When Chris Drury traded for Reilly Smith last offseason, it was met with mostly negative reactions, wondering why Drury gave up a 2nd round pick for a declining winger. Brought in as a complementary winger, Smith mostly did his job while with the Rangers. He wasn’t spectacular, he wasn’t awful. He simply chugged along doing his thing. Expectations were minimal given his role, but as our Reilly Smith report card grade will show, he did everything quite well.
Smith came to the Rangers for a 2026 2nd round pick and a 2025 5th round pick. Projected to be the 2RW alongside Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, Smith’s acquisition was questioned initially. He eclipsed 20 goals and 50 points just once in the prior four seasons and wasn’t really seen as a good offensive fit on that wing. But he wasn’t acquired to be the big scorer on the line. He was acquired to be a “jack-of-all-trades” winger that could help drive possession and play a steady two-way game.
Smith did just that while also chipping in on offense as well. His 10-19-29 line in 58 games doesn’t jump off the page, but it was almost entirely at 5v5, getting just 56 minutes of powerplay time in those 58 games (1-3-4 line on the powerplay). The offense was fine, and it’s a tough sell to anyone that Smith didn’t meet his expectations with his play away from the puck. He was quiet, did his job, and he was quite good at it.
Smith was, if anything, a low key solid Ranger who belonged in the top-six. Among Rangers forwards with at least 500 minutes TOI last season, Smith ranked 8th in points/60 at 1.59, 9th in goals/60 at 0.5, 5th in assists/60 at 1.09, and 4th in primary assists/60 at 0.67. His per-60 offensive stats at 5v5 were on part with Vincent Trocheck, for what it’s worth. He was also a solid presence on the penalty kill.
Reilly Smith came in with almost no expectations and quietly just did his job. On a team filled with drama and headlines, Smith was a welcomed presence on the team. At least to the fans, he was. There wasn’t much to complain about regarding Smith’s game. If anything, the only complaints are with his acquisition cost (2nd round pick) and using the trade return (3rd round pick) from Vegas at the deadline on Carson Soucy.
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