Tampa Bay Lightning loan forward to Vegas' AHL affiliate

The Henderson Silver Knights, American Hockey League affiliate of Vegas, announced on Thursday that forward Gemel Smith has been loaned to them by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It's not often that an NHL team loans on of their players to the American Hockey League affiliate of another team. The most recent instance we could find was from February 2022, after the Maple Leafs acquired goaltender Carter Hutton from Arizona and then loaned him back to their AHL affiliate in Tucson.

Smith, 28, was signed by the Lightning in the summer of 2019, but in January 2022, he was claimed off waivers by Detroit. One month later, the Lightning re-claimed him off waivers.

The Toronto native is having one of the best seasons of his professional career thus far and will add a lot to a Henderson team that sits second-last in the AHL's Western Conference. In 35 games for Syracuse this season, Smith has 37 points (13 goals, 24 assists), 89 penalty minutes and is a plus-seven.

He is expected to join the Silver Knights immediately and could feature in their games this weekend against the Tucson Roadrunners.

Source: Henderson Silver Knights

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