Dubas Makes a Splash with First Big Move as Penguins President, Acquires Reilly Smith from Vegas

L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review Journal

PITTSBURGH - Just a few hours before the 2023 NHL Entry Draft begins, Kyle Dubas pulled the trigger on his first major move at the helm of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Pittsburgh Penguins acquire F Reilly Smith (two years left X $5 million AAV left) from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for a 2024 third-round pick, originally owned by VGK.

Smith, 32, is just over two weeks removed from winning his first career Stanley Cup. He is an original, day-one Vegas Golden Knight. The Golden Knights acquired him from the Florida Panthers in exchange for expansion draft considerations, which eventually ended up being Jonathan Marchessault. Marchessault was the sweetener for Vegas to take Smith’s contract from Florida. The Panthers may have viewed his contract as an anchor, but Vegas saw Smith blossom into a reliable top-six forward throughout his tenure with the team, on top of becoming a leader on and off the ice.

Smith was named one of six alternate captains of the inaugural 2017-18 Golden Knights team that shocked the sports world by making it to the Stanley Cup Final in their first season. He donned an “A” on his jersey in each of his six seasons playing in Southern Nevada.

Since his move from Florida to Vegas, Smith has averaged around a 50-point pace every season. Naturally, Smith appears to be Jason Zucker’s replacement on the left side of the second line. He has five 20-plus goal seasons under his belt and has been a proven playoff performer in his postseason runs with Vegas. Smith is extremely versatile, as well. He can play on either wing and has experience both on the power play and the penalty kill. Not only does he slot in well on the ice as a Zucker replacement, but he also slots in off the ice just as well.

He became ingrained with the community of Las Vegas early on, being one of the leaders on the team in their response to the mass shooting that occurred on the Las Vegas Strip, just days before their first regular season game as an NHL Franchise. Along with a few fellow Golden Knight players, Smith co-owns a restaurant in Summerlin, on the west end of Las Vegas, called Wolfgang Puck Players Locker.

My instant reaction is mainly positive. Smith is slightly older than Zucker, but that is negligible. Smith’s salary for the next two seasons is bound to be less than what Jason Zucker will get in the open free agent market come July 1, and also will likely be a shorter commitment than Zucker’s new deal. This allows Kyle Dubas flexibility once Smith’s contract is up, to look elsewhere and hopefully have developed some up-and-coming replacements by the time Smith’s deal is over.

The 2024 third-round pick that Pittsburgh used to acquire Smith is Vegas’ pick that they sent to the Penguins at the trade deadline this past March to acquire Teddy Blueger. So, essentially, the Penguins acquired Reilly Smith for Teddy Blueger. That’s some pretty nice work from this Penguins' front office.

While I hate to see Jason Zucker leave the team, I believe Smith is a more than suitable replacement. He has a Stanley Cup pedigree now and seems to have a similar, fiery, passionate personality to Zucker, which is much needed in that Penguins locker room.

Dubas said in his press conference last week that the Penguins would look to utilize their cap space to acquire players on teams who need to move out salary desperately, and it seems that is exactly what he did here. Vegas, per usual, was right up against the salary cap ceiling and wants to make some moves. They subsequently re-signed Ivan Barbashev to a five-year, $5 million AAV contract right after announcing the Smith trade. While not getting much value back in this deal, they acquired the space to allow them to re-sign a player who proved to be very useful for them in their Stanley Cup run. Barbashev is also five years younger than Smith.

Vegas has never been shy about moving on from fan favorites in order to better their chances at a Stanley Cup, as I mentioned in a previous article.

Dubas is bound to make more big moves in the coming days, as he looks to put his stamp on this roster. His first big deal seems to be a win so far, amongst Penguins faithful.