In fact, Smith one-upped the professional laugh artist by popping out his fake teeth and showing the bridge to the audience after Burkart asked from the stage, “Dude, do you got all your teeth and stuff?”

As the crowd erupted in laughter, Burkart recoiled and exclaimed, “Oh sh**, bro!”

Burkart had no idea who Smith was when he called out to the 2023 Stanley Cup winner, asking what his name was. It’s something Burkart probably has done hundreds, if not thousands, of times as part of his stand-up routine.

This is a great interaction between comedian @willburkart and Reilly Smith. #GoldenKnights pic.twitter.com/LgwIXNP9Xr

— Brad Slater (@Iwantadonair) September 3, 2025

Sitting in the front row, Smith causally responded by giving his first name. Burkart asked him some work-related questions, and his interest piqued when Smith said he didn’t work in the summer. The comedian assumed Smith was a teacher, and made a big deal of it on stage when Smith shrugged off that assumption.

When Smith answered that he’s a hockey player, Burkart wanted to know at what level he played at. People in the audience began chanting “Go Knights Go!” and the comedian’s face clearly showed a level of shock. It looked like he was duped by the casual, mild-mannered Vegas Golden Knights forward, who was unwittingly selected as the mark.

“I just got nervous all of a sudden, I’m not sure why,” Barkart joked. He then fist-bumped the 14-year NHL veteran.

Smith was completely low key and understated the whole time, even when he popped out the false chiclets. Which made the entire exchange that much more funny.

Related: Why Reilly Smith felt ‘real good about my game’ after Rangers traded him

Reilly Smith’s NHL career no laughing matter, includes one season with Rangers

Smith played 58 games with the Rangers last season, after they acquired him from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the offseason. He scored 10 goals and had 29 points before the Rangers dealt him to the Golden Knights ahead of the 2025 NHL trade deadline.

The 34-year-old re-upped with the Golden Knights this summer on a one-year, $2 million contract.

Smith had 11 points (three, eight assists) in 21 regular-season games with Vegas after the trade. He scored three goals in 11 postseason games. Biggest among those was Smith’s game-winning goal with 0.4 seconds remaining in Game 3 of the Western Conference Second Round against the Edmonton Oilers. He’s only the third player in NHL history to score a playoff game-winner in the final second of regulation.

One of the original Misfits with the Golden Knights during their inaugural season in 2017-18, Smith has 553 points (226 goals, 327 assists) in 919 NHL games with the Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, Golden Knights, Penguins, and Rangers.

That deal sent him back to the team where Reilly’s had the most success in his career, the team he helped win the Stanley Cup in 2023. But in a salary cap crunch after winning their first championship, the Golden Knights traded Smith to the Pittsburgh Penguins. After one so-so year, he was sent to the Rangers.

“I don’t think the last two years have been kind of the trajectory I wanted my game to go, but coming back here I felt like I was able to get my footing pretty quickly and feel good about my game again,” Smith said at break-up day after Vegas was eliminated in five games by the Edmonton Oilers in their Western Conference Second Round series.

After recording 40 points (13 goals, 27 assists) and failing to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Penguins in 2023-24, Smith arrived in New York last summer expecting to be a key veteran piece on a team that was two wins shy of reaching the Cup Final the previous spring.

"gimme that." – Reilly Smith

What a first period for the Rangers 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kn3yAEXvfQ

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 22, 2024

Instead, the Rangers imploded and missed the playoffs for the first time in four seasons. Smith played in the top six with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider and on down the lineup, doing his best work on the penalty kill. He had 10 goals and 29 points when the Rangers shipped him on March 6 to the team he never wanted leave.

“It was a lot of fun, coming back here and playing on a team that had a lot of purpose, a lot of familiar faces, a structure that probably brings the best game out of me. It made for a fun few months,” Smith explained. “A great experience for me.”

Several times on break-up day, Smith referenced how structure and culture stand out with the Golden Knights. Likely, he simply was praising the Golden Knights, for whom he was one of the “Original Misfits” that helped them reach the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural 2017-18 season.

But it sure could’ve been meant as a tweak to the Rangers, where structure and culture both came under fire in this trainwreck of a season.

A BUZZER BEATER OF ALL BUZZER BEATERS 🤯

REILLY SMITH WINS IT FOR VEGAS WITH 0.4 SECONDS LEFT IN REGULATION!!! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/PZIGMQE1Ba

— NHL (@NHL) May 11, 2025

Clearly, Smith loves playing in Las Vegas. He had 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 21 games after the trade, largely in a third-line role. He also scored three goals in the playoffs, including the game-winner with 0.4 seconds left in regulation to help defeat the Oilers in Game 3.

“The first game I came back I felt like there was a light switch that kind of turned back on. It may be the structure, the familiarity with the players, there’s a predictability in my game here that helps me play faster.

Related: Why Rangers should investigate possible Sabres trade: ‘there’s definitely noise around [Bowen] Byram’

Former Rangers forward is free agent, hopes to remain with Golden Knights

Smith is an unrestricted free agent July 1. At this point of his career, he’s a bottom-six forward with still-solid PK skills, who’s a big-game player. He has 919 games of NHL experience and another 117 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He can help a contender or an up-and-coming team that requires leadership and a positive example for its young talent.

But Smith knows exactly where he’d prefer to sign this summer. And, no, it’s not with the Rangers.

“If there’s an opportunity to stay here, that’d be great,” Smith declared. “I think I play well for this team. I think it’s been the best hockey that I’ve played through my career has been wearing this jersey. It’s a fun group to be a part of of, it’s a fun place to call home. My family loves it here. So, if there’s a way to make it work, that would be great.”

