Color of Hockey: Smith-Pelly's role expanding as Capitals TV analyst

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he profiles retired NHL forward Devante Smith-Pelly, who’ll appear as an analyst on some Washington Capitals pregame, postgame and alternate broadcasts this season.

Devante Smith-Pelly said he feels like a rookie again.

The veteran of eight NHL seasons was standing in a studio area outside Capital One Arena before the Washington Capitals home opener against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 12, waiting his turn to go on air for a pregame segment as a new addition to the team’s broadcast crew this season.

“I'm still learning but the whole crew behind the scenes have been very, very helpful and very patient with me as I transition to this new life,” he said.

The 32-year-old Scarborough, Ontario, native said he’s excited about appearing as an analyst on between 25-30 Capitals pregame, postgame and alternate broadcasts -- akin to ESPN’s “ManningCast” NFL game coverage -- on the team’s Monumental Sports Network (MNMT).

He’s also pumped about the chance to work alongside a play-by-play announcer as an analyst during a game between Penn State and Army’s NCAA Division I men’s hockey teams at Capital One Arena on Dec. 12.

The contest is part of the inaugural Capital Hockey Classic, which will also feature a game between the United States Military Academy West Point and United States Naval Academy club hockey teams.

“I’m looking forward to digging in and scouting, learning about the college game,” Smith-Pelly said. “I never played college hockey, it’s not something I’ve really followed. I’m excited to challenge myself to call a good game and make sure that the intermission and pre and postgame (shows) are good shows.”

Smith-Pelly, who retired from the NHL in 2022, said transitioning from being a player to a broadcaster in the city where he achieved his greatest success is a great way for him to stay connected to hockey.

“Honestly, when I retired, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do,” he said. “I gave broadcasting a try at TSN (in Canada) and after the first show, I was, like, ‘Wow, I actually really enjoyed that.’ I knew I wanted to stick with hockey, but I knew I didn’t want to coach or anything like that.

“Once I did my first show, honestly I fell in love with it,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of research, talked to a lot of people in the field, not just hockey analysts or hosts. I’ve talked to a bunch of people, just trying to get better.”

The exposure and experience in Canada landed Smith-Pelly an invitation to be an analyst on five Capitals radio broadcasts alongside play-by-play announcer John Walton during the team’s West Coast road trip last season.

Smith-Pelly is revered among Capitals fans for his heroics in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when he rose from a bottom-six forward to a key contributor to Washington’s championship.

He scored seven goals in 24 playoff games, matching his total in 75 games that regular season, including one each in Games 3, 4 and 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.

The last goal was by far the biggest, when Smith-Pelly scored on a diving shot on Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury at 9:52 of the third period of Game 5 to tie it 3-3 and set the stage for Lars Eller’s Cup-winning goal 2:31 later.

Selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the second round (No. 42) of the 2010 NHL Draft, Smith-Pelly had 101 points (44 goals, 57 assists) in 395 NHL games with the Ducks, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils and Capitals from 2011-19 and 16 points (13 goals, three assists) in 51 playoff games.

Smith-Pelly was serenaded with loud chants of “DSP! DSP! DSP!” when he was introduced at a Capital One Arena event on Oct. 10 celebrating Washington's 50th anniversary season.

“Kids who grew up playing street hockey, they scored all the goals that 'Devo’ scored in 2018, that was the dream,” Capitals TV play-by-play voice Joe Beninati said. “It was amazing the way whenever you needed a goal in a clutch moment, Devante delivered. And on the biggest stage, in Game 5, the Cup-winning game, he gets the game-tying goal.

"Those are the things that make you legendary in a community for the rest of your time. There’s an instant connection to him now.”

Smith-Pelly will rotate into a deep Capitals broadcast bench that includes Beninati, game analyst Craig Laughlin, reporter Al Koken, host Alexa Landestoy, analysts Alan May and Brent Johnson and former NHL coach Bruce Boudreau.

“We have true sense of team here and he fit in right from the very beginning,” said Frank Crisafulli, vice president of studio production for Monumental Sports Network. “When you’re used to being part of a team competing on the ice, he’s bought into the team concept on television as well.”

Smith-Pelly said participating in the NHL Broadcast Training Camp at the NHL offices in Manhattan on July 17 helped prepare him for the Capitals gig.

The all-day event featured modules geared toward game preparation and study, reporting, studio work, and social media and podcasting, with instruction from TNT lead play-by-play voice Kenny Albert and analysts Eddie Olczyk and Brian Boucher, ESPN studio host and play-by-play voice Steve Levy, and Philadelphia Flyers studio host Ashlyn Sullivan.

“I was one of the only guys who had experience going into it, but even so, I went there and learned a lot,” Smith-Pelly said. “I would definitely suggest players, whether they 100 percent want to do this or they’re not sure what they want to do, to check it out and be a part of that program.”

Crisafulli and Beninati said Smith-Pelly’s progress as a broadcaster is now a matter of getting “reps,” on-air appearances to gain more experience and confidence.

“He improves every time he comes out,” Crisafulli said. “He’s got so much knowledge of the game, so being able to boil that down into what we a call a 30-second sound bite, he’s become really good at that.

“He can make it interesting to Caps fans whose level of hockey might be a lot of different levels. You have casual fans, you have hardcore fans and he’s able to speak and communicate effectively to all of them.”