Having played just 17 NHL games in the last three seasons, New Jersey Devils draft bust Ty Smith is expected to sign with Belarusian KHL outfit Dinamo Minsk to try and revive his career.
On Tuesday afternoon, Belarus Hockey insider Stepan Voronkov reported that Smith, 25, was close to signing a contract with Dinamo, though terms of the anticipated agreement have not been revealed.
Smith, the Devils' first-round draft choice in 2018, once looked to be a promising piece on the blueline, scoring 23 points in 48 games in his first professional season in 2020-21.
The former 18th overall pick, however, saw his production regress the following season, with only 20 points in 66 games, and, defensively, Smith never made the necessary strides to help compensate for that.
Ty Smith is expected to go overseas after failing to sign an NHL contract
In the 2022 offseason, Smith was offloaded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the deal that brought John Marino to the Devils and played only nine NHL games in 2022-23, scoring four points.
The Lloydminster, Alberta, native spent most of his time in the AHL with the Penguins organization, racking up 16 goals and 67 points in 102 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
After a brief two-year cameo in Pittsburgh, Smith arrived in Carolina, scoring two points in eight NHL games this season and notching a fairly impressive 28 points in 36 games with the Chicago Wolves in the AHL.
Offense was always going to be the hallmark of the smooth-skating Smith's game, but, obviously, he never got to the point where he could earn the trust of coaches of teams aspiring to compete for a Stanley Cup.
Teams like Carolina and Pittsburgh should have been good opportunities for the former Devils prospect to learn under offensive-minded defensemen like Kris Letang, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, and Shayne Gostisbehere, but it still just hasn't come together for him, and maybe it never will.
Now, Smith is expected to join a Dinamo team that features a number of AHL transplants, including Sam Anas, Zach Fucale (the KHL's highest-paid goalie), Brady Lyle, Nicolas Meloche, Xavier Ouelett, and Robert Hamilton.
Perhaps former Devils teammate Yegor Sharangovich, who played for Dinamo Minsk before coming to New Jersey, made the recommendation to Smith.