Welcome- i came from Wink last May. First there are way more configuration options with the ability to use custom code on Smartthings versus Wink. You don’t need to start with that though. For most devices just connecting them using stock device handlers will give you the same functions you had on Wink.
The key to building your zwave “mesh” is to connect hard wired devices closest to the hub first, then branch out to further away devices from there.
Once devices are added, you can do a Zwave repair where all the devices will relearn where they are and determine the best paths. Wink had this option and it works similar here.
Also, you’ll see any post, FAQ, or reply from @JDRoberts will be invaluable as you learn. I learned a ton from reading his posts when I first came over. As he pointed out above, the IDE has not changed itself from old to new app. Zwave paths are in the IDE, not the app. The routing “path” in the IDE is better then what Wink had (which was nothing), but not as detailed as other hubs. It will show the last path a message took. More is discussed in this in the topic I linked below. Although the topic mainly talks about ghost devices, routing is discussed a lot so its worth a read.
One minor thing that Wink had over Smartthings was the Wink radio was a little more powerful, so that might cause range issues you didn’t have before. I had to put my Smartthings hub in a different place vs my Wink hub. But I would start with getting everything paired first with the hub in place, and then try and troubleshoot mesh issues.