The Curious Case of Reilly Smith
2018-11-14Reilly Smith had a suspicion that something serious was afoot when his phone rang at 4:30pm on Tuesday. He wasn't sure why. It was just a feeling.
"I've been dealt a few times this past year. Usually you aren't getting phone calls from the office before training camp. Once I saw the number, I kind of figured something was up."
The surprise wasn't that he had been traded. It was the team who would be acquiring him.
The Chicago Blackhawks helped orchestrate what essentially became a three-team deal earlier this week, bringing Smith back into the fold just months after moving him to Dallas in a mid-season trade.
Basically, the New York Rangers dealt star defenseman Roman Josi to the Stars, while Dallas sent Smith and Nikita Zaitsev to Chicago. The Blackhawks then shipped Tyler Johnson and Brett Pesce to the Rangers. Other assets were also included, including Juuso Valimaki, Adam Lowry, and Sean Malone.
Hudson Fasching, who was dealt to the Rangers by Chicago just eight days prior, was returned to the Hawks while Dominik Masin headed back to the Big Apple (Masin was dealt to Chicago as part of the Jonathan Marchessault deal in July).
It was a fascinating reshuffle for all three clubs on the eve of the opening of preseason. For the Blackhawks, the odd homecoming was something desired all offseason, but thought to be unlikely.
"When we started this offseason we had three distinct goals in mind," stated Hawks GM Thomas Gidlow. "The first was we wanted to get more guys in here long term while remaining competitive every year. The second was shoring up our defense and goaltending long term. The third was increasing the quality of our younger assets on the farm and in our prospect cupboards."
"We feel like we've accomplished all three of these goals, although it took a little longer than we hoped."
"We had Reilly Smith as someone on the wish list to bring back ever since we dealt him last season," continued Gidlow. "At the time we wanted to improve our club for the playoff run. While it didn't work out as we hoped, we knew we'd like to revisit things with Dallas and see if something could be worked out."
"It just so happened that the Rangers were the conduit for it to come together to make sense for us and for Dallas."
The Blackhawks now boast one of the most potent top 9 forward groups in the EHE. They did it without sacrificing their defense, as Zaitsev should have no issues filling Pesce's role as a 5-6 defenseman. They also managed to do it without exceeding the salary cap: Chicago will have about $700,000 in projected salary room once the regular season begins.
The expected lines for Chicago once preseason concludes:
Andrew Cogliano - Jonathan Toews - Cam Atkinson
Erik Haula - Jordan Staal - Reilly Smith
Jimmy Vesey - Nick Bjugstad - Tomas Tatar
Marcus Foligno - Vlad Sobotka - Tyler Pitlick
Matt Niskanen - Marc Staal
Jake Muzzin - Derek Forbort
Justin Schultz - Nikita Zaitsev
In the ultra competitive Central Division, the Hawks will need any edge they can get. Will this be the team that can break through?
We're about to find out.