Vegas projects to have about $9.6 million in salary-cap space this offseason, per PuckPedia. Nicolas Hague is a priority to re-sign. The 26-year-old defenseman is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.

Smith is among four forwards entering UFA status — along with Victor Olofsson, Brandon Saad and Tanner Pearson. No. 2 goalie Ilya Samsonov is also a pending UFA.

So, it’s not a certainty at all that Smith will get his wish to remain in Vegas.

“I understand it’s a business, but I’m also an optimistic person,” he said. “Hopefully, we can get something that works for both sides.”

Those attributes were on full display Saturday night in the second round of the playoffs. But the Rangers weren’t the ones benefitting, of course, since they’re at home watching the postseason after failing to make the playoffs for the first time in four seasons.

Smith was moved to the Vegas Golden Knights ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline, and he may have just saved their season Saturday. The 34-year-old became the third player in NHL history to score a go-ahead goal in the final second of regulation to lift the Golden Knights to a 4-3 win in Game 3 of the Western Conference Second Round against the Edmonton Oilers.

Had they lost, the Golden Knights would’ve slipped into an 0-3 hole in the best-of-7 series. They lost the first two games at home before Smith’s heroics saved them in Edmonton.

The former Rangers forward scored with 0.4 seconds remaining in regulation. He joined Nazem Kadri of the Colorado Avalanche (0.1 seconds remaining on Aug. 2, 2020), and Jussi Jokinen of the Carolina Hurricanes (0.2 seconds remaining on April 21, 2009) as the only players credited with a game-winning goal in the final second of a playoff game.

After taking a William Karlsson pass in the slot in the dying seconds, Smith faked a shot, danced around two Oilers and took a bad-angle shot from left wing with goalie Stuart Skinner out to challenge him. This is where Smith — and the Golden Knights — caught a big break. The puck was going to slide through the crease, but it hit the stick of a back-checking Leon Draisaitl and into the net.

“Sometimes you just hope for the best and that one seemed to work out,” Smith said. “Thankfully I had enough time.”

The play began when Karlsson controlled the puck behind the net and spun it into the slot, where Smith grabbed it.

“I think there was about seven seconds, and I just tried to get there as fast as possible,” Smith said. “’Karl’ does a good job of hunting pucks and being the first on it and once it popped out, I saw a lot of guys sell out, so I just hoped I had enough time to kind of pump fake and find a line and it worked out.

“I think if I try to shoot that, it’s getting stopped if not by the first guy or the second guy or the goalie. Sometimes you just hope for the best and that one seemed to work out, thankfully I had enough time.”

Referee Garrett Rank originally waved the goal off, but that on-ice decision was quickly reversed after a video review.

“It hit the metal bar (in the back of the net),” Smith told TNT. “It came out so fast, and the ref (Rank) told me the puck didn’t go in.”

Related: Why Calvin de Haan was ‘honestly shocked’ to see how good a player Matt Rempe is

Former Rangers forward Reilly Smith stars again for Golden Knights in postseason

One of the original Vegas “Misfits” who helped the Golden Knights reach the 2018 Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season, Smith played six seasons in Sin City and won the Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights in 2023.

Smith was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins ahead of the 2023-24 season and then landed with the Rangers last summer. He had 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 58 games with the Rangers before they shipped the pending unrestricted free agent to the Golden Knights.

Back in Vegas, Smith had 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 21 games to close out the regular season. He had one goal in Vegas’ first eight playoff games before scoring twice Saturday.

Given extra minutes because of a lower-body injury sustained by captain Mark Stone, Smith tied the game 2-2 at 16:11 of the first period, helping Vegas wipe out an early 2-0 deficit.

Smith’s first goal was much more artistic than his game-winner. He split between Viktor Arvidsson and Vasily Podkolzin near the Edmonton blue line, then cut from left wing to the front of the net and went forehand-backhand before slipping the puck between Skinner’s pads.

Reilly Smith does it all himself 💨 pic.twitter.com/1pSX35sMhK

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 11, 2025

The Golden Knights took a 3-2 lead on Karlsson’s third playoff goal late in the second period, but Edmonton superstar Connor McDavid tied the game with 3:02 to go in regulation when his shot/pass deflected off Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb and past Adin Hill.

That set the stage for Smith’s heroics. He now has 83 points (29 goals, 54 assists) and seven game-winners in 115 Stanley Cup Playoff games — none, alas, with the Rangers.

Smith and his teammates will try to even the series with a Game 4 win in Edmonton on Monday night.

The Soucy trade was made more possible by a move the Rangers made a few hours prior, when they dealt forward Reilly Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights for a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and forward prospect Brendan Brisson.

Welcome to New York, Carson! pic.twitter.com/C9PauRlkin

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 7, 2025

The Rangers then flipped that third-rounder, which is the San Jose Sharks pick so will be among the first selections of the that round, to the Canucks for Soucy, who plays a similar game to Lindgren, though come in a much bigger package (6-foot-5, 208 pounds).

The 30-year-old has played 349 NHL games with the Minnesota Wild, Seattle Kraken and Canucks; he was teammates in Seattle with Rangers defenseman Will Borgen and Vancouver with forward J.T. Miller.

