Smith-Pelly last suited up for the Ontario Reign, the Los Angeles Kings' AHL team, during the 2020-21 season.
The 29-year-old forward won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Washington Capitals in 2018. He put up seven goals and one helper in 24 contests while averaging 12 minutes of ice time per game.
Smith-Pelly last played in the NHL in 2018-2019 with the Capitals, recording four goals and four assists in 54 games.
The Ontario native has previously spent time in the Canadiens organization between 2014-2016. He scored 15 points in 66 games across parts of two campaigns as a Hab.
Smith-Pelly, the Anaheim Ducks' 42nd overall selection in the 2010 draft, has 44 goals and 57 assists in 395 career NHL contests.
Throughout a busy 2021 schedule, athletes treated fans to remarkable and awe-inspiring performances. With the year winding down, theScore looked back at an exciting 12 months and voted on its top 21 sportspeople.
Here's the second installment, highlighting Nos. 16-12.
16. Alexia Putellas, Barcelona
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As the crown jewel of Barcelona's imperious women's team, Putellas completed a clean sweep of soccer's biggest individual awards in 2021. She was named UEFA's women's midfielder of the year and player of the year, and she ran away with the votes for the women's Ballon d'Or, beating teammate Jennifer Hermoso by more than 100 ballots. Putellas quarterbacked Barcelona's success in Spain's Primera Division and the Champions League, leading her team to titles in both competitions with 27 goals and 19 assists. In September, the 27-year-old scored a hat-trick in a scarcely believable four minutes.
15. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning
Mark LoMoglio / National Hockey League / Getty
It's tough for a goaltender to have a better year than Vasilevskiy did in 2021. The Russian led the Lightning to their second straight Stanley Cup, taking home the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He posted a .937 save percentage in 23 postseason contests and, amazingly, recorded a shutout in all four series-clinching games. Vasilevskiy set an NHL record for wins in one calendar year with 62. The 27-year-old also finished second in Vezina Trophy voting in 2020-21 as the league's top netminder and is among the favorites to win it this season.
14. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
Rob Carr / Getty Images Sport / Getty
In 2021, this "Jeopardy!"guest host became the sixth NFL player to win a third MVP award. He later threw his 443rd career touchdown, taking the Packers record from Hall of Famer Brett Favre. He tossed 42 regular-season and playoff touchdowns to only five interceptions over the calendar year, further cementing himself as the most efficient touchdown thrower of all time. Who is Aaron Rodgers?
13. Ashleigh Barty, WTA
Simon M Bruty / Getty Images Sport / Getty
2020 was a lost year for Ash Barty. The defending French Open champion took a hiatus following the pandemic-imposed cancelation of Indian Wells. Speculation regarding Barty's form then ran rampant when she returned for 2021. Despite a disappointing exit at the Australian Open, the world No.1 left no doubt as to how good a tennis player she is. Barty paid homage to Aussie legend Evonne Goolagong at Wimbledon with her Fila kit, going on to win the tournament exactly 50 years after her idol did for the first time. The 25-year-old won five titles, including big ones in Miami and Cincinnati, while topping the tour's prize money list and winning WTA player of the year.
12. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
Dustin Bradford / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Jokic became the first NBA center since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000 and the sixth international player ever to win the MVP award. The Nuggets star posted career highs in points (26.4 per game), rebounds (10.8), and assists (8.3) in 2020-21, joining Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook as the only players in league history to average at least 26 points, 10 boards, and eight dimes over a single season. He also finished second in the Association in triple-doubles (16) and third in assists (599). In a campaign marred by injuries across the league following the shortest offseason in its history, Jokic appeared in all 72 regular-season contests.
The Predators had one of the league's biggest outbreaks prior to the season pause on Dec. 22. Head coach John Hynes and multiple members of his coaching staff were also in protocol but have since been cleared, according to The Athletic's Adam Vingan.
Nashville, which is riding a seven-game winning streak, is slated to take on the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
Whether it's a big payout, a moment of euphoria, or sweet vindication, certain wins feel exponentially better than others. They're the bets that have you punching the air at midnight in your living room and running victory laps on Twitter.
The following are our favorite bets of 2021 - the ones that mask the many losses, pad our bankrolls, and have us looking back fondly at the last 12 months.
Abilene Christian +8.5, ML +375 (vs. Texas)
Jamie Schwaberow / NCAA Photos / Getty
The NCAA Tournament is my favorite sporting event. That is, until a great future bet gets beat or my bracket gets busted. Until then, if you can score a nice win with a little-known underdog over a Goliath school that's easy to dislike, it truly does hit different. And if you can cash a few units while witnessing the greatest moment in a kid's life, even better.
Joe Pleasant, a 59% free-throw shooter, hit both from the line with 1.2 seconds left to give Abilene Christian a first-round victory over in-state powerhouse Texas. Maybe it was his last name or the end of a long two days betting an event we'd gone two years without, but it felt like destiny, and I'll always remember this bet.
