that big of a worry for me.”

Smith’s opinion was echoed by his agent, Rich Evans, who represented former Coyote Radim Vrbata.

“Having done this for as long as I’ve done this, the only situation where a player is really unhappy is if they’re not playing,” Evans said. “You want to win more, but for the most part, they just want to play, especially young players. They want to get the opportunity to learn and improve their game and Arizona, right now, is providing an opportunity for young players like (Jack) McBain and Smith to play. That’s really appealing. 

“Does an NHL player want to play in a 5,000-seat arena vs. a 16,000-seat arena? Probably not if given the choice, but I’m actually here in Kelowna right now. I was in a rink last night that was jammed and it had 1,400 people in it. The place was nuts and it was so much fun. The fans were going crazy and the players had the best time. So if you get this 5,000-seat arena and it’s just rocking, I really don’t know whether it will make that big a difference to most players. It’s going to be an incredibly intimate venue and I’m looking forward to coming down there and checking it out.”

Smith will burn the first year of his ELC by playing these next 10 games, but the Coyotes will still retain his rights as a restricted free agent when this contract expires. Despite his presence in the lineup for the rest of the season, there is no guarantee that Smith or McBain will make the NHL club next season. It’s up to them whether they end up in Tempe or Tucson.

“We’re in a unique situation with all of our injuries where we can allow our prospects that we sign to come in and get the opportunity to play in the National Hockey League for 10 games,” GM Bill Armstrong said. “But there’s no question that he’s got to earn everything, and he’s definitely got to come in and earn a spot in the summer.

“I think it really helps kids come in and taste a little bit of the NHL at the end of the year so they can see where they’re at. If you’re a competitive kid, when you leave here you have an understanding of what the NHL standard is, and you’re like, ‘Okay, I’ve got this growth and these things I need to work on to be an NHL player.’”

Armstrong has kept tabs on Smith for the past few years. The scouts in St. Louis liked him and so did the scouts in Arizona.

“He’s got some really good hands, he can think the game at a high level offensively where he can make plays, score and he’s got some good instincts,” Armstrong said. “You see it come out on the power play. He’s really got some ability to operate on the half wall.

“What I like is that he went back to school to work on his faceoffs and be better in the D-zone; play a better 200-foot game. I really liked the improvement I saw from the year before to now. He’s played a lot of different hockey, too. He went into the Olympics, he played in the NCAA and went all the way to the national championship. Now he’s coming into the NHL. It’s been a hell of a year for him.”

It’s no secret that the Coyotes have needed quality centers for two decades. Nobody knows what the 2022 draft lottery will bring, nobody knows what Barrett Hayton’s ceiling is and nobody knows if Smith or McBain will pan out at that position. By acquiring both, Armstrong at least improved his odds through numbers. By agreeing to sign with the Coyotes, Smith at least gave himself the chance to prove that he can bolster a longstanding organizational need.

“I am open to playing the wall, the wing, if I have to,” Smith said. “I played it a few times at Mankato; a decent amount in my freshman year so I have a little bit of experience there as well, but my preferred position is center.

“I just feel like when I’m taking draws and winning draws and engaging in the defensive zone and playing physical in the corners and stuff like that, I just feel like I’m more engaged in the game. I feel like I have the puck more on my stick, which I obviously like. I get to make better decisions with the puck when I have the puck in the middle versus on the wall.

“With these 10 games, I’m just trying to get my feet wet a little bit, put my best foot forward and do what I can to help the team win. I’ll see what I need to work on going into the summer and improve on those things I need to do coming back into training camp so hopefully I can make the team.”

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