Related: NHL Trade Deadline — Chris Drury executing multi-faceted game plan for Rangers

Grading Rangers trade with Canucks for Carson Soucy

Members of the Forever Blueshirts staff analyze and grade the Rangers trade to acquire defenseman Carson Soucy from the Vancouver Canucks for a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

Jim Cerny – Executive Editor – Grade: B+

You can’t grade this trade in a vacuum. You must factor in the the Smith trade too, because that’s where this third-round pick to acquire Soucy came from. Really, it was all very well executed by Drury. The Rangers land a big, physical defenseman with a solid pedigree — though in the midst of a so-so season — who’s not a rental. So, Soucy is part of the Rangers plan in the top four of their defense corps the rest of this season and next, and an affordable one at that ($3.25 million AAV). Nice. Even nicer is that ultimately it cost them only an unrestricted free agent whom they had zero interest in retaining (Smith). Assuming K’Andre Miller re-signs as an RFA this summer, that’s two sturdy left-shot d-men in the top four — though if you were hoping for a Jakob Chychrun signing in the offseason, this probably wipes that out. All in all, well done by the Rangers, who immediately improve on the ice and remain positioned financially to be major players in free agency this summer.

John Kreiser – Senior Writer – Grade: B+

Drury made a nice move bringing in Soucy, a big shutdown defenseman who should make life a little easier for Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick. The 30-year-old isn’t much of a scorer (three goals and 10 points in 59 games with the Vancouver Canucks this season), but was second on the Canucks with 92 blocked shots and fifth with 86 hits – one of 18 players in the League with 90+ blocks and 85+ hits. Think of him as a replacement for Lindgren.

Even better is that Soucy is not a rental. He has another season left on a three-year contract — unlike Lindgren, who can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and wasn’t going to be resigned by the Rangers. Drury also got him for basically nothing – the price was the third-round pick he obtained from the Golden Knights a few hours earlier for Smith, another pending UFA who wasn’t going to be re-signed. Soucy isn’t a star, but he can play up and down the lineup – he was paired with another of this season’s acquisitions, Borgen, when they were with the Kraken together. The trade does two things: It improves the roster this season as the Rangers push for a playoff spot, and gives them a good player who will be around for at least one more season.

Tom Castro – Staff Writer – Grade: A

Drury made a sneaky-good move in acquiring the big defenseman Soucy from the Canucks for the third-round pick acquired in the Smith trade. Looking to replace the gritty presence of the departed Lindgren, the Rangers general manager added a 6-foot-5, 208-pound left-shot defender who plays a downright nasty game at times. Soucy provides so much of what the Rangers are desperate for: Physicality in his own zone, and the strength and size to keep the front of his net clear, while playing with constant edge and compete level in puck battles.

Soucy is signed through next season at a reasonable salary-cap hit, keeping this acquisition in line with Drury’s desire to avoid giving up assets for rental properties as he looks to remake the team for the near future. Soucy’s arrival also fits the GM’s mission to transform the Rangers into a tougher group. The fifth-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft could be paired with Adam Fox when he returns from his upper-body injury, or reunited with Borgen, with whom Soucy paired for 109 games during their time with the Kraken. Drury has procured strong value here for a third-round pick, albeit one that’s expected to be high in that round because it originally belonged to the Sharks.

Dane Walsh – Staff Writer – Grade: B

Trading Smith was another housekeeping move by Drury. The Rangers were not going to re-sign him, so rather than letting him walk in the summer for no return, they sent him back to the Golden Knights where he won the Stanley Cup in 2023. Drury then flips the 3rd rounder in the return for Soucy, which fills a hole on defense. The Rangers really needed a left shot on the back end. They also get Brisson who is an intriguing prospect from Vegas. Brisson was incredible at the University of Michigan, but has yet to become a consistent NHL player. With 19 points in 45 AHL games this season, he’ll provide a nice boost to the Hartford Wolf Pack as he continues to develop. He’ll definitely be a prospect to keep an eye on heading into next season. The Rangers get a good return for Smith, but what’s more intriguing is what comes next. They now have a plethora of defenseman on the roster, which makes me think a bigger move for a top-3 defenseman is next. 

The Rangers are navigating a difficult plan, trying to thread the needle of improving the team for this season’s playoff push, setting themselves up to be major players in free agency this coming offseason and deepening their draft capital to help build a better future.

So far, so good. Of course, the Rangers got a head start on this multiple-faceted plan, making a pair of big trades before the New Year and then their biggest trade Jan. 31, when they acquired J.T. Miller from the Vancouver Canucks. Three trades have been made in the final week ahead of the deadline, including two on Thursday.

It’s been a well-thought-out plan and execution by Chris Drury and Co. And the Rangers may not be done yet. They’ve been linked to Buffalo Sabres forward J..J. Peterka among others, and after yesterday have a glut of NHL defensemen on the roster. So, the Rangers don’t appear to be done after their latest moves.

Since the Jacob Trouba trade with the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 6, the Rangers have acquired Miller, defensemen Carson Soucy, Will Borgen, Urho Vaakanainen and Calvin de Haan, center Juuso Parssinen and forward prospect Brendan Brisson, plus several draft picks, one of which was flipped to the Canucks to acquire Soucy on Thursday.

In the process, the Rangers moved out the disgruntled Trouba, a pair of former young core players in Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko, young defenseman Victor Mancini and three pending UFAs they had no plans to re-sign this summer — Ryan Lindgren, Jimmy Vesey and Reilly Smith.

They’re improving in the here and now, but most definitely with an eye on the future. Miller and Soucy each have term left on their contracts. Borgen was a pending UFA but signed a five-year contract to stay with the Rangers. Vaakanainen and Parssinen are restricted free agents at the end of the season. Only de Haan is a pending UFA.

The Rangers are also bigger and tougher today than they were a couple months ago, another priority for Drury.