- Matt Russell
Corbin Burnes to win NL Cy Young (+4000)
Justin Casterline / Getty Images Sport / Getty
With respect to my MVP bet on Shohei Ohtani - which was easily the most sweat-free 50-1 ticket I've ever cashed - nothing was more thrilling than hitting this long-shot bet on Corbin Burnes, who emerged victorious in one of the closest Cy Young races in MLB history.
So many things had to go right for Burnes to win this bet. First, Jacob deGrom had to miss the final half of the season after one of the best starts to a campaign we've ever seen. Then, Max Scherzer had to fall apart over his final two starts after wrestling away the lead from Burnes in the final weeks of the season. Oh, and Burnes had to navigate MLB's draconian crackdown on illegal substances that plagued so many flamethrowers throughout the year.
It all broke right for the Brewers star, who finished the year with the second-lowest FIP (1.63) by any pitcher in the last 75 years and finally capitalized on the immense potential he's teased for two seasons. Good luck buying him as a 40-1 long shot ever again.
- C Jackson Cowart
Devin White to record an INT in the Super Bowl (+1900)
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
This year's Super Bowl was not my finest hour. I had talked up the Buccaneers before the season but never actually placed a futures bet on them, so I watched in agony as one of my preseason darlings blew out the defending champions and torched all of my prop bets in the process.
Well, almost all of them. I had resigned myself to a losing day, going as far as chasing Gatorade props on a faulty tip that this year's color would be clear (it was blue). Then, out of nowhere, Devin White batted an ill-advised toss from Patrick Mahomes at the goal line and came down with just the third interception of his career - hence the long odds - to clinch it for Tampa Bay.
It was nearly enough for White to win MVP (50-1), which was one of my favorite bets coming into that game, but he was robbed in favor of yet another trophy for the GOAT. Alas, I won't complain too much about cashing this one, which nearly tipped the scales of my Super Bowl ledger all on its own. If only I hadn't bet on the Gatorade...
- Cowart
Montreal Canadiens to win the North (+700)
Kevin Sousa / National Hockey League / Getty
Some bets aren't even about the money. I was high on the Canadiens coming into the 2021 season, and early returns were promising. However, after a COVID-19 pause resulted in a condensed schedule that derailed the second half of their season, the bandwagon had emptied ahead of the playoffs. I was riding solo.
Being a born-and-bred Habs fan living in Toronto, surrounded by friends who are Maple Leafs fans, the rivalry is especially meaningful for me. I am ridiculed endlessly, and the thought of the Leafs beating Montreal to end their long drought without a series win kept me up at night. But I believed. I warned everyone, saying, "This team is finally healthy and rested. Don't count them out." They laughed.
Turns out, they were the fools for once again believing in a Leafs team that only lets you down. The overtime winners by Nick Suzuki in Game 5 and Jesperi Kotkaniemi in Game 6 will live long in my memory. But Brendan Gallagher's Game 7 goal - and Corey Perry's subsequent game-winner - provided me levels of happiness I didn't even know I was capable of.
The Habs would sweep the Jets in Round 2, providing me with a tidy payout that I used to buy "Champions of the North" shirts for my entire Canadiens-loving family. I still wear the shirt regularly during work meetings to serve as a constant reminder of this series to the many Leafs fans here at theScore. Watching another promising Toronto season go up in flames, and for it to come at the hands of Montreal no less, is something I will remember for the rest of my life.
- Alex Moretto
Trey Lance to be drafted No. 3 overall (+375)
Gregory Shamus / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Betting on the NFL draft has become a cottage industry unto itself. There's a different feel to a middle-aged man walking to a podium and telling you whether or not you won a bet.
While I had nice wins with Kyle Pitts and Jaycee Horn in the 2021 NFL Draft, Trey Lance getting picked third was a particularly fun moment after the six weeks of buildup, subterfuge, and debate that came before the 49ers made their pick.
With as much information and logic as possible given the circumstances, being able to bet a +375 underdog on the premise that Kyle Shanahan lives for lying to media cronies, and having it cash with the first dramatic announcement of the night, was particularly enjoyable.
This may seem an obscure favorite bet - and it is - but the winners that stick with us are often fueled by circumstance. Week 0 of the NCAA football season fell on the same weekend as my bachelor party, and I was spending it in Niagara Falls with my buddies, looking to get a bit reckless.
I had UTEP circled as my favorite play of the week, and the timing was rather perfect as the game was scheduled for 10 p.m. ET when we would be in the depths of our casino visit. Fueled by some - read: lots of - liquid courage, I made an unnecessarily large bet on the Miners and continued to add to it throughout the night, right up until kickoff. I had so much riding on them that I didn't even want to add it all up.
