LAS VEGAS — The Golden Knights have built quite the reputation in their short time in the NHL. Their propensity for blockbuster deals over the last eight years has created a boogeyman-like persona around the time of the trade deadline.
Minutes before Friday’s deadline, the team’s X account simply posted “hi” and sent fans of teams across the league into a bit of panic.
Absolute blood-runs-cold terror seeing this. https://t.co/fzDVa9euoP
— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) March 7, 2025
Vegas has operated aggressively, with cold, calculated moves that prioritize the good of the organization over sentimentality. The team has let several fan favorites walk out the door, or traded them away, in the pursuit of winning. The approach has been criticized at times, but it has worked. The Golden Knights have won the second-most playoff games in the league since 2017-18 and have a Stanley Cup banner hanging in the rafters at T-Mobile Arena.
This week, they strayed from that approach.
Their lone trade ahead of Friday’s deadline brought Reilly Smith back to Vegas. The move had the dressing room — and the Las Vegas Valley — overflowing with good vibes.
Friday morning, fans dusted off their No. 19 jerseys and lined the boards at the team’s practice facility, City National Arena, and welcomed Smith back with a cheer as he stepped on the ice for the morning skate. Hours later, the cheers were even louder for his return to T-Mobile Arena.
A very warm welcome for Reilly Smith pic.twitter.com/jl6knT424C
— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) March 8, 2025
The feeling was shared by his teammates in the dressing room. Not just because they were reunited with a friend, but because they remember how crucial of a piece he was to their Stanley Cup run.
“It’s exciting to have a guy who has been here since Day 1,” forward Keegan Kolesar said. “He’s such a great person and a great teammate, and he’s so important to the community here.”
Captain Mark Stone echoed that sentiment, saying: “It’s definitely good to have him back. He’s the kind of guy we’ve missed having around in the locker room, and when you get him back, it feels like he never left.”
General manager Kelly McCrimmon didn’t make the acquisition for nostalgia alone, but he admitted it was a nice bonus.
“It was exactly what we needed,” McCrimmon said. “The backstory is really neat, and I’m really happy for all of those reasons, but this was for our hockey team. That’s why we acquired him. … The hockey piece of it, he was the right guy, and yet certainly all of those other elements of it are real positives. Our players are excited to have him. They’re excited to see him back. They were sorry to see him leave. All of those things that come with being a teammate with a guy who you won a Stanley Cup with.”
Most importantly, Smith checked all of the boxes the Golden Knights were looking to fill at the deadline. He’s a cerebral winger with scoring ability and defensive acumen. He’s a great penalty killer and can pitch in on the power play. He’s a predictable, safe addition because of his familiarity with the roster and system.
He’s also an original Golden Misfit.
While other Western Conference contenders loaded up, the Golden Knights worked in the shadows on deadline day. That’s partially due to a lack of cap space and future assets to trade, as Vegas already traded its first-round picks in each of the next two drafts. Yes, Smith was the type of player Vegas wanted to add, but he wasn’t the only one available. This move felt different from the many trades the organization has made. There were other players who could’ve brought a similar production profile as Smith, but none who could’ve brought the warm, fuzzy feelings and championship memories.
No one was happier than Smith himself, who decided not to sell his Las Vegas home when he was traded in 2023. The tenants who were renting it from him just happened to move out a few weeks ago, which is fortuitous timing.
“There are a lot of great memories that we’ve had in this town, and it’s nice to bring our family back here,” he said. “Having a home here that we can move back into makes everything a lot easier. With two daughters and a dog, sometimes that’s the most challenging thing is finding something for your family to come and be with you in your new city.”
Smith said he was informed by his agent that he was traded to Vegas on Thursday and was so thrilled he almost couldn’t believe the news.
“I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t getting ‘Punk’d’ initially,” he said with a laugh. “I didn’t want to send out a bunch of texts and phone calls and then have everything come back on me, so I tried to play it cool for a little bit and let the dust settle.”
Because of the familiarity, Smith is skipping a lot of the steps typically involved when a player is traded at the deadline. He already knows the vast majority of his new teammates, as well as most of the coaches, medical staff and equipment managers.
“It was definitely strange, but strange in a very good way,” he said. “It’s nice to go back somewhere and know a lot of the faces. Just small things like going to morning skate and knowing all of the drills is something that’s nice to not have to deal with when you’re joining a new team halfway through the season.”
Coach Bruce Cassidy put Smith in the starting lineup for Friday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, giving the 18,219 in attendance a perfect opportunity to welcome him back once more.
“During warmups and the national anthem, you just try to soak in as much as you can,” Smith said after the game. “You try not to think about everything else that’s going on and just focus on hockey, but there are times that creeps in.”
Smith played 14 minutes, 19 seconds in his return, recording one shot on goal in Vegas’ dominant 4-0 victory over Pittsburgh. He said he’s still a little jittery from the whirlwind of the trade. He didn’t land in Las Vegas until 1:30 a.m. Friday.
“It was a long day and a half,” he said. “I’m definitely working on a lot of adrenaline and coffee, but it was pretty special and I’m happy to be a part of it. Obviously, it’s a big win for this team.”
Did this relatively minor move improve Vegas enough to compete in what quickly turned into an arms race in the Western Conference? We’ll find out in April and May, but it filled a need — perhaps in the best way possible considering the constraints on resources — while also conjuring memories of the championship run by this very group.
The Golden Knights are rolling with seven wins in their last eight games. They keep extending their lead atop the Pacific Division, and the feeling around the team is the best its been since Smith last played in Vegas, when he and his teammates were carrying the Cup around the ice.
(Photo of Reilly Smith congratulating goaltender Ilya Samsonov after his shutout: Stephen R. Sylvanie / Imagn Images)
