The Washington Capitals run to the 2018 Stanley Cup was a special one, but now a member of that team has called it a career. It was recently announced that forward Devante Smith-Pelly has retired from professional hockey. Smith-Pelly was the Anaheim Ducks second round pick in the 2010 NHL draft. Smith-Pelly played three hundred ninety five NHL games and recorded just over one hundred career points. The last three seasons Smith-Pelly spent time in the American Hockey League.
The thing I will always remember about Smith-Pelly was the big goals he scored against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Smith-Pelly never scored more than eight goals in an NHL regular season. In the Capitals run for the cup, he had seven goals in the playoffs. His biggest goal might have came in game five when he beat Marc-Andre Fleury to tie the game and Lars Eller later scored to win the game and the Capitals eventually went on to be champs.
Although he wasn't known as a big goal scorer, Smith-Pelly was instrumental in the Capitals championship run. Amongst all those star players on that Washington roster, it was Smith-Pelly who scored some of the biggest goals in Capitals history and that is quite an accomplishment and something that will always be remembered. Congratulations to Smith-Pelly on his announcement.
