A top team in the Western Conference showed a ton of interest in a key trade piece from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
PITTSBURGH – Aside from Jake Guentzel, the Pittsburgh Penguins had another forward who caught a lot of attention at the trade deadline. It was indicated that Reilly Smith had more teams interested in him than Guentzel, but the trigger was never pulled on a move.
Leading up to the deadline, Rumors sprouted that the Penguins could send Smith back to one of his former teams. The Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers had interest, but a third team emerged as a real option. According to Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast, the Los Angeles Kings expressed some desire in Smith but didn’t have the salary cap space to pull off a move.
When discussing some of the teams across the league that had interest in forward Tyler Toffoli, Friedman dropped in the note on Smith and the Kings.
“There was a lot of competition for Toffoli,” Friedman said. “There were a lot of rumors about LA… LA was also interested in Reilly Smith; they just didn’t have any room to do anything.”
The Kings sit comfortably in the playoff spot and are one of the most improved teams in the NHL. With next to no salary cap space to work with, plus Adrien Kempe returning from injury sooner than expected, the Kings didn’t have room to add at the deadline.
Penguins president and general manager Kyle Dubas said he expects to keep working on improving the team over the summer. Smith could still be shipped out of Pittsburgh, and the Kings will be a team to watch.
The Kings are a good team this year but likely won’t be strong enough to emerge from a stacked Western Conference. Next year could really be their time to shine, and if a switch back to the West helps Smith, he could be a huge asset to something special in the City of Angels.
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