Let’s see what Friday. We’ll have all the latest news and analysis right here at Forever Blueshirts.

WATCH: Marty Biron talks Rangers moves, NHL Trade Deadline and memories of being Henrik Lundqvist’s goalie partner on RINK RAP podcast

New York Rangers news

The Rangers acquired a big, physical defenseman when they landed Soucy from the Canucks.

Earlier Thursday, the Rangers traded Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights for Brisson and a third-round pick that they in turn shipped to the Canucks to land Soucy.

ICYMI: Here are our three Rangers takeaways from the 3-2 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.

Also, we have the winners and losers breakdown from the Rangers’ OT defeat.

Rangers prospects Brody Lamb and Ty Henricks helped their respective teams capture regular-season championships in the NCAA this season.

NHL news and rumors

Late-night reports that the Carolina Hurricanes were trading Mikko Rantanen to the Dallas Stars were dispelled by Darren Dreger on Friday morning. He reported that there is no deal in place and that Rantanen has not agreed to a contract extension with the Stars, which is a must for a deal to go down. Rantanen is a pending UFA at season’s end, who already turned down contract offers from the Hurricanes.

Pierre LeBrun reports that Ryan Donato and the Chicago Blackhawks are trying to hammer out a new contract for the pending UFA. If not, he’s one of the bigger names expected to be traded Friday.

The Islanders finally pulled the trigger and traded veteran center Brock Nelson along with prospect William Dufour to the Colorado Avalanche for a package that includes prized center prospect Calum Ritchie, a first-round draft pick in either 2026 or 2027 and defenseman Oliver Kylington, who was then shipped to the Ducks for future considerations.

The Edmonton Oilers landed defenseman Jake Walman from the San Jose Sharks, notably trading away a conditional 2026 first-round pick.

Justin Brazeau was traded by the Boston Bruins to the Minnesota Wild.

Perhaps Nick Bjugstad won’t be traded before the deadline. The veteran center was placed on IR with an upper-body injury by the Utah Hockey Club.

Some brutal injury news for the St. Louis Blues, who lost defenseman Colton Parayko for at least six weeks following a procedure on his knee.

Former Rangers forward Ryan Reaves was placed on waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of the trade deadline.

Victor Hedman sustained an injury that forced him out of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. An update could come Friday.

Jake Guentzel had a hat trick and Oliver Bjorkstrad scored in his first game after arriving a trade with the Seattle Kraken to lead the Lightning to a wild 6-5 win against the Sabres.

Evan Bouchard scored in overtime to lift the Edmonton Oilers past the Montreal Canadiens 3-2. The Canadiens picked up a point in the standings and are one behind the Rangers in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Cale Makar set a Colorado Avalanche franchise record for defensemen by recording six points (two goals, four assists) in their 7-3 win over the Sharks.

The Columbus Blue Jackets failed to gain any separation as the top wild card in the East when the were shut out by the Florida Panthers 3-0.

Earlier in the day, the Panthers acquired forward Nico Sturm from the Sharks.

More good news for the Rangers in their playoff hunt, the Detroit Red Wings lost their fourth straight game, 4-2 to the Kraken.

And the Boston Bruins continue to be a big disappointment, this time losing 3-2 to the Hurricanes, when Seth Jarvis scored in the final seconds of regulation.

That pick was acquired by the Rangers earlier in the day from the Vegas Golden Knights, along with center prospect Brendan Brisson in exchange for veteran forward Reilly Smith. The pick is the San Jose Sharks’ selection in the third round this year, so it’s closer to the second round since the Sharks are at the bottom of the NHL standings.

In essence, Rangers general manager Chris Drury added Soucy and Brisson for Smith, a pending UFA whom the Rangers had no interest in re-signing this coming offseason.

Per multiple reports, Carson Soucy has been traded to the Rangers for a third-round pick pic.twitter.com/mtOEydyC5M

— Rangers Videos (@SNYRangers) March 6, 2025

Soucy is a big (6-foot-5, 208 pounds), physical, left-shot defenseman, who’s not a rental. The 30-year-old has another season to go on a three-year contract that averages $3.25 million annually.

In the midst of a down season, that includes a minus-13 plus/minus mark, Soucy was made available by the Canucks after they acquired defenseman Marcus Pettersson from the Pittsburgh Penguins and then signed him to a five-year contract that begins next season and has an AAV of $4.025 million.

“Big left shot D,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette told reporters Friday. “He can take down some minutes. A lot of experience. He’s a good defender. It’s a good pickup.”

Soucy averaged an NHL career-high 18:22 TOI in 59 games this season. He has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) and 42 penalty minutes, and was second on the Canucks with 92 blocked shots and fifth with 86 hits.

The veteran of 349 NHL games played two seasons with J.T. Miller, whom the Rangers acquired in an earlier trade with the Canucks on Jan. 31. He also was teammates with Rangers defenseman Will Borgen with the Seattle Kraken for two seasons (2021-23). Borgen came to the Rangers in a December trade with Seattle for forward Kaapo Kakko.

“I certainly like his versatility. We think there’s a lot of possibility with Carson, whether it’s with (Schneider) or (Fox) or (Borgen) or even having him on the right side at some point. We’ll see how it plays out,” Drury said Friday. “I’m glad we were able to get him. I was excited about the term, excited about the number to start. He’s not a rental.”

