Report: Rangers’ Reilly Smith to sit against Predators for trade-related reasons

Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images

As the March 7 NHL trade deadline looms, the New York Rangers are playing it safe with pending unrestricted free agent Reilly Smith, who won’t play Sunday versus the Nashville Predators due to trade-related reasons, reports The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun.

Through 58 appearances with the Rangers this season, Smith has scored 10 times and added 19 assists for 29 points coupled with 22 penalty minutes and a minus-one rating. With the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2023-24, the 33-year-old native of Mimico, Ont., finished with 40 points counting 13 goals and 27 assists coming in 76 contests.

Originally chosen by the Dallas Stars in the third round of the 2009 NHL Draft, Smith has totaled 898 career contests counting stops with the Stars, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights, Penguins, and Rangers in which he has amassed 223 goals and 319 assists for 542 points. With the Golden Knights in 2017-18, Smith finished with a career-high 60 points counting 22 goals and 38 assists in 67 outings.

Beyond his success in the regular season, Smith has also been productivity in the postseason where through 106 appearances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs he has collected 26 goals and 53 assists for 79 points. In 2023, Smith helped the Golden Knights capture the Stanley Cup, putting up four goals and 10 assists for 14 points through 22 games en route to the championship.

Per PuckPedia, Smith is in the final year of a three-year pact that carries a $5-million annual average value. In July, the Rangers acquired Smith from the Penguins in exchange for a 2027 second-round pick plus a conditional fifth rounder in the upcoming NHL Draft. As part of the deal, the Penguins retained 25 percent of Smith’s cap hit, reducing his annual average value to $3.75 million.

Should Smith be moved ahead of the trade deadline, the veteran forward will have some say in the process as he holds a partial no-trade clause that prevents a move to eight teams of his choosing, according to PuckPedia.