Having skated alongside the likes of talented top-six centers such as Patrice Bergeron, Vince Trocheck and William Karlsson throughout his 12-year career, Smith is obviously being facetious.
But his ability to serve as an effective lead forechecker — an F1 to use the parlance of the sport — is very evident. It’s been is a major component of why he has carved out a dozen seasons in the NHL.
“As a winger, probably the two most important things you do are the wall battles, getting the puck out of your zone,” Smith said. “And trying to retrieve it out of the offensive zone.”
That approach is why the Penguins acquired him via trade with the Vegas Golden Knights on June 28 as a replacement for Jason Zucker, who departed as an unrestricted free agent three days later.
Zucker largely served as the F1 of the Penguins’ second line, typically centered by Evgeni Malkin. Smith will be expected to do the same.
“He’s a world-class player,” Smith said of Malkin. “He sees the ice so well. He creates so many options by creating space for himself and his teammates. I’m just trying to do my best to complement him right now and to try to create some chemistry. Obviously, lines juggle a million times throughout the year, but it’s nice if you can create something fast and get off to a good start and creating chemistry can go a long way.”
Smith (6-foot-1, 185 pounds), isn’t just a physical entity along the boards. He also has plenty of scoring touch. Last season, he was the Golden Knights’ fourth-
Reilly Smith isn’t quite sure when forechecking became one of his calling cards.
But he has an idea as to why it did.
“I guess I just played with a lot of lazy linemates,” the new Pittsburgh Penguins left winger deadpanned.
scorer with 56 points (26 goals, 30 assists) in 78 games while averaging 16:58 of ice time per contest. Oh, by the way, he also scored the goal that clinched the Golden Knights their first Stanley Cup title in franchise history.
“If you’re able to win the Stanley Cup, it’s an honor and what we all dreamed of, playing knee hockey in our basements and playing with our siblings,” said Smith, who was an original member of the Golden Knights franchise when it debuted as an expansion franchise in 2017. “Obviously, I was in (Las) Vegas for a long time and there was a lot of great moments there. This is the next chapter. Me and my family, we’re super excited. This team is built to win a Stanley Cup, from the top down, from management to all the way down to every forward and defenseman and goalie. We’re excited about the opportunity and the sky is the limit.”
Smith’s importance to the Malkin line is congruent with how the Penguins have typically been structured, particularly during Mike Sullivan’s tenure as head coach. One of their two franchise centers — Malkin or Sidney Crosby — has been supplemented by an effective F1 such as Zucker, Bryan Rust, Carl Hagelin or Chris Kunitz.
Smith is expected to maintain that lineage.
“It’s an important aspect of establishing the game we want to play,” Sullivan said. “We want to be a team that controls territory, we want to be a team that plays on top of (opponents). And speed is an important part of it. Getting in on the forecheck and putting our opponents under duress usually helps us establish the game that we want to play. We’ve always tried to put someone on (Crosby’s or Malkin’s) line that (brings) that element, that helps them establish the game that we’re trying to play.
“That’s an important aspect of our team identity.”
Being an effective F1 isn’t just a matter of skating aggressively at an opposing defenseman retrieving a puck on the end boards in hopes of slamming into him like a meteor. There is a level of strategy involved as well.
“Getting there fast, that’s the first thing,” Smith said. “Try not to guess too much because if F1 is guessing then it puts F2 and F3 in a tough position. Just be readable and get there fast.”
Leaving Las Vegas wasn’t something Smith, 32, expected. But the Golden Knights were facing a salary cap crunch and made a hard decision to part ways with the left-hander who is entering the second year of a three-year contract with a salary cap hit of $5 million.
“It was a summer full of highs for me and my family,” said Smith, who enjoyed his day with the Stanley Cup on Aug. 16. “To be here with this group pushing for a Stanley Cup (title), it’s one of the things that you dream of.
“It’s pretty tough to win back-to-back (championships). Hopefully, this puts me in a better opportunity to chase another one.”
