Vegas Golden Knights right wing Reilly Smith (19) skates during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks at T-Mobile Arena Tuesday, March 1, 2022.
Wednesday, July 13, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Reilly Smith is preparing to host the third annual Battle for Vegas charity softball game, where Golden Knights players of past and present on Monday will gather at Las Vegas Ballpark to face members of the Las Vegas Raiders.
About the B4V
The third Battle for Vegas will be Monday at Las Vegas Ballpark in Downtown Summerlin.
Gates open at 5:30 p.m. with a home run derby beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The charity softball game pitting members of the Vegas Golden Knights against the Las Vegas Raiders begins at 7:30 p.m.
For ticket information, visit Ticketmaster online.
But there is more on his mind — and the minds of Golden Knights’ fans.
Free agency in the NHL begins at 9 a.m. today and Smith, the versatile two-way forward who has been with the Golden Knights since their inception five seasons ago, will officially hit the open market.
A verbal agreement is reportedly in place on a new deal — a three-year contract at an average annual value of $5 million — but it can’t be completed until the Golden Knights have a handle on their salary cap situation.
And that will be a challenge.
Vegas, which has under $5 million in cap space, already extended qualifying offers to restricted free agents Nicolas Roy, Jake Leschyshyn, Keegan Kolesar, Jonas Røndbjerg, Nic Hague and Brayden Pachal. Restricted free agents are players younger than 27 with less than seven years in the NHL whose contracts have expired. They can sign an offer sheet with any team, but the player’s original team can match the offer and keep the player.
“I feel as confident as I could be,” Smith, an unrestricted free agent, told the Sun during a media session to promote the charity event. “I’ve said multiple times I’d love to stay here and really finish my career here in Vegas, and that’s a priority to me. I feel like management feels the same way. We’ll go from there and hopefully everything works out.”
While a durable player for most of his NHL career, injuries hit Smith hardest — like they did most of his teammates — last season. Smith was on pace for his fourth 50-point season with Vegas, but was limited to 38 points after being shut down for the final month and a half with a lower-body injury. The injury, suffered March 8 against Philadelphia, at one point limited Smith to crutches, he said.
Smith added he sustained an upper-body injury shortly after which required a cast.
He was part of a Golden Knights group that had over 500 man games lost but missed the playoffs by just three points.
“That’s probably the toughest part of this season … just not being able to play and just being on the cusp being in and out of the playoffs,” Smith said. “It’s as frustrating as it can be not being able to help your team.
“We had a lot of young guys come in and we had nine, 10 guys play their first NHL game. We were kind of behind the 8-ball from the start. The first half of the year, we did a good job staying afloat. Sometimes you can fall through a rhythm where you’re not winning games, bad bounces, things like that.”
If Smith is brought back, he’ll have a familiar face in coach Bruce Cassidy leading the way. Cassidy, whom the Golden Knights hired last month, was with the AHL’s Providence Bruins while Smith played for the Boston Bruins in 2014-15. Cassidy replaced Pete DeBoer, who was fired in May.
“That’s the tough part of the NHL and it’s probably not a fair thing when that happens with coaches. I guess it’s easier to find a new coach than a new roster of players,” Smith said. “Pete was a great coach. I think his winning record shows that, and I’m sure Dallas is extremely happy to have him there.”
Smith is one of the most respected players in franchise history, as evidenced by former players Nate Schmidt, Ryan Reaves and Erik Haula committing to participate in the charity softball event. Current players such as Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson and Jack Eichel also are scheduled to take the field.
A laughing Smith admits he’d like to get a win over the Raiders, but the important part is raising money for Communities in Schools Nevada (CIS) and the Maximum Hope Foundation. CIS is one of the nation’s leading organizations in dropout prevention, while Maximum Hope provides families going through challenges to care for children with critical illnesses.
Notable Raiders scheduled to play include Josh Jacobs, Maxx Crosby and Darren Waller.
“It’s so nice to be able to see the fans, the community, come out and support us when they’re itching for another hockey season to start as soon as possible,” Smith said. “To be able to do that, have a lot of fun for a great cause, there’s a lot of families in need. It’s a great thing. I’m so fortunate the community has allowed me to do this.”
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
