Will Smith
San Jose Sharks · 2026-27
6'0" · 180 lb · Age 21
+3.0
goals above replacement per 82 games
+0.6 over his 17 games. Percentile among 159 league forwards with 200 or more five-on-five minutes. Method v0.1
Goals above replacement over his 17 games, by part.
Difficulty of his minutes (the quality of his opponents and linemates) is not measured: no free public source carries it.
The number over each bar is his percentile among 150 to 159 league forwards.
The number over each bar is his percentile among 159 league forwards. No rank yet: under 30 minutes on the unit. Chances against are inverted, so a tall bar always reads well.
The league's puck and player tracking, through 17 games. Percentiles are the league's own.
2026-27: +7.2 (range -5.8 to +20.3). 2031-32: +9.1 (range -23.9 to +42.0). No dollar line yet: market value waits on a league contract table.
2026-27 regular season: 17 games, 327 minutes. Sources: NHL.com for the roster, the counting line and NHL Edge tracking; MoneyPuck for expected goals, on-ice chances, zone starts, blocks and penalties; PuckPedia and CapWages for the contract. Updated 2026-11-06. The rating and the forecast are this site's own, from public data, with the method published. All cards →
On the record
Called Shots →San Jose signs Will Smith to a new contract of five years or fewer on or before July 1, 2027.
Kiefer Sherwood averages under 1:45 a night on the power play across San Jose's first 20 games of 2026-27.
Mason Marchment finishes the 2026-27 regular season with an even-strength offensive zone start share below 60 percent for San Jose.
San Jose's penalty kill finishes the 2026-27 regular season ranked higher among the 32 NHL clubs than San Jose's power play.
Ivar Stenberg appears in 11 or more of San Jose's first 13 regular-season games in 2026-27.
Will Smith finishes the 2026-27 NHL regular season with an on-ice goal share at five-on-five below 52 percent for San Jose.
Will Smith and San Jose do not agree to a contract extension on or before April 30, 2027.
San Jose's share of five-on-five expected goals across its games six through ten of 2026-27 (Boston on October 13 through Montreal on October 20) is 40.0 percent or higher, per MoneyPuck. Scored by subtracting the five-game five-on-five totals in MoneyPuck's 2026-27 team summary file as read on October 13 (6.40 expected goals for, 12.28 against) from the same file's ten-game totals, then dividing for by for-plus-against. 40.0 exactly counts as RIGHT. If MoneyPuck revises the five-game totals, the revised five-game figures are used on both ends.
Written about him
Celebrini's line won the chances, but Toffoli was on for both regulation goals
San Jose beat the New York Islanders 3-2 in an eight-round shootout at SAP Center on Monday and ended a five-game losing streak. Tyler Toffoli was on the ice for both regulation goals in 10:57. The Misa, Celebrini and Smith line won its five-on-five chances and scored nothing, and Ilya Sorokin stopped all three shots on a two-minute four-on-three.
San Jose's three goals in 2:50 came on shots worth about a third of one
Will Smith scored twice as San Jose beat Vancouver 3-2 with three goals in 2:50 on shots worth 0.36 expected goals combined.
Celebrini is on all four of Smith's points, and none came at five-on-five
Will Smith's scoring resembles last October, his tracking rates hold up, and San Jose's five-on-five offense produces less with him on the ice.
San Jose changed its first line on Monday, and the other three with it
San Jose practiced on October 12 with four new forward lines: Chernyshov-Celebrini-Smith, Stenberg-Misa-Sherwood, Marchment-Wennberg-Toffoli and Ostapchuk between Graf and either Dellandrea or Gaudette, with Barclay Goodrow off the ice with an illness and questionable for Tuesday's game against Boston. The defense pairs did not change. Ivar Stenberg, 19, replaced Chernyshov on the first power-play unit; San Jose is 2 for 13 on the power play and 0 for 7 over its last three games. Warsofsky said the club is not playing in the offensive zone enough to create offense. At five-on-five San Jose has scored 7 goals and allowed 13 through five games, with 34.3 percent of MoneyPuck's expected goals, 31st of 32 clubs; last season's full-year share was 47.6 percent. Boston, 4-2-0, has allowed 7 five-on-five goals in six games.
Will Smith's old linemate got eight years on the last day they existed
The collective bargaining agreement that took effect on September 16 cuts the maximum contract term from eight years to seven with a player's own club, and from seven to six with anybody else. Washington signed Ryan Leonard, Will Smith's linemate from the national development program and from Boston College, to eight years and $84 million on the final night the term was legal, and signed Justin Sourdif to eight the same day. Ottawa gave Drake Batherson eight and $86 million. Smith is going into the last season of a three-year entry-level deal at $950,000 and is unsigned. His unrestricted free agency arrives in 2031, so an eight-year extension beginning in 2027-28 would have bought four summers past it and a seven-year extension buys three. The year San Jose lost on Tuesday is the one in which Smith turns 30. Mike Grier said on Thursday that talks are in a good spot and that there are no plans to talk next week. One take filed, on when Smith signs.
Will Smith led the Sharks in goals on his shifts, but not in chances
Will Smith scored 59 points in 69 games at 21 and led San Jose's regulars in on-ice goal share at five-on-five, 57.5 percent. The expected-goal share on the same shifts was 47.9 percent. That 9.6-point gap was the 24th largest among the 285 NHL forwards who played 750 five-on-five minutes last season, and it is the number San Jose has to price before July. The club's best case is not the same as his.
Collin Graf Scored More Shorthanded Than He Did On The Power Play
Collin Graf spent 39 minutes and 38 seconds on the power play across 81 games last season, tenth among San Jose forwards, and 200 minutes killing penalties, which was first. He scored 21 goals anyway and finished with 42 even-strength points, tied with Will Smith for second on the team behind Macklin Celebrini. San Jose then signed him for three years and $12,750,000. The open house row on him says he reaches 50 points, and the entire case for that is usage the club has never given him.
San Jose Has Four Preseason Games And Nineteen Men Who Can Play Two Of Them
San Jose's 2026-27 preseason is four games, down from six in each of the last three years, because the new collective bargaining agreement caps it there. The same agreement limits any player with 100 or more NHL games to two exhibition appearances. Nineteen of the 41 players on the club's listed roster clear that bar, including Macklin Celebrini at 152 games and Will Smith at 143. From the first rookie game on September 12 to the opener on October 1 is nineteen days and six games.
Will Smith, away from Celebrini: the one stat that decides the Star Forward slot
Will Smith and the driver-or-passenger question
Collin Graf, 2025-26: The Qualifying Offer Was the Easiest Decision of the Summer
An undrafted right wing from Lincoln, Mass., posted the highest 5v5 expected goals per 60 on a Sharks roster that included Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, William Eklund, and Tyler