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LAS VEGAS — There was a lot of nostalgia that naturally came with Reilly Smith’s first time playing at T-Mobile Arena since winning his first Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights two seasons ago.
In reflecting on his six years in Vegas, however, the 33-year-old forward considers so much more than his championship ring: his expansion draft-day trade from the Panthers; the feeling in the Golden Knights’ locker room at the start; the journey he and his teammates went on to become the first team to deliver Lord Stanley to the Strip in Sin City.
“I thought my career was over,” Smith told The Post of his initial thoughts coming to Vegas, after the Rangers’ morning skate Saturday. “It was kind of, at that time, it didn’t seem like a good opportunity. It almost seemed like a demotion. How it turned out was completely different than that. And it couldn’t have been better for my career, my family and everything. I owe a lot to this organization here. It really changed my hockey career and my life.
“Being part of that expansion draft was a blessing in disguise. But I think the coolest part of it was just a lot of people who were thrown off and cast away from their own team came together, and we were all just on an even slate coming into the season, and we all just wanted to enjoy it and make the most of the opportunity.”
Smith described a nervousness to start the NHL era in Vegas, but the players in the room had a lot in common with how they felt about their departures from their previous teams.
Players felt cast aside and wanted to be better for it, Smith said, noting that they used it as fuel and became a very tight-knit group because of it.
On the backs of players who felt they had something to prove, the Golden Knights ultimately made it to the Cup Final in their inaugural 2017-18 season, when they lost to the Capitals in five games.
Smith was certainly one of them; it can be heard in his voice when he talks about it.
“I remember winning our first game, and we were just excited that we didn’t go 0-82,” he said with a chuckle. “So that was kind of just how the energy of the team built through that year. Like, we didn’t have a lot of expectations, but every day it grew and grew and grew, and it was more all the time. I think that’s what made that team so successful that first year.”
Putting daughter Isla, then 8 months old and now 2 ½, inside the Cup was something he said he’ll remember for the rest of his life.
Though what his time in Vegas did for his hockey career also appears to be unforgettable.
After he was traded to Pittsburgh ahead of the 2023-24 season, Smith was flipped to New York on July 1 and will have played in 40 of 41 games after Saturday night, the other game being a healthy scratch designation on Nov. 30.
Smith’s game fit right into the Rangers’ underachieving lineup through the first couple of months of the season, until the healthy scratch.
In the 18 games since then, entering Saturday’s matchup with the Golden Knights, Smith had posted five goals and three assists to go along with a plus-2 rating.
He’s played with intention and speed, and he showed off the impressive way he thinks through the game, which is one of his top assets.
It feels like his game hit another gear, but Smith would not credit the benching for the uptick.
“I’m not a believer that I took any positives out of it, to be honest,” Smith said. “I know my game, I know when it’s going well and I know when it’s not going well. When something like that happens, it’s tough for me personally. I don’t really have anything to say where, ‘Oh, that happened, and now I’m a better player for it.’ I don’t believe that. But I think since the Christmas break, I’ve been playing better. I think our team is playing better. I just want to continue that trend.
“I’m my biggest critic. Like I said, I know when I’m playing well, and I know when I’m not playing well. I know when I’m gripping my stick too tight, and I know when things are just very smooth. I don’t know how anyone wants to interpret it or take any spin on it.
“I know the reality and that’s how I approach every part of my game. If something isn’t working, I’m the one that’s going to make the change, no one else is going to.”
