The New York Rangers are reportedly trading for winger Reilly Smith from the Pittsburgh Penguins, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
The Rangers are giving a second-round pick and a fifth-round pick to the Penguins for Reilly Smith, according to Shayna Goldman of The Athletic. This fills a hole at right wing for the Rangers, and the Penguins get rid of Smith's expiring contract, in which he is scheduled to get $5 million for the upcoming season. However, the Penguins are retaining 25 percent of Smith's cap hit this season, leaving the Rangers with a cap hit of $3.75 million.
The Penguins transitioned to a bit of a more long-term build last season after trading Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes, and this trade of Smith to the Rangers is a signal of that as well. The Rangers' second-round pick is from 2027, as they did not have their own pick in that round until that year, according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post. Still, Kyle Dubas is emphasizing the long-term for the Penguins, while trying to keep the team competitive in the short-term with Sidney Crosby still playing at a high level. It will be worth monitoring the moves Kyle Dubas makes after offloading a portion of Smith's salary.
For the Rangers, this is a short-term addition that will be off the books after next season, which might be worth it in comparison to some of the long-term contracts that wingers were given at the start of free agency on Monday. With Kaapo Kakko being included in trade rumors, it makes even more sense for Chris Drury to execute this trade for Smith.
Smith might not be the ideal fit on the line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, but he could play that spot in a pinch. It would make a lot of sense for him to play on the third line, however. The cap retention from Pittsburgh gives Drury more flexibility to make other moves and strengthen the lineup in other spots, especially if the rumored Jacob Trouba deal with the Detroit Red Wings goes through. It will be interesting to see if the Rangers have another move up their sleeve in the coming days.
Who could the Rangers add after trading for Reilly Smith?
The Rangers theoretically could still use another right winger, especially if Kaapo Kakko is traded, which seems more likely as Smith is a similar type of player. Players who are rumored to be on the trade block are Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks and Nikolaj Ehlers of the Winnipeg Jets, however it is unknown when those players will be traded. Chris Drury theoretically could keep the forward group as is and use the available cap space to make an addition at the deadline.
Drury still does have to figure out the defensive core, especially if Jacob Trouba is on the way out, which seems likely at this point. The Rangers have to decide what to do with Ryan Lindgren, who is a restricted free agent, and likely need a bottom pairing defenseman as well.