Reilly Smith Faces Crucial Test With Role Diminishing

Tonight will be a big test for Reilly Smith.

Peter Laviolette decided to place Smith as a healthy scratch for the first time this season during the New York Rangers’ Saturday afternoon game against the Montreal Canadiens.

For a player that the Rangers went out of their way to acquire this summer in exchange for a 2027 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick, benching him this early on in the season is not a situation the team necessarily wanted to be in.

Through 22 games, the 33-year-old has recorded three goals, nine assists and 12 points while averaging 15:28 minutes per game. While these stats don’t look all that bad at first glance, it’s been clear when watching Smith that he could certainly play at a higher level.

Smith’s role has slowly diminished over the course of this season. Laviolette has made it clear that Smith’s spot in the lineup is not solidified and during Monday’s practice, Will Cuylle officially took Smith’s spot on the second power play unit.

However, Laviolette confirmed that Smith will play on Monday night against the Devils as he’ll have a crucial opportunity to prove his worth.

“There are conversations with everybody, 14 players, 12 forwards,” Laviolette said about conversations he’s had with Smith. “Through a five game stretch of not playing well, everybody can play better, so I have decisions I have to make, which I’ll have to make tonight as well. He's back in tonight. Expect him to come back in and be a really good player.”

He’ll likely be back on a line with Chris Kreider and Mika Zabanejad tonight, two players he’s become accustomed to playing alongside.

The Rangers traded for Smith thinking he would be a solid top-six forward for the team and he still has time to show that, but that individual improvement needs to come sooner rather than later.