Reilly Smith is coming to the end of a three-year, $5M contract he signed with the Vegas Golden Knights, but maintains he wants to remain a Golden Knight.
The team held their end-of-season press conferences today, two days after the Edmonton Oilers eliminated the Golden Knights in Game 5 of the second round. The conclusion of the offseason brings new questions and challenges for the players and coaches, but more importantly, the management staff.
Heading into the offseason, the Golden Knights roster six UFAs and three RFAs. One of those six UFAs includes Smith, a long-time Golden Knight whom they traded in the offseason after winning the Stanley Cup. The move was purely for salary cap reasons, and when the right moment occurred, the franchise reacquired the 34-year-old. Upon returning, Smith fit in like a glove. He and William Karlsson renewed their electric chemistry on the penalty kill and at 5-on-5, and Smith went on to score three goals and 11 points in 21 regular season games.
He chipped in an additional three goals and four points in 11 postseason games, maintaining his attentiveness to the defensive side of the puck. His best seasons have come while wearing the Golden Knights crest, and he isn’t all that ready to move on.
“If there’s an opportunity to stay here, that would be great,” said Smith. “I think the best hockey I’ve played in my career has been wearing this jersey.”
He went on to mention how much he loves the city and how his family loves it too. The Mimico, On., native has played 919 career games, closing in on 1000, mentioning he’d love to achieve that in Vegas.
“I would like to play 1000 games in my career, and to do it in this jersey would mean a lot.”
The Golden Knights fell short of their goal, and Smith knows that, but when he looks around the locker room, the possibility of making another run still exists in his eyes.
“It was a fun few months, but it obviously wasn’t where we wanted to go. I think you need a lot of things to go right to challenge for the Stanley Cup. We just fell short.”
At his age and where his production currently sits, Smith won’t earn anywhere close to his current $5M salary, but cutting his salary under $2M will keep him on a cost-efficient contract and allow the Golden Knights to seek upgrades to their roster with the additional cap space.
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