The Soucy trade is the sixth made this season by the Rangers and third in the past week heading into the trade deadline Friday. The Rangers acquired defenseman Calvin de Haan, center Juuso Parssinen and two draft picks from the Colorado Avalanche this past Saturday for defenseman Ryan Lindgren and forward Jimmy Vesey. Like Smith, each of those players was a pending UFA the Rangers were not going to re-sign this summer.

WATCH: Marty Biron talks Rangers moves, NHL Trade Deadline and memories of being Henrik Lundqvist’s goalie partner on RINK RAP podcast

Rangers have glut of left-shot defensemen after trading for Carson Soucy

Soucy is the fourth defenseman acquired by the Rangers this season, joining Borgen, de Haan and Urho Vaakanainen. All but Borgen are left-hand shots, and now the Rangers have a glut of lefties on the roster since they also have K’Andre Miller and Zac Jones.

So, where does Soucy fit? He’s here this season and next, so Drury is counting on Soucy being a mainstay on the blue line. Miller is due a big raise as a pending RFA with arbitration rights this summer, but it appears he’ll be part of the core moving forward. Vaakanainen and Jones are restricted free agents at season’s end. De Haan is a pending UFA who’s not expected to be part of the Rangers after this season.

When Adam Fox returns from IR later in the season, the right side seems set with him, Borgen and Braden Schneider. That threesome should be back intact next season. But perhaps that’s in question, too, since righty Chad Ruhwedel was recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Thursday.

It should be noted that Soucy has played the right side before, as have Jones, Vaakanainen and de Haan.

Does Drury have another trade up his sleeve, perhaps flipping de Haan before the deadline now that the Rangers have Soucy? Or could Jones, in the lineup now because Fox is injured, be the odd man out? Remember, he’s spent most of the season in the press box as a healthy scratch. And Jones did say two months ago he might approach the Rangers for a trade.

Some of those answers could come tomorrow by 3 p.m. ET or before, when coach Peter Laviolette speaks with reporters and will surely be asked about his lineup plan with the defense corps.

It’s the fifth trade made by the Rangers this season, and second straight this week involving a veteran player who’s a pending unrestricted free agent and wasn’t going to be re-signed. Per Vince Mercogliano of Gannett, the Rangers retained 50 percent of Smith’s salary cap hit ($1.875 million).

Smith surely should be happy with the trade. A healthy scratch three straight games for roster management purposes, the 33-year-old forward returns to Vegas, where he helped the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup in 2023.

In fact, Smith played six seasons with the Golden Knights, including their inaugural season in 2017-18 when they reached the Stanley Cup Final, ultimately losing to the Washington Capitals in five games.

Original misfit, Stanley Cup champ Reilly Smith is headed back to Vegas 🚨

Golden Knights are reportedly trading 2020 1st-rd pick Brendan Brisson and a 2025 3rd-rd pick to the Rangers for the 33 y/o winger.

3rd in goals in VGK history, Smith returns after 1½ seasons away.… pic.twitter.com/vgTNSXCGEJ

— Nick Walters (@nickwalt) March 6, 2025

After one season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Smith was traded to the Rangers this past July 1. In 58 games this season with the Rangers, Smith played up and down the lineup and was one of their top penalty killers. He had 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists), seventh most on the team, and was tied for second with two short-handed goals.

Just five days ago, the Rangers traded two other pending UFAs — defenseman Ryan Lindgren and forward Jimmy Vesey — to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman Calvin De Haan, center Juuso Parssinen and a second- and fourth-round pick in this year’s draft.

Brisson is an intriguing acquisition from Vegas, where he was a first-round pick (No. 29 overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft. The 23-year-old is in the final year of his entry-level contract and can be a restricted free agent at season’s end. He’s only played 24 NHL games and has eight points (two goals, six assists). In nine games with the Golden Knights this season, Brisson is pointless and averaging just 9:52 TOI.

Though his professional resume is not eye-catching, Brisson is an intriguing prospect. He did score 19 goals in 52 games with Henderson of the American Hockey League last season and 18 in 58 AHL games the season prior.

His amateur career was more impressive. Brisson had 21 goals and 42 points in 38 games with the University of Michigan in 2021-22 and scored two goals in four games for the United States at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. He also helped the U.S. capture the gold medal at the 2021 World Junior Championship, where he was teammates with current Rangers forwards Brett Berard and Arthur Kaliyev.

Related: Rangers trade grades after acquiring Calvin de Haan, Juuso Parssinen from Avalanche

Newest Rangers prospect Brendan Brisson has unique tie to Sidney Crosby

Brisson’s father is NHL super agent Pat Brisson, from the CAA Sports Agency. Among his dad’s clients are Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Elias Pettersson, John Tavares and all three Hughes brothers — Jack, Quinn and Luke.

Brendan Brisson actually has a unique tie with Crosby, thanks to his father’s professional relationship with the future Hall of Famer. Crosby was Brisson’s babysitter for a bit as a youngster himself, when he’d stay with the agent and his family in California.

Rangers just got Brendan Brisson in the Smith trade. Sidney Crosby uses to babysitting him. #NYR pic.twitter.com/kcG0afIM7Y

— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) March 6, 2025

It’s not clear when or if Brisson will skate against Crosby and the Penguins again since the Rangers concluded their season series against them already. Plus, Brisson likely will be sent to Hartford of the AHL.

His addition does add depth at the center position, a spot that needed better options organizationally. Parssinen was acquired to help beef up the middle as well, and centered the third line the past three games.

As for the third-round pick in this year’s draft, that’s a good get for the Rangers because it’s actually the San Jose Sharks selection, meaning it will be high up in the third round, closer to the second round, considering their place in the overall NHL standings.

