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Vegas Golden Knights right wing Reilly Smith (19) skates against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the second period of an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena Friday, March 7, 2025. Photo by: Steve Marcus
By Case Keefer (contact)
Thursday, May 29, 2025 | 2 a.m.
The most memorable goal of the Golden Knights’ season turned out to be their last goal of the season.
Forward Reilly Smith pulled one of the most dramatic game-winners ever with .4 seconds left on the clock in Game 3 of Vegas’ second-round playoff series against Edmonton. The Golden Knights went on to get shut out in back-to-back games to be eliminated by the Oilers, but Smith’s miracle shot that bounced in off Leon Draisaitl’s stick won’t soon be forgotten.
“I haven’t had too much time to sit back and think about that,” Smith said a few days later after cleaning out his locker for the offseason at the team’s Summerlin headquarters. “I know my oldest brother texted me and said, ‘You better get that puck,’ so I’ll try to do that.”
That shouldn’t be the last game puck the 34-year-old, 14-season NHL veteran collects as a member of the Golden Knights.
As his career winds down, Smith belongs in Vegas, where he returned at this year’s trade deadline.
He’s one of the Golden Knights’ five upcoming unrestricted free agents set to hit the open market on July 1, along with Victor Olofsson, Brandon Saad, Tanner Pearson and Ilya Samsonov.
“I think there’s a really good case to be made for a lot of those players,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “I think they played well for us.”
Smith is the one who should be prioritized. Few players in franchise history are as meaningful.
He became a fan-favorite staple over the organization’s first six seasons as an “Original Misfit,” alongside close friend and frequent linemate William Karlsson. That peaked in 2023 when Smith, an alternate captain, was the second Golden Knight to hoist the Stanley Cup following a handoff from captain Mark Stone.
Smith wound up the lone salary-cap casualty to the core of the championship team when the Golden Knights shipped him to the Pittsburgh Penguins that offseason for a third-round draft pick.
It looked like a shrewd move in hindsight, as Smith precipitously declined between more than a season and a half spent with the Penguins and New York Rangers, the latter of which shipped him back to Vegas in March.
“I don’t think the last two years have been the trajectory I wanted my game to go,” Smith said. “But coming back here, I feel I was able to get my footing pretty quickly and feel good about my game again.”
Smith played much better back with the Golden Knights, even before the fateful Oilers’ goal that might wind up the most remembered play of his career.
McCrimmon and president of hockey operations George McPhee have never put emotion into their business decisions. Rather, they’ve become known around the league for ruthless decision-making and a willingness to move on from any player if the price isn’t right.
But the approach they famously took in 2021 with the original face of the franchise, Marc-Andre Fleury, and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Marchessault last year don’t apply here. Both those pillars wanted premium, long-term contracts.
Smith is asking for nothing of the sort, and implied multiple times that he’d accept a lesser contract to remain in Vegas where he’s planted roots with his wife and two daughters.
“I think I play a better brand of hockey playing in this system and this culture here,” Smith said. “There are so many different reasons (I want to stay). Walking down the street and hearing people say, ‘Welcome home, Reilly,’ that goes a long way.”
The Golden Knights’ financial books will be tight with several players locked up to long-term contracts, and the specter of a record-breaking extension for superstar forward Jack Eichel looming.
McCrimmon and McPhee must find value depth options, something Smith can provide.
The team could in turn provide Smith the ideal place to reach his personal goal of playing 1,000 career regular-season games. That could technically happen as soon as next season’s 82-game slate, with Smith having logged 919 appearances so far.
“To be able to do it with this jersey on would mean a lot,” Smith said.
This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.
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