Reilly Smith will be held out of tonight's game for trade protection reasons. Yesterday, the New York Rangers traded Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey to the Colorado Avalanche in the first of a few moves that suggest the Rangers are going to subtract their pending unrestricted free agents to recoup assets. Smith looks like the latest to be dealt out the door by Chris Drury and company. We'll see where he ends up, but that seems to be the case.
Rangers holding out Reilly Smith from tonight's game for trade deadline reasons. Pending UFA could be dealt before Friday's deadline.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 2, 2025
He was acquired from Pittsburgh on July 1st last year and has a portion of his salary eaten by the Penguins. This means he cannot be double retained, as a contract can only be retained on twice, and the Rangers might eat a portion of that deal for the remainder of the year to maximize the value they get in return for the Mimico, Ontario native. Smith's contract is affordable, but that could net more.
In his only season with the Rangers, Smith has struck 10 goals and 19 assists for 29 points in 58 games. That makes him a perfect 0.5 point-per-game player, and for just $3.75 million, with the Penguins eating part of that contract, the Rangers have options. Smith does have a modified no-trade clause, but that's to keep him away from bottom-feeders. He should be okay with going to most contenders if they come in for this player.
Teams across the league will be looking at players like Smith. Yesterday, with Colorado and Denver making big trades out west, a team like Vegas or Edmonton could be looking for his services. Florida made a lousy decision yesterday in the East, so perhaps someone like Washington wants to add to their roster to maximize their chances of surviving the Eastern gauntlet. We'll see what happens, but more rumors exist about the New York Rangers.