The Rangers now have nine picks in the 2025 draft, including two in each of the third, fourth and sixth rounds. They do not have a first-round pick this season, having traded that to the Vancouver Canucks in the J.T. Miller trade on Jan. 31.

Since the start of the season, the Rangers have traded their captain Jacob Trouba, two young forwards once considered cornerstones in Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil and now three veterans they weren’t going to re-sign this offseason in Lindgren, Vesey and Smith.

Still fighting for a playoff spot in the tight Eastern Conference race, the Rangers (31-26-5) could still make a move or two fill holes on defense and in their forward group ahead of the deadline, especially considering how many draft picks they’ve stockpiled. It’s unlikely they’d have interest in a rental, however. A player they like with term on his contract is preferable.

Perhaps more likely is that the Rangers could use their ample cap space to retain salary for other contenders making big moves in order to land more prospects or picks.

The Rangers seem to be intent on dealing away players on expiring contracts. A home game against the Nashville Predators on Sunday will be their first since trading Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday for veteran defenseman Calvin de Haan, center Juuso Parssinen and second- and fourth-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft.

First look at new #NYR Calvin de Haan pic.twitter.com/TNCMyVDB3s

— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) March 2, 2025

The Rangers traded Lindgren and Vesey a day after a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs that dropped them to a pedestrian 5-6-0 in their past 11 games following a 10-game point streak from Jan. 5-23. The point streak put the Rangers (29-26-4, 62 points) within one point of the second wild-card spot and ahead of every other team below the cutoff. But now they are four points out and tied for 12th place in the Eastern Conference.

The Rangers have 23 games left to make up the deficit and will do so while trying to cope with the loss of Adam Fox, who will miss his second game Sunday in what likely will be a lengthy absence after he fell on his left shoulder in the third period of a 5-1 win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

The Rangers are coming off a game where they had little to show for 35 shots on goal. Though Mika Zibanejad and Will Cuylle scored tying goals, little mistakes doomed the Rangers, notably a misplay behind the net by Igor Shesterkin leading to the Maple Leafs getting the game winner in the third period.

The Rangers are a major disappointment and face a strong possibility of missing the postseason for the first time in four seasons; but the Predators (21-31-7, 49 points) are well out of the playoff race in the Western Conference after handing out three massive free-agent contracts this past offseason. They are easily the League’s biggest disappointment in 2024-25.

Nashville has the third-fewest points in NHL and is 16 points out of the final playoff spot in the West despite adding Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and former Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei on the first day of free agency. They were 10 points out following a five-game winning streak last month but are 3-9-0 in their past 12 games and after a string of poor defensive performances.

The Predators allowed three goals in the first period when they were outshot 19-3 during a 7-4 loss to the Islanders on Saturday. Nashville ended its latest loss by allowing an empty-net goal to Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin, who beat Shesterkin in a quest to join ‘goalie goal’ list, albeit when Stamkos sent the puck into his own net.

One of Nashville’s better defensive showings was a 2-0 home win over the Rangers on Dec. 17 when Juuse Saros notched a 25-save shutout. Saros allowed six goals on 36 shots Saturday, and the Predators will likely start backup Justus Annunen, who has allowed 18 goals in his past four appearances.

Related: Rangers trade grades after acquiring Calvin de Haan, Juuso Parssinen from Avalanche

3 things to watch for when Rangers host Predators

1. No more five-forward power-play unit

With Fox out, the Rangers experimented with a five-forward group on PP1 against the Maple Leafs on Friday. The Rangers were 0-for-3 with four shots on goal, using Alexis Lafreniere, J.T. Miller, Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Zibanejad in the top group.

That will change Sunday. At the morning skate, defenseman Zac Jones slotted onto the top unit to play with Zibanejad, Miller, Panarin and Trocheck. It makes sense to let Jones man the point and quarterback the power play. He’s a skilled offensive player with good vision and instincts. Why not let him play to his strength?

On Sunday the Rangers face a team which has allowed a power-play goal in 14 of its past 19 games. Could this be a chance for the Rangers — two power-play goals in their past seven games and 20th overall in the NHL (20.7 percent) this season — to get untracked when a man up.

2. What’s happened to Steven Stamkos?

Stamkos is experiencing a down season in the first of a four-year, $32 million contract, entering Sunday with 17 goals and 33 points in 59 games. Barring a massive hot streak, Stamkos is likely to finish with less than 30 goals in any 82-game season not disrupted by injury since finishing with 27 goals in 2017-18.

Stamkos has not scored a goal nor recorded a point in 12 straight games since Jan. 23 and was pointless in the month of February. It is the longest scoreless drought ever for the League’s third-leading goal scorer among active players.

On Saturday against the Islanders, Stamkos was on the ice for three even-strength goals in 17:31 — and hid misfired back pass in the final seconds wound up as a goalie goal for Isles goaltender Ilya Sorokin. Stamkos has been on the ice for 15 even-strength goals in his scoreless drought.

Stamkos is two shy of 600 career assists and has 19 goals and 43 points in 43 regular-season games against the Rangers.

3. The new guys

Parssinen and de Haan will each be in the lineup Sunday to make their Rangers debuts after taking part in the morning skate. Parssinen practiced on the third line with Brennan Othmann and Jonny Brodzinski on the wings. De Haan paired with Jones on defense, skating on his off (right) side.

Reportedly coveted by the Rangers for a while, Parssinen scored two goals and had four assists this season with the Avalanche, who acquired the 24-year-old in December from the Predators. He impressed in Colorado’s two games against the Rangers and scored on a quick shot from the slot in the second period at MSG on Jan. 26.

