Head coach Peter Laviolette acknowledged Riley Smith was a healthy scratch in the Rangers' 4-3 win over the Canadiens on Saturday.
Smith, on his third team in the past three seasons, is certainly not solely responsible for the club's middling start to 2024-25, but the veteran forward is more of a passenger than a contributor. It was.
Smith was demoted to the press box for the first time in his time with the Rangers after a nine-game stretch of sluggish scoring.
The Blueshirts acquired Smith from the Penguins for a conditional fifth-round pick in 2025 and a second-round pick in 2027. Smith will be retained by the Rangers for 25 percent of the 33-year-old's $5 million cap hit. 3.75 million dollars.
The conditions for the fifth-round pick would be the worst between the Rangers and the Wild, who the Blueshirts acquired in November 2022 in the Ryan Reeves deal.
In 22 games before being scratched Saturday, Smith had three goals and nine assists.
With his two-assist performance on Saturday, Adam Fox reached 20 helpers this season. He has the second-most assists among NHL defensemen, tied with the Jets' Josh Morrissey.
However, among the top 35 defensemen in scoring, Fox is the only one without a single goal.
On Saturday, Artemi Panarin recorded a goal and an assist in his team-leading eighth multi-point game of the season, and the Russian star wing passed Yvan Cournoyer (223 points) to become the first undrafted player since the NHL Draft was introduced. He recorded the 10th highest performance as a player. 1963.
Panarin's 28 total points lead the Rangers, with just six scoreless innings in 23 games this season.
The Rangers take Sunday night off and return Monday night against the Devils at Madison Square Garden. This will be the second meeting in a five-game homestand, the longest of the season.
