Hunter Smith

June 2018 – Flames did not tender a qualifying offer and he is now an unrestricted free agent. Dobber

April 2018 – Hunter spent the entirety of the 2017-18 season in the ECHL. For a big man who has had a hard time improving his speed and his effectiveness in a fast moving game to compete with an NHL pace, this should be the end of his time under contract with Calgary as he becomes an RFA. – Joel Henderson

Sept 2017 – Hunter finished with 11 points in 34 games and has shown improvement in most areas. Sadly, there are many other prospects who could bring more skill to their grit on a 4th line. Smith has one more year of his ELC left with Calgary and needs to prove that he’s more than a 4th line AHL tough guy. Shouldn’t be on your fantasy radar at all. – Joel Henderson

Jan 2017 – Hunter has surpassed his season total of eight points from the 2015/16 which is certainly a low bar. Keeping in mind this is still his second pro season and is only 21 years old, there is time to develop. With that being said, his footspeed has shown marginal improvement, and his offensive minutes are stil lacking. At this point, he has a ways to go before given a chance at NHL games. The fact that his penalty minutes has drastically been reduced as well doesn’t bode well to multi-cat leagues.  – Joel Henderson

Mar 2016 – Adjustment to being a pro can be tough, especially if you’re a big man who on most nights has the slowest footspeed on the ice. He continues to forecheck hard and battles tough along the boards and in front of the net. This was expected. He has mostly been given fourth line minutes and has to improve his first three strides if he wants to be NHL relevant. – Joel Henderson

Sept 2015 – He got his wish. He has been assigned to Stockton and leaves the CHL as a champion. – Joel Henderson 

June 2015 – He is a champion, my friend. He keeps on fighting to the end. Hunter seemed to find his role on the Memorial Cup Oshawa Generals by using his net front presence to his advantage. He increased his production in goals, assists, and penalty minutes and was a key producer in the OHL playoffs, finishing fourth on the team. He’s been playing with a ton of confidence and will be continuing to improve his foot speed and skating in order to turn pro next season Joel Henderson 

June 2014 – The Calgary Flames selected Hunter Smith 54th overall at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Brendan Ross

June 2014 – It took a move from the Windsor Spitfires to the Oshawa Generals for big winger Hunter Smith to find his comfort zone in the Ontario Hockey League. Born a few days shy of being a first time entry for the NHL draft in 2014, Hunter Smith was passed over at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft but came together as a player in 2013-14 improving his totals to 19 goals, 40 points and 100 penalty minutes. That’s a big improvement from his lone assist he recorded in the year previous. Big forwards often take longer to develop and that was the case for Hunter Smith. After missing time due to a cut tendon in his hand in 2012013, Smith showed notable improvement in his game, specifically his skating. He also found a role in Oshawa playing around the net and it allowed him to showcase his soft touch and physicality in the trenches better. It was in his physicality that he really blossomed as he became a much more engaged big man and occasionally dropped the gloves, which is another promising attribute of Hunter Smith’s. Look for Hunter Smith to be one of the top second time, “mature” players to be drafted at the 2014 NHL Draft. Brendan Ross