The Nashville Predators have made another move tonight, sending forward Cole Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for a 2028 third round pick and defense prospect Christoffer Sedoff. The trade has been confirmed by both Nashville, as well as Vegas.
A fourth line winger with strong defensive attributes, Vegas inherits Smith’s $1MM cap hit until the end of the season, where he’ll become an unrestricted free agent. The Golden Knights currently rank 11th in the league in penalty killing, not necessarily an issue, but they add a relentless presence who fans may find similar to Keegan Kolesar. Smith will also reunite with former Preds teammate Colton Sissons, the two forming an effective fourth line over the past few seasons.
Always right up against the salary cap, Vegas has had to lean on unheralded forwards such as Cole Reinhardt and Braeden Bowman to round out their lineup. Adding Smith offers them a high character winger with experience, hungry to add to his just five career playoff games to this point.
It was a strange night for the newest Golden Knight, as he played just three seconds against Columbus, clearly with a trade in the works. At one point Smith left the bench, the team giving him stick taps out of respect, only to return and sit for the rest of the game. At one point Insider Frank Seravalli mentioned Tampa Bay as a suitor, but instead it was Vegas who closed the deal.
The 30-year-old Smith’s efforts rarely show up on the score sheet, with 10 points in 41 games this season, and a career high of 23 points set two years ago. He also is not the most swift skater at 6’3″, but the hallmark of the Minnesota native’s game is work ethic. As far as these types of players go, sometimes their possession metrics aren’t so pretty, but Smith offers a respectable 48.8% corsi for at five on five. Such is slightly below average, but he is never expected to drive play at even strength. Capable of dropping the gloves when needed, Smith has reached the 60 penalty minute mark over the past few seasons but is not a vicious, undisciplined player.
Undrafted out of the University of North Dakota, Smith has had an unlikely path to the NHL, and still is a player not widely known across the league. Never recording more than 18 points in a season in college, he caught on with Nashville, even making a short stop in the ECHL in 2020-21. Smith broke out with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals in 2021-22, putting up 42 points, production far above anything seen at North Dakota.
From there, the winger soon became a full time player for the Predators, eventually appearing in 271 games in gold, where he notched 62 points. Beloved by Predators management and teammates alike, Smith, like his former linemate Michael McCarron who was dealt earlier tonight, was likely considered to be kept around for the long haul. Instead, GM Barry Trotz brings in a nice return for a fourth line player who came to the organization as a free agent.
As part of the deal, Nashville acquires 24-year-old Sedoff, taking back a contract. The 6’2″ lefty was undrafted out of the WHL, catching on with Vegas where he’s played the past three seasons with AHL Henderson. This season he has four assists in 38 games, and as a pending restricted free agent, he has limited NHL upside. Sedoff will likely finish the spring with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL.
Now missing two vital pieces from their bottom six, eyes turn to Nashville’s more attractive pieces; headlined by Ryan O’Reilly, but more likely, Michael Bunting and Erik Haula. The team is still in the Wild Card mix but after a tough day for the team’s morale, the team may wave the white flag and look to the future especially considering the strong returns they’ve netted in deals so far. Trotz is loading up on futures, now up to six third round picks between 2027 and 2028. Prospect Reid Schaefer, acquired from Edmonton in the Mattias Ekholm deal, will likely slot in for Smith for the rest of the campaign.
Meanwhile, Smith’s new team takes on Detroit in the Motor City tomorrow, but most likely, he will debut on the Vegas strip Friday night against the Wild, lining up against his former counterpart in McCarron.
Image Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to break the trade.
How did the gold Knights have so much salary cap?
Such a shocker!
Two players now where the Preds have acquired a draft pick at least a round too high for what the player otherwise should have been worth imo
The Perds catching teams in total desperation for their 4th liners.
If a 30 yo non-center with 10 pts (who’s been healthy this year), and doesn’t impose himself physically costs a third, I can’t imagine what St. Louis will say yes to for Thomas
Two firsts and a young quality player. Or any combination of promising prospect and 2nd or 3rds.
I thought it was a Buyer’s market this season. Guess not…
Hard for Vegas to squeeze anything out of their cap situation and they elevated the floor with a quality addition. Reuniting w his buddy, even better.
Trotz is probably like “you really want to give me that much for my 4th liners?”. 😄
He’ll be thinking 4 1sts for Stamkos now.