Brendan Smith and Luca Pinelli are about to celebrate their second Thanksgiving as teammates, and they’ve got something new to be thankful for this time.
For Canada’s Thanksgiving on Oct. 12, the Ontario-born players marked that holiday as teammates with the Cleveland Monsters, the Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate. Smith, 36, was trying to keep his career going on a professional tryout offer he had signed before training camp in Columbus, while Pinelli, 20, was starting his first professional season.
A sage veteran and a promising rookie.
Well, it’s almost Thanksgiving for Americans now and each has something new to celebrate while preparing to make debuts for the Blue Jackets on Nov. 26 at Nationwide Arena, facing the Toronto Maple Leafs (9-10-3), their hometown team whom the Jackets have already beaten twice this season.
Smith, a defenseman from the Toronto suburb of Mimico, Ontario, signed a one-year, two-way contract Nov. 24 and will make his Blue Jackets debut while officially starting his 15th NHL season.
Pinelli, an undersized scoring forward from the Hamilton, Ontario suburb of Stoney Creek, will make his NHL debut as an emergency recall while the Blue Jackets are without injured forwards Kirill Marchenko, Boone Jenner and Mathieu Olivier.
“I remember every first game with every new team, and they’re all so exciting,” Smith said. “This one might be, arguably, up there with my first (NHL) game, just with how this season has gone, how challenging it has been, my age … all those things that you can put into the variables. I think this one’s going to be pretty exciting for me.”
It will be memorable for his family, too.
Smith’s wife, Samantha, son Nolan, 7, and daughter Ryan, 5, will see Smith continue his NHL career after the uncertainty he faced with a PTO contract. His goal starting camp was to earn a depth role on the Blue Jackets’ blue line, but Jake Christiansen earned that spot in his second full NHL season. Smith will now replace Christiansen against the Maple Leafs.
Should he stick with the Blue Jackets, Smith’s commute to pick up his kids from school and help coach his son’s team at The Battery Hockey Academy will be much shorter. After joining AHL Cleveland, he logged some long round-trip drives from Columbus to the Monsters’ practice facility in Strongsville and back in time for school pickups, practices and family dinners.
“I was driving two hours (up) there to practice, two hours home to pick up my kids from school, right to practice,” Smith said. “So, I was going from one sheet to the next sheet, but it was fun and it kept me young. And, I guess, my whole love for helping out the younger kids really started (with the New York Rangers), when I started helping guys like (Adam Fox) and (Ryan Lindgren) … teaching some of the younger class to move into it.”
He’s already started helping Pinelli, who was recalled after the Monsters’ practice Nov. 25. After Facetiming his parents to let them know, Pinelli hopped in his car and headed up I-71 for a two-hour drive that probably felt like a spin around the block.
“It was a great moment, sharing it with my family,” Pinelli said. “I don’t think they knew. I kept it pretty calm to start with, and then I asked them if they wanted to come to Columbus … and from there, it was a great feeling.”
Pinelli’s parents, Frank and Daniela, will make the six-hour drive from Stoney Cree to Nationwide Arena along with Pinelli’s oldest brother, Anthony, and four longtime friends. His other brother, Francesco Pinelli, is a Los Angeles Kings prospect with the Ontario Reign, and will watch from Ontario, California.
Pinelli, who’s listed at 5 feet 9, 168 pounds, was selected by the Blue Jackets in the fourth round (114th overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft. He spent the past two seasons lighting up scoreboards at the junior level in the Ontario Hockey League as captain for the Ottawa 67’s and made his professional debut with the Monsters at the end of last season.
Now, he’ll make his NHL debut skating with Sean Monahan and Cole Sillinger while Smith makes his Blue Jackets debut paired with Dante Fabbro on the third defensive pairing.
The sage veteran and the promising rookie are ready to go.
“It’s awesome,” Pinelli said. “I met (Smith) at camp here and I’ve obviously played a few games with him in Cleveland. He’s been great to me. He has a lot of experience, a lot of knowledge and I’ve been trying to pick his brain. He took me out for dinner, too (with the Monsters), so he’s a great teammate and I’m happy for him.”
Zach Werenski will play for Columbus Blue Jackets vs Toronto Maple Leafs
Blue Jackets star Zach Werenski will play against the Maple Leafs despite an undisclosed upper-body injury that forced him out of a 5-1 loss Nov. 24 at the Washington Capitals.
Werenski is second on the team in scoring with 7 goals, 14 assists and 21 points.
“In the past couple years, I’ve done everything I can for my body to be as healthy as I can be, and I’m happy with how that’s gone,” Werenski said. “If I felt like I couldn’t do my job and play well, I’d be hurting the team and at that point I wouldn’t play. But I feel good. I feel like I can help, contribute and play my game, and that’s the most important thing. I’m just really excited to play.”
Auston Matthews headlines three key Toronto Maple Leafs players returning vs Columbus Blue Jackets
The Maple Leafs will get captain Auston Matthews, top six forward Matthew Knies and veteran center Nicolas Roy back from injuries when they face the Blue Jackets. To make room, forwards Sammy Blais, Mattias Maccelli and Dakota Joshua, a former Ohio State star, are expected to come out of the lineup.
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Smith, Pinelli top Blue Jackets skate report, Werenski to play
Reporting by Brian Hedger, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
