Smith will be a healthy scratch Friday in Winnipeg, Max Miller of NHL.com reports.

The Sharks have decided to ease Smith into his first year in the NHL, as it is a long schedule, and are making him sit out the second game of back-to-back contests after playing Thursday in Chicago. The Ducks did the same thing last season with Leo Carlsson. so expect this to happen with some frequency the rest of the campaign with the highly-regarded Smith. The youngster has yet to hit the scoresheet in four games.