"We will miss you": Mika Zibanejad's wife Irma pens heartfelt message for Reilly Smith and family after Golden Knights acquire veteran

Modified Mar 08, 2025 04:10 GMT

On Friday, New York Rangers alternate captain Mika Zibanejad’s wife, Irma Helin, shared a sweet message after veteran Reilly Smith was traded back to the Vegas Golden Knights from the Rangers. Smith previously played for Vegas from 2017 to 2023 and was part of their Stanley Cup-winning team.

Irma Helin shared a post from the NHL’s official Instagram account on her Instagram stories featuring a carousel of pictures from Smith’s Stanley Cup winning journey with the Golden Knights.

“Reilly Smith is back with the @vegasgoldenknights and looking to win a second #StanleyCup! ⚔️”, read the caption of the original post.

In the caption of her story, Irma wished the Smiths luck and said that they would miss him and his family.

“Best of luck to one of the sweetest families out there! We will miss you,” she wrote.

The Golden Knights acquired Smith in exchange for Brendan Brisson and a 2025 third-round pick. He had notched 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 58 games with the Rangers before returning to Vegas.

Reilly Smith had to double-check the news of the trade with his agent

Reilly Smith was just as surprised as the fans when he heard he was traded back to Vegas. Before reaching out to anyone, Smith revealed that he confirmed the news with his agent to make sure it was real.

“I didn’t want to start sending out a bunch of texts and phone calls and then have everything come back on me,” Smith said with a chuckle. [H/T AP]

Smith claimed that having many of his former teammates still with the Golden Knights made the transition easier.

“When you get traded, there’s always so much new change, not just the stuff on the ice, but everything around it,” Smith said. “So to be able to come back here and have so much familiarity, it definitely feels like coming home a little bit.”

“I tried to play cool for a little bit and let the dust settle. But really excited to be back in this group, obviously friends for life here, and it seemed like everyone was pretty excited as I was able to talk to them,” he added.

He also mentioned how special his time with the team had been and how much he and his family appreciated the way the city embraced them from the beginning.

Wayne Gretzky’s wife Janet responds to critics questioning his loyalty to Canada, Bobby Orr's support following 4 Nations drama