Another fun note about the newest Rangers forward is that he scored in his NHL debut for the Predators against the Blueshirts on Nov. 12, 2022.

Here’s a closer look at Pärssinen. Cuylle gets the edge in these battles. #NYR pic.twitter.com/xjq5t9xYc3

— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) March 2, 2025

Like Lindgren, de Haan can become an unrestricted free agent after the season. He also is a familiar face to the Rangers since he played his first six seasons with the Islanders, including 2016-17 when he posted career highs with five goals and 20 assists.

The 33-year-old is a placeholder until the Rangers make bigger moves to bolster their defense corps during the offseason.

Veteran forward Reilly Smith won’t dress for the Rangers on Sunday due to roster management issues — likely meaning he will be traded soon. Chris Kreider landed on IR Saturday with an upper-body issue.

New York Rangers projected lineup

Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere

Cuylle – J.T. Miller- Zibanejad

Othmann – Parssinen – Brodzinski

Berard – Carrick – Rempe

K. Miller – Borgen

Vaakanainen – Schneider

Jones – de Haan

Quick

Shesterkin

Rangers vs. Predators: When, where, what time, how to watch

Who: New York Rangers vs. Nashville Predators

When: Sunday, March 2 at 7 p.m. ET

Where: Madison Square Garden

How to watch: MSG2

For these Rangers, though, such an outcome would actually be besides the point. Hardly anyone believes this group can win four postseason rounds, that they have a 2023 Florida Panthers-type run to the Stanley Cup Final in them – or anything even close.

The best situation for the franchise is if the front office also holds that opinion, that making expensive, splashy adds ahead of the March 7 trade deadline in a long-shot attempt to not only get into the playoffs but win a championship is counterproductive.

Chances are that general manager Chris Drury doesn’t harbor any such delusions, and the moves he makes will be driven by a concession to that reality. Their acquisition of center J.T. Miller, whose contract has five seasons to run beyond this one, reflects a strategy of positioning the team for a restructuring in personnel and playing style that should gain steam this summer.

Drury wants to make his team bigger, faster and meaner. Miller’s acquisition represents all of that in what is likely the first salvo in reshaping the veteran core to make it competitive for a Stanley Cup in near-future seasons – and probably not this one as a result.

So Drury should be active before the deadline, looking to pull off some obvious moves – and perhaps some unexpectedly big ones – that will better position the Rangers for 2025-26 and beyond.

There are three points of focus Drury should follow with the deadline bearing down:

Related: Rangers new-look 4th line leads way in 5-1 win against Islanders

Rangers game plan ahead of 2024 NHL Trade Deadline

1. Trade pending UFAs Ryan Lindgren, Reilly Smith and Jimmy Vesey to replenish draft capital

Lindgren’s time in the Big Apple is almost certainly over, given the Rangers’ apparent lack of interest in extending the gritty defenseman beyond this season. The 27-year-old, however, is an ideal rental property for contenders, his physical, all-out style capable of toughening up a team’s blue line and injecting a roster with emotion for a long playoff run.

The Blueshirts dealt away a lot of draft picks to fortify for just that in each of the past three springs. They moved their first-rounder to the Vancouver Canucks in the Miller trade, and they don’t have a second-rounder in any of the next three drafts. Lindgren probably won’t fetch a first-round pick, but a hot market for him could bring back one of those much-needed second-round selections.

Of course, the Rangers might have to abandon this part of the plan if defensemen K’Andre Miller and/or Adam Fox, both of whom were injured in a 5-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday, are out long-term. Drury doesn’t want to let short-term issues derail his longer-term goals, but he also can’t leave his current team with hardly any viable options on defense.

There’s also no reason not to trade versatile veteran wingers Smith – who cost the Rangers a 2027 second-rounder and a 2025 fifth-rounder last summer – and Vesey, with both players likely to draw interest from deadline buyers in exchange for mid-round picks. Maybe Smith is worth a third, and the Blueshirts don’t have a pick in the fourth round in 2026 or 2027.

Whether they’re used to bolster the farm system or as future trade ammunition, the Rangers simply need to get back some draft choices. Those three players, as well as pending restricted free agents, such as defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and forward Arthur Kaliyev, represent an opportunity to do just that – one that shouldn’t be overlooked or sacrificed in pursuit of a playoff spot.

In the same vein …

2. Use their 3 salary retention slots to broker trades for other teams

While Lindgren, Smith and Vesey don’t exactly reside at the top of the trade market, the Rangers ample deadline cap space of $15 million or more provides a chance to increase their haul of futures, be it picks or prospects. With all three retention spots available, the Blueshirts should have no trouble retaining the maximum 50 percent of player salaries to make trades work for capped-out contenders – for the usual price of doing that business, of course.

It would probably be foolish for Drury to agree to take on retained money beyond this season, the kind of move that would fetch a higher return in trade. Brokering deals as a third party for pending UFAs, however, should in theory bring back some decent additional mid-round picks to go with whatever they can extract for their veteran rental players.

As with the need to not hold onto tradeable veterans because of an unrealistic belief in this team’s chances to make the playoffs and win it all, the Rangers shouldn’t squander the chance to play trade matchmaker – something they might not be able to do for a while if the club returns to Stanley Cup contention next season.

Related: 3 Rangers takeaways from 5-1 thrashing of archrival on Long Island

3. Explore larger trades Rangers will try to make this summer

It’s true that it is more difficult to pull off major deals during the season, when teams tend to have less salary cap space and sometimes take a while to decide whether to make a run at the playoffs or look to next season. That said, doing so is certainly possible, as evidenced by Drury’s ability to acquire Miller, a point-per-game player in five-plus seasons with the Canucks, on Jan. 31.

