Smith, 27 (10/28/95), has recorded 11 points (2g-9a) in 42 games for the Predators this season, his first full NHL campaign. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound left wing has three points (2g-1a) in his last four games, during which he scored his first career NHL goal on Jan. 21 vs. Los Angeles. His 112 hits on the season are the second-most of any Nashville forward and are the third-most among all team skaters; he also averages 1:56 of shorthanded ice time and is one of four Predators players to tally a shorthanded point (1a) in 2022-23.
Undrafted, Smith has appeared in 51 career NHL games since making his League debut with Nashville on the opening night of the 2020-21 season. He spent the majority of last season with the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals, where he skated in 59 games and posted 41 points (21g-20a), the fourth-most on his team. It was a 31-point improvement from his rookie AHL campaign (2020-21), when he tallied five goals and five assists in 23 contests for the Chicago Wolves. Signed as a free agent in March 2020 following a four-year career at the University of North Dakota, Smith posted 51 points (24g-27a) in 137 games for the Fighting Hawks, and as a senior in 2019-20, he contributed a career-high 18 points (11g-7a) en route to winning the NCHC's regular-season title. The Brainerd, Minn., native earned multiple team awards while at North Dakota, including the Cliff "Fido" Purpur Award in 2018-19, given to the Fighting Hawks player who exemplifies hard work and determination, and the Most Improved Player Award following his sophomore season.
