Rangers acquire ‘proven playoff performer’ Reilly Smith in trade with Penguins

The Rangers’ most notable act on the first day of free agency was not a big fish signing or the off-loading of at least part of captain Jacob Trouba’s contract.

It was a trade with a division foe to provide a short-term solution for the Blueshirts’ right-wing stack.

Reilly Smith is New York bound after the Penguins traded the 33-year-old to the Rangers on Monday, in exchange for a conditional 2025 fifth-round pick and a second-rounder in 2027, the team announced.

Pittsburgh will retain 25 percent of Smith’s $5 million cap hit, which puts him on the Rangers’ books for just one season at $3.75 million.

Additionally, the fifth-round pick will be whichever is the worse of the Rangers’ and the Wild’s, acquired by the Blueshirts in the Ryan Reaves deal in November 2022.

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“We’re very excited to get Reilly, a player we’ve been looking at and talking about for a while,” Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury said on a conference call with reporters Monday evening. “Brings a lot of versatility to our lineup, has a winning pedigree having won in Vegas. A proven playoff performer and I think just fits in nicely with our entire group. We just were talking to a lot of different agents and a lot of balls in the air throughout the day, and just felt this was the best move we can make.”

This was a much quieter July 1 for the Rangers than in recent years.

Players the organization were rumored to be interested in signed deal after deal with team after team throughout the day, but there were plenty of contracts with a term and/or price point the Blueshirts either couldn’t or wouldn’t commit to.

With much of the free-agent board cleared, Drury may now have to get creative if the goal is to continue retooling the Rangers ahead of the 2024-25 season.

The Smith deal fills a hole on the right side in at least the top-nine, or even top-six depending on how the remainder of the Rangers’ offseason business goes.

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Smith, the brother of former Rangers defenseman and newly signed Stars blueliner Brendan Smith, could start the season on the top line next to Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad.

Coming off a 40-point season (13 goals and 27 assists) with the Penguins, the 13-year NHL veteran brings playoff experience to the Rangers, who view him as a versatile wing and value his Stanley Cup-winning experience with the Golden Knights.

Smith was a 50-plus-point producer in four of the Golden Knights’ first six seasons of existence, as well as once with the Bruins and once with the Panthers.

After he came to Vegas in an expansion-draft deal with Florida, Smith totaled 124 goals and 286 points in 399 games, as well as 18 goals and 48 assists in 88 playoff games.

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The Ontario native also scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in Game 5 against the Panthers last year.

Teaming with Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson, Smith skated on one of the most effective lines in the NHL at the time.

It was known as the “Misfit Line,” which was broken up when the Golden Knights traded Smith to Pittsburgh in June 2023 for a 2024 third-round pick.

Getting the Penguins to retain $1.25 million on Smith was important, especially if Drury is unable to move Trouba and his remaining two years at $8 million per year.

It doesn’t provide nearly as much cap relief as Trouba’s departure would, but it’s something in an offseason that should only be just getting started.

“We’re looking at a lot of different things,” Drury said. “We’re always looking for ways to improve the team and different areas that we talk about. But we’re happy with the moves we were able to make today.”

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