As we commandeered the roulette table, I decided I'd only check the score after every three spins - no more, no less. As bettors, we are nothing without our superstitions. UTEP went up 7-0 in under five minutes, and then 10-0 just a few plays later after New Mexico State fumbled the ensuing kickoff. It was never in doubt. The Miners led 17-0 after the first quarter and won 30-3. It was a great night at Fallsview, capped off by what is still by far my biggest bet of this college football season. As for the money? I used it to pay our wedding photographer.
He was hurt during the Kraken's 5-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 18.
Details on the 29-year-old's surgery and recovery will be provided at a later date.
Tanev got off to a hot start with Seattle, notching six goals in his first eight contests. Though his production cooled, he currently has the third-most goals on the team with nine, trailing only Jared McCann and Jordan Eberle.
A fan favorite in Seattle, Tanev scored two goals in the Kraken's first franchise win on Oct. 14 against the Nashville Predators, then potted another pair against the Montreal Canadiens in the team's first home victory later that month.
He will end the 2021-22 campaign with 15 points in 30 games.
Tanev was the Kraken's pick from the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2021 expansion draft.
Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand isn't pleased with the NHL's decision to opt out of the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
"I think guys have worked their entire lives to put themselves in a position to compete at that level and that opportunity. It should be guys' decisions whether they choose to go or not, regardless of what's happening in the world," he said, per Conor Ryan of the Boston Sports Journal. "The Olympics are on and they're playing and the best players in the world should have that option."
Marchand has never suited up for Canada in the Olympics. If NHL players are allowed at the next Winter Games in 2026, he will be 37 years old.
The NHL committed to allowing players to go to the Olympics as part of the new collective bargaining agreement signed in summer 2020. However, in light of the opt-out, Marchand believes the league never wanted its players at the games.
"It almost felt like they were trying to get out of it for a while and they didn't want us to go," he said.
Marchand added: "I know at the end of the day, they don't care about the Olympics, they don't make money on it, and that's ultimately what this is. It's a business and we're an asset. Let's just call a spade a spade."
The league, NHLPA, IIHF, and IOC confirmed players could return to the Olympics in September, but the deal included an opt-out clause that would allow the league to back out if the regular season was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We're approximately a third of the way through the 2021-22 NHL season, and while that's enough time to get real indications of teams' positions in the league hierarchy, the sample size is still small enough that luck plays a factor in a club's standing.
Let's take a look at which teams have benefited - or been hurt - most by luck thus far.
Lucky
Washington Capitals
The Capitals are a very good team. They consistently outperform expected numbers - elite shooting talent allows for that - and they've found ways to pile up wins despite dealing with as many injuries and COVID-19-related absences as almost anyone. They deserve credit.
That said, their results to date are a little extreme. At five-on-five, Washington's high-danger chance differential through 31 games is plus-7. The team has controlled 50.64% of the high-danger chances and 52.94% of the expected goals. Good numbers, but nothing to write home about.
Yet the Capitals lead the league in five-on-five goals, having scored 78 on 64 expected goals. They've also conceded 51 despite giving up nearly 57 expected goals. Those numbers suggest they should be roughly seven goals up. Instead, they rank first in the NHL with a plus-27 differential (78 for, 51 against). Normally, that would be attributed to the shooting ability of Alex Ovechkin and his fellow stars. But Washington has dealt with absences of many of its top guns - and journeymen and unproven prospects have helped maintain top-tier results. I'm skeptical that can continue at this pace.
St. Louis Blues
The Blues have been one of the league's biggest surprises thus far. They own a strong 17-9-5 record and rank just outside the top 10 in points percentage. It's hard to argue they're deserving of such a record.
St. Louis has controlled just 47% of the expected goals at five-on-five. That's good for 24th in the NHL, sandwiching the Blues between the Kraken and Blue Jackets. Not overly impressive, is it?
Even after accounting for special teams, the Blues sit below a 50% share in almost every key metric. They've gotten by on high shooting and save percentages.
I don't expect the wheels to fall off. But I'd be surprised if St. Louis is still in the mix for first in the Central Division by the end of the year.
Unlucky
Seattle Kraken
You can't spell unlucky without the Kraken ... or something like that. Seattle has enjoyed the success - or lack thereof - you'd generally expect from an expansion franchise. The team has won just 10 of 30 games thus far, and on many occasions, its chances of winning disappeared by the end of the opening frame.
Part of that is because the Kraken lack high-end talent, especially up front. But extremely poor luck has played a major role as well.
Philipp Grubauer's contract was always a bit of a gamble; future performance is hardest to predict in goaltenders. Betting big on someone who will be on the wrong side of 30 for the entirety of a deal is risky, to say the least. But nobody could have foreseen Grubauer's struggles thus far.
Before this season, he had logged at least 17 appearances in seven NHL seasons. His save percentages in those years: .925, .918, .926, .923, .917, .916, .922. Those are sparkling numbers.
