Bruins place Gemel Smith on waivers after just three games

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It looks like the Bruins are pulling the plug on the very brief Gemel Smith experience.

After picking up the fast-skating former Dallas Stars forward on waivers a couple of weeks ago while in Florida in search of forward depth, the B’s placed Smith on waivers on Tuesday after scratching him for the last couple of games.

The 24-year-old Smith skated in three games with the Bruins this season after being claimed off waivers from Dallas, but didn’t make much of an impact with the short window to show his abilities.

Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy admitted it was going to be a tough spot for Smith with a coaching staff that really didn’t know his game very well, and he really needed to flash in those first few games if he was going to push another player off the B’s roster.

“He’s got good foot speed and hands, but I think he has to initiate more when he’s out there,” said Cassidy of Smith. “Whether it’s on the fore-check or with the puck, we have to kind of identify what he is for us. When you bring in a player like that in the middle of the year, you want to look at them. But I still have a certain loyalty to those players [already with the Bruins] so he’s going to have to outplay those players.”

It was clear that he didn’t outplay anybody in his three games with the Black and Gold, but that’s also a difficult sample size to make any judgments on a player.

Smith played in 14 games with Dallas this season, posting two goals and one assist for three points before getting put on waivers by them as well. The Bruins also sent defenseman Jeremy Lauzon back to AHL Providence in another Tuesday afternoon roster move.  

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