4 Nations Face-Off Roster Regrets American left winger C.J. Smith, 30, has been offered a try-out contract by Adler Mannheim, the DEL club announced on Monday [https://adler-mannheim.de/aktuelles/2025/01/adler-statten-smith-mit-tryout-vertrag-aus]. Smith was held pointless in nine KHL games with Barys Astana at the start of the season but was injured on Sept. 26 and hasn’t played since. “Connor (C.J.) has joined our team on a trial basis after recovering from an injury from the early stages of the season,” said Mannheim GM and coach Dallas Eakins. “C.J. brings experience and is a good offensive player. We will make a final decision about him before the national team break.” The next national team break is in the second week of February. A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Smith played college hockey for the UMass-Lowell River Hawks. Never drafted, he signed as a free agent with the Buffalo Sabres in the spring of 2017. Between 2017 and 2021, Smith played 14 games for the Sabres, scoring two goals and adding an assist. He spent the rest of the time with the AHL’s Rochester Americans. Smith spent the 2021-22 season in the Carolina Hurricanes system, playing one more NHL game, and then played another AHL season in 2022-23 while under contract with the New York Rangers. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewYklQIJzlA[/embed] Smith’s first season in Europe was 2023-24 with JYP Jyväskylä of the Finnish Liiga, during which he recorded 20 points in 33 games. Mannheim currently sits fourth in the DEL standings with 67 points in 38 games. The team’s roster includes several ex-NHLers, such as Tom Kühnhackl, Jyrki Jokipakka, Markus Hännikäinen and Kristian Reichel [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/kristian-reichel-leaves-winnipeg-for-adler-mannheim].
