Golden Knights’ Reilly Smith excited to stay in Las Vegas

Reilly Smith didn’t buy, he rented when he first got to Las Vegas.

The expansion-draft acquisition by the Golden Knights had just been traded six months after buying a house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and didn’t want to create any “bad ju-ju” by putting down deep roots in his new city.

It’s safe to say now he’s past that fear.

Smith has become ingrained in the community during his five seasons with the Knights and will get a chance to tighten those bonds further after signing a three-year, $15 million extension Wednesday.

“I feel like I’ve put my heart and soul into this organization,” Smith said. “Very fortunate that they noticed that and they’ve given me the opportunity to come back and chase the goal that we started five years ago.”

Smith said his “No. 1 goal” was to stay with the Knights as an unrestricted free agent this offseason. The team wanted the longtime alternate captain and two-way standout back as well. General manager Kelly McCrimmon said Smith “represents everything that we stand for.”

“I think he’s found his home here in Vegas,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Glad to see he’s back.”

The only complicating factor was the Knights’ salary-cap situation and the negotiating process itself. Smith’s agent Kent Hughes was named the Montreal Canadiens general manager Jan. 18, so Smith primarily represented himself in contract discussions.

The Knights cleared enough cap space to fit him back into the fold by trading right wing Evgenii Dadonov, left wing Max Pacioretty and defenseman Dylan Coghlan this summer.

“Definitely a different scenario for me,” said Smith, who said he didn’t put much thought into talking to other teams. “But I think as you further your career you understand where you want to play and what your worth is. For me it was pretty simple. I knew I wanted to play here.”

Goalie updates

McCrimmon said Thursday the “timeline will be tight” for goaltenders Robin Lehner and Laurent Brossoit to be ready for training camp.

Lehner (shoulder) and Brossoit (hip) each had offseason surgeries and were unavailable for the Knights’ final games. McCrimmon said Lehner is expected to come to Las Vegas by the end of July to finish his rehab, and the team will have a better idea of his progress once that happens. McCrimmon said Brossoit was “nip and tuck” to make the opening-night roster.

“We’re going to be into training camp and that time frame before you really have any certainty there,” McCrimmon said.

The Knights signed veteran goaltender Michael Hutchinson to a one-year, two-way contract Wednesday to add depth in net. Hutchinson, 32, is 55-55-15 with a .905 save percentage and 2.79 goals-against average in 137 NHL games.

Other injury news

— McCrimmon said center Nolan Patrick has made “no significant progress” after being labeled out indefinitely May 3. Patrick has dealt with a long list of injuries in his career, including a migraine disorder/concussion that caused him to miss the 2019-20 season.

“Right now focusing on the hockey, it’s putting the cart ahead of the horse,” McCrimmon said. “Just some stability with the day to day is what we’re shooting for first and we’ll see what happens after that.”

— Center Brett Howden, signed to a one-year deal Wednesday, is healthy and will be available for training camp. Howden’s season ended with a scary crash along the boards March 24 against Nashville, but McCrimmon said he would’ve been available a few weeks into the playoffs had the Knights made it.

— Defenseman Daniil Miromanov had an offseason surgery and won’t be available for training camp. He had one assist in 11 games last season.

Roster moves

— The Knights signed forwards Sakari Manninen and Spencer Foo to one-year contracts worth $750,000 for organizational depth Thursday.

Manninen, 30, earned two gold medals last season with Finland at the Olympics and World Championship. The 5-foot-8 forward has 163 points in 211 games in four seasons in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League. Foo, 28, has 76 points in 154 games the last three seasons in the KHL.

— The Silver Knights signed forward Gage Quinney and defenseman Jake Bischoff to one-year American Hockey League contracts.

Quinney, 26, had 23 points in 38 games with Henderson last season. Bischoff, 27, missed last year with an upper-body injury. Quinney, a Las Vegas native, has appeared in three NHL games with the Golden Knights and Bischoff has played four.

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.