Vegas Golden Knights right wing Reilly Smith (19) skates against St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk (72) during the third period of an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021.
Thursday, June 23, 2022 | 8:05 a.m.
Reilly Smith might not be going anywhere.
The Golden Knights and Smith, the two-way forward who has been with the franchise since its inception, are in verbal agreement on a contract extension, according to Daily Faceoff.
Due to the Golden Knights' salary cap situation heading into this offseason, the announcement on a new deal isn't expected to be immediate, per the report. Daily Faceoff adds that the agreement is in the neighborhood of a three-year deal at $5 million average annual value.
That would mean the 31-year-old Smith is not returning to Vegas on a discount.
Smith played the final year of a five-year, $25 million deal he signed in July 2016 with the Florida Panthers. The deal kicked in his first year with the Golden Knights. Vegas acquired Smith in a trade contingent on Vegas selecting Jonathan Marchessault in the expansion draft.
Since coming to Vegas, Smith has provided constant production at both ends of the ice. He's hit the 50-point mark in three seasons with Vegas, followed by a 25-point campaign during the 56-game COVID-shortened season in 2021, and 38 points in 56 games this past season.
Smith missed the final two months of the season with a lower-body injury but was expected to be ready for the playoffs had the Golden Knights made the postseason.
Re-signing Smith, set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, was the Golden Knights' top agenda item of the offseason. Veteran winger Mattias Janmark is also a UFA, but the Golden Knights still have restricted free agents Nic Roy, Nic Hague, Brett Howden, Keegan Kolesar to sign.
The Golden Knights began their early offseason $500,000 over the cap before free agency began July 13. They took the first steps addressing that by trading forward Evgenii Dadonov to the Montreal Canadiens for the contract of defenseman Shea Weber on June 16. Vegas cleared Dadonov's cap hit of $5 million and will keep Weber (cap hit of $7.85 million) on long-term injured reserve for more cap relief.
The Golden Knights have $5.2 million in cap space according to CapFriendly (Weber's LTIR placement does not reflect that yet), but committed to just 18 players. Teams are permitted to go 10% over the cap during the offseason, which Vegas is expected to do.
But an extension for Smith means more transactions are likely coming from general manager Kelly McCrimmon, pending the new deals for the RFAs.
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
