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Golden Knights trade Reilly Smith to Penguins for third-round pick

Posted on by Jillian Wagner
NHL.com

The Vegas Golden Knights have traded forward Reilly Smith to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a 2024 third-round draft pick, the club announced Wednesday.

The deal was initially reported by ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, but the team confirmed it shortly thereafter.

The third-round pick, which originally belonged to Vegas, was used in the trade-deadline deal for Teddy Blueger.

Smith has been with the Golden Knights organization since the 2017 expansion draft, when he was acquired from the Florida Panthers for a 2018 fourth-round draft pick (No. 123).

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He recorded 26 goals and 56 points in 78 games during the 2022-23 regular season and added four goals and 14 points in 22 postseason games en route to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.

He finishes his six-year tenure in Vegas with 124 goals and 286 points in 399 games. He is second all-time in Vegas playoff scoring with 66 points (18-48–66).

Smith has been a key part of the franchise – and the celebrated Misfit Line – since the inaugural campaign but is the first casualty of the post-Cup offseason.

He is one of three players in franchise history to record 100 goals, along with the other two members of the Misfit Line, Jonathan Marchessault (150) and William Karlsson (122).

Smith played a particularly instrumental defensive role in the playoffs, as he and Karlsson shut down opponents’ top players throughout Vegas’ Stanley Cup run. Smith has been one of the organization’s most reliable two-way forwards over the last six seasons, and there’s a reason he wore an “A” on his sweater.

Notably, Smith scored the game-winning goal that clinched the Stanley Cup for Vegas in Game 5 against Florida.

He also was the first player to receive the Stanley Cup from captain Mark Stone.

Smith signed a three-year, $15 million extension last summer and has two years remaining on his deal, which carries an AAV of $5 million.

According to CapFriendly, the Golden Knights now have roughly $8.46 million of cap space with Brett Howden and Pavel Dorofeyev as the only remaining restricted free agents after Vegas inked Brayden Pachal to a two-year extension earlier Wednesday. Goaltenders Adin Hill, Laurent Brossoit and Jonathan Quick are pending unrestricted free agents, while Robin Lehner’s $5 million cap hit remains on the books despite currently being on long-term injured reserve.

The Golden Knights reportedly were working on a two-year extension for Hill at around $4.9 million per season, though that has yet to be announced.

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It’s possible Smith’s $5 million cap hit will be used towards re-signing pending unrestricted free agent Ivan Barbashev, though that is purely speculative at this point.

Smith will return to T-Mobile Arena on Jan. 20.

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