Penguins trade forward Reilly Smith to Rangers for draft picks

Just over a year ago, Kyle Dubas’ first major transaction as president of hockey operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins was to acquire forward Reilly Smith, freshly crowned as a Stanley Cup champion with the Vegas Golden Knights.

Only 369 days later, Smith was jettisoned by the Penguins as he was dealt to the New York Rangers on Monday for a pair of draft picks.

The Penguins will retain $1.25 million of Smith’s overall salary cap hit of $5 million. In return, they will receive a second-round selection in 2027 and a conditional fifth-round selection in 2025. Conditions call for the lower of the two fifth-round selections the Rangers currently possess — one originally belonging to the Wild — to go to the Penguins.

Smith arrived in Pittsburgh via trade June 28, 2023. In his lone season with the Penguins, he played in 76 games and scored 40 points (13 goals, 27 assists) while averaging 16 minutes, 8 seconds of ice time.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Reilly Smith with 11:39 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Lars Eller and Kris Letang.

Pittsburgh: 3
Nashville: 1#NSHvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Preds pic.twitter.com/rHYfM8Rvco

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 16, 2024

Opening the season on the left wing of the second line with center Evgeni Malkin, Smith started quickly with 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his first 10 games.

But he was unable to maintain that pace of production as he generated only 29 points (seven goals, 22 assists) in his final 66 contests. By the end of the season, he was skating on the third line as Drew O’Connor and Michael Bunting moved ahead of him on the depth chart among left wingers.

With this transaction, the Penguins have $3,729,167 of dead cap money on the books for 2024-25 according to Cap Friendly.

In addition to Smith, the Penguins also have a retained salary cap hit of $1,562,500 for former defenseman Jeff Petry, who was traded in August. Their cap hits expire after the 2024-25 season.

They also have a buyout penalty of $916,667 for former defenseman Jack Johnson, who had his contract bought out in 2020. That cap hit expires after the 2025-26 season.