Even after accounting for a move from a juggernaut Avalanche squad to an expansion franchise, nobody could have envisioned an .882 save percentage through 23 games. Those are numbers you'd expect from a mediocre AHLer called up due to injuries.
Is poor performance really luck? In this case, I'll say it is, at least for Seattle. The team had every reason to expect - at the very least - average goaltending. Grubauer has never provided less. And yet he's cost the Kraken game after game, even contests they've played well in.
Seattle might not be a good team, but it's unlucky to be this bad.
New Jersey Devils
The Devils have plenty of problems. Their power play is the worst thing I've ever seen, and they lack true finishers. Those two problems were always going to limit what this team could accomplish.
But a quick glance at some key numbers suggests New Jersey is better than 10 wins in 30 games. The Devils are above 50% in expected goals share at five-on-five and look very good in terms of high-danger chances. They've generated 290 high-danger opportunities, tying them with the Panthers for sixth in the NHL. That has amounted to no success.
New Jersey sits fifth in high-danger chance share (54%) at five-on-five. Actual goal share? The club is at 44.35%, good for 27th.
Even after accounting for those issues, the Devils' underlying performance is closer to that of a fringe playoff team than one expected to contend for a top pick.
Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.
"When Goalies Were Weird" is a six-part narrative podcast about 1990s-era NHL goalies. In the '90s, the position was undergoing a revolution in style and substance, as the butterfly goalie replaced the stand-up while advancements in equipment technology helped usher in a modernized, more athletic playing style. The old guard's quirks and the new guard's innovations melded together to produce an era of pure chaos in the blue paint.
Jim Carey stockpiled individual awards before quitting the game in his mid-20s. Damian Rhodes stood out as eccentric on a team filled with superstitious players. Garth Snow talked trash without remorse and fought enforcers. Martin Brodeur was a transcendent talent whose jolly presence made him unique. These are their stories.
To hear the full episode, click here to listen on:
(Note: This excerpt has been lightly edited for clarity and length.)
Damian Rhodes was never Vezina- or Stanley Cup-caliber. What makes him a memorable 1990s-era goalie, then? His zaniness.
Rhodes, who played 10 NHL seasons for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and Atlanta Thrashers, was a character who did offbeat things and got himself into abnormal situations. One example: He's one of six netminders to have scored an NHL goal without shooting the puck.
When Rhodes and the Senators met the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the '97-98 playoffs, he was rocking a leopard-skin jockstrap under his equipment. He also had blond locks under his goalie mask, having dyed his hair that March and simultaneously gone on a heater, winning nine of his last 14 regular-season starts as the Senators clinched a playoff spot.
Teammates, and even kids around Ottawa, bleached their heads. After Rhodes stonewalled the Devils, Sports Illustrated nicknamed him the "Peroxide Kid."
Brian Babineau / Getty Images
Throughout his time in Ottawa, Rhodes' quirks tended to surface when the Senators hit the road. According to former defenseman Lance Pitlick, Rhodes packed exactly one suit per game, reluctant to repeat an outfit.
Another Ottawa alumnus, blue-liner Jason York, roomed with Rhodes at the team hotel. That's how he learned about - and came to depend on - the goalie's so-called "sleep machine."
"It was one of those, I don't know, dehumidifiers," York recalled. "It didn't even work, but it made some kind of noise. And he had to have it, or else he couldn't sleep.
"So I got used to it. I said, 'Damian, you bring the sleep machine with ya?' He goes, 'I got it, Yorkie. I got it in my bag here.' It kind of sucked because after - when I got a different roommate - I didn't have it anymore, and I was a little bit lost without a sleep machine."
One thing Rhodes didn't do was look up at the jumbotron during games.
This was to avoid seeing the opponent's shot count. Rhodes didn't want to give in to the urge to calculate - then obsess over - his save percentage while pucks zipped around him.
Rhodes has an explanation for his jockstrap, by the way.
His preferred brand of cup was produced by a goalie equipment company called Brian's. And when Brian's introduced a line with funky designs, Rhodes saw the leopard-skin pattern and thought, "I've got to have THAT."
The connective thread between these mannerisms and peculiarities is that they got Rhodes into the right headspace. He wasn't a player who could diversify what he did on game days and show up at the rink ready to stare down clappers.
It may have looked weird, but controlling certain things is what calmed his nerves and cleared his mind.
"I know when I was playing, a lot of people called it superstitions," Rhodes said. "And I hated that because I just felt like it all brought luck in the game.
"Some guys could do whatever they want. They could have a submarine sandwich that day, or they could take a five-hour nap and still show up. But I wanted to keep it as routine as possible. And I felt like those things were ultimately what got me in my routine. And yeah, it's a little crazy, I would say."
To hear the full episode, click here to listen on:
