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Montreal Canadiens: Ty Smilanic Scores First Pro Goal

By Ken MacMillan

PLYMOUTH, MI - DECEMBER 11: Ty Smilanic #59 of the U.S. Nationals passes the puck against the Slovakia Nationals during game two of day one of the 2018 Under-17 Four Nations Tournament game at USA Hockey Arena on December 11, 2018 in Plymouth, Michigan. USA defeated Slovakia 7-2. (Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images)
PLYMOUTH, MI - DECEMBER 11: Ty Smilanic #59 of the U.S. Nationals passes the puck against the Slovakia Nationals during game two of day one of the 2018 Under-17 Four Nations Tournament game at USA Hockey Arena on December 11, 2018 in Plymouth, Michigan. USA defeated Slovakia 7-2. (Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images) /
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The Montreal Canadiens became sellers in the 2021-22 season and moved out a couple of veteran players for prospects and draft picks.

When a team is struggling in the standings, that is the usual route to take. One of the players the Canadiens acquired in those deals was Ty Smilanic. He was a third round pick of the Florida Panthers in the 2020 NHL Draft and cracked USA’s World Junior team though it ended up being cancelled.

He looked like a promising prospect at the time, and didn’t change expectations when he scored 14 goals as a freshman in college hockey. He also had 21 points in 29 games as a rookie for Quinnipiac, a top collegiate hockey school. He fit right in on a top six role as an 18 year old and appeared to be a potential top nine forward at the NHL in the future.

Things did not go exactly as planned since then. Smilanic hit a wall halfway through his second college season and finished the year with 23 points in 41 games after a strong start. Following the season he transferred to Wisconsin but that didn’t help. He scored just one goal and two points in 14 games for the Badgers in 2022-23 and then surprisingly chose to leave college this past summer.

He arrived at Canadiens training camp hoping to land an entry-level contract but was unsuccessful. Having left college and attended an NHL training camp, he couldn’t go back and his rights were still owned by the Canadiens so he really had no options left except to take what the Habs gave him.

This resulted in the once promising prospect landing in the ECHL with the Trois-Rivieres Lions. He started the season there slowly as well, but finally sniped his first professional goal last night.

It may have been his first pro goal but he made it look like something routine. He just stepped up into the attacking zone, took the ice that was given to him and fired a laser of a wrist shot over the Maine Mariners goaltender to give the Lions a 4-2 lead.

It stood as the game’s winning goal as the Lions would win the game 4-3. This also moved them into first place in the overall standings as their record is now 8-1-0 on the season.

Hopefully scoring a big goal in a win helps Smilanic regain his once prolific scoring touch.

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