Golden Knights trade Reilly Smith to the Penguins and re-sign Ivan Barbashev for 5 years

The Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights are already preparing to try to repeat, trading a longtime franchise cornerstone and keeping their best trade deadline pickup.

Vegas on Wednesday traded Reilly Smith to the Pittsburgh Penguins and re-signed fellow forward Ivan Barbashev to a five-year contract worth $25 million. The moves came hours before the start of NHL draft.

Barbashev, a key contributor on the Golden Knights' title run with 18 points in 22 games, was expected to be one of the top players available in free agency. Instead, the 27-year-old Russian power forward will count $5 million against the salary cap through 2028.

That was exactly Smith's cap hit, making this another set of bold moves by Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon, who has shown a willingness to take risks in the name of getting younger and winning championships — and not worrying about sentimentality.

Smith, 32, was one of six original Vegas players left from the team’s inaugural season that included a trip to the final. He was the first player captain Mark Stone handed the Cup after the Golden Knights won it earlier this month.

Vegas recouped the third-round pick it sent to Pittsburgh for forward Teddy Blueger prior to the trade deadline.

The deal is the first big roster splash for new Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas, who is tasked with getting the team back into the playoffs and continuing to contend with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang still around.

Neither team is likely done dealing.

Vegas still needs to finalize a new contract for Cup-winning goaltender Adin Hill and could soon start working on an extension for playoff MVP Jonathan Marchessault, who has a year left on his contract.

Pittsburgh is in the market for a starting goalie, with Tristan Jarry expected to hit free agency.

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