There’s no harm in Drury being open to anything – though he should probably learn his lesson and do that verbally and not over text message this time – to start transforming the core, because he’s going to attempt to do that this summer anyway. So thinking big isn’t bad. If there’s enough concern over Fox’s current health or long-term dip in effectiveness this season, painfully highlighted by his alarming Four Nations Face-Off performance, does Drury want to get a head start on at least laying the groundwork for a possible trade ahead of Fox’s no-move clause kicking in July 1?

Likewise, is Alexis Lafreniere, who has provided mostly regressive play and effort since inking a seven-year extension with the club early this season, a trade candidate when he still has value and perceived upside at age 23?

Is Drury unsold on the highly-talented but maddeningly inconsistent K’Andre Miller as a staple of the team’s future? There seems little downside to at least testing the waters with possible trade partners who, like the Rangers, might want to get a jump on the offseason by potentially pulling off rarer in-season blockbuster trades.

Even if Drury ends up being very busy on the trade front, his team, locked in a crowded battle for a wild-card berth, could make it into the tournament even with significant personnel changes before the deadline. A fourth consecutive postseason appearance, however, should be ancillary.

With his trade for J.T. Miller, moving out of overpriced veterans Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba and signaling (albeit clumsily) that he’s open for business on other players, the Rangers GM has made clear what’s coming soon. The Rangers are in perfect position to begin executing those changes almost immediately. They shouldn’t hesitate to do so.

The win extended New York’s point streak to a season-long 10 games (7-0-3) and brough to an end a six-game point streak (5-0-1) for Philadelphia, which had won three straight coming in. It also moved the Rangers to within one point of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. They trail the Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets each by a single point.

Igor Shesterkin shined again in goal for the Rangers (24-20-4), finishing with 35 saves. He allowed a goal on the second shot he faced and then slammed the door shut the rest of the way. He’s 6-0-1 in his past seven starts and surrendered just 10 goals in that span, including a pair of shutouts in his previous two games.

Twelve New York skaters found the score sheet, including all six defensemen. K’Andre Miller, Adam Fox, Filip Chytil and Reilly Smith each had a goal and an assist. Braden Schneider and Adam Edstrom scored the other Rangers goals.

Sam Ersson made 31 saves for the Flyers, whose lone goal was scored by Owen Tippett.

Related: Ryan Lindgren admits ‘hard not to have doubt creep into your mind’ during early-season funk

New York Rangers 6 – Philadelphia Flyers 1

It was an inauspicious start for the Rangers, who surrendered the game’s first goal just 85 seconds after the opening face-off. Inexplicably, four Rangers were caught in the Flyers end of the ice, letting the visitors take off on a 4-on-1 break the other way. Urho Vaakanainen did his best to help Shesterkin, but Travis Konecny’s centering pass off the rush hit Tippett’s skate and bounded into the net to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 1:25.

Two minutes later, Shesterkin aggressively challenged Matvei Michkov alone in the low slot, and the rookie had little to shoot at other than the goalie’s right pad. Roughly two minutes later, the Rangers had their best early scoring chance, a 3-on-2 short-handed rush that ended with Vincent Trocheck firing a left-wing shot into Ersson’s chest.

At 6:55, Chytil split two defenders with a quick power move but was stoned by Ersson.

Undaunted the Rangers put two past Ersson just 1:24 apart to grab a 2-1 lead. Schneider tied the game with his first goal in 42 games at 9:00 of the first period. He danced around several Flyers before his centering pass for Smith hit a Flyers stick and deflected into the cage.

Then Edstrom, stationed with his back to the net between the circles, was able to deflect Ryan Lindgren’s shot past Ersson at 10:24 to make it 2-1 Rangers. The goal was Edstrom’s third in the past seven games and was part of a strong opening period for New York’s buzzing fourth line.

New York goal!

Scored by Adam Edstrom with 09:36 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Ryan Lindgren and Adam Fox.

New York: 2
Philadelphia: 1#PHIvsNYR #NYR #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/gWIpC3Nk3r

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 24, 2025

The Rangers out-shot the Flyers 15-11 in the first period and out-chanced them 8-3 at 5v5, per Natural Stat Trick. But the ice tilted the other way a bit in the second period.

Shesterkin was the difference in the second, stopping all 17 Philadelphia shots, including 10 high-danger chances and 15 scoring chances 5v5. Many were from point-blank range and one got through him but his the post. But not one ended up in the net.

The only goal scored in the second period was off the stick of Miller, who gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead with his third of the season at 4:44. It was Miller’s first goal in 16 games and was wired through a Trocheck screen, as again the Rangers got bodies to the net.

K'Andre Miller doubles the Rangers' lead! 🎯 pic.twitter.com/piW7vM5gwV

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 24, 2025

That same strategy paid off at 5:15 of the third period, when Chytil bulled to the front of the net to get his stick on a Vaakanainen shot. Chytil’s deflection beat Ersson and his 11th goal put the Rangers up 4-1.

Fox scored a short-handed empty-net goal at 16:53 to make it 5-1. Two of his three goals this season were scored into an empty net. Smith added a power-play goal, tapping a loose puck behind Ersson, at 18:15 to close out the scoring.

The Rangers take a step up in class in their next game, Sunday at home against the Colorado Avalanche, and then close out a very successful month of January when they play the Carolina Hurricanes at MSG on Tuesday.