Zack Smith of Maple Creek, Saskatchewan was traded on Monday from the Ottawa Senators to the Chicago Blackhawks for Artem Anisimov. A center, Smith has played his entire 11 year career with the Senators since being Ottawa’s third round draft pick in the 2008 National Hockey League Entry Draft.
In 70 games with the Senators, Smith had nine goals and 19 assists for 28 points. He was also a -6, with 81 penalty minutes, three shorthanded points, one game winning goal, 101 shots on goal, 403 faceoff wins, 27 blocked shots, 136 hits, 42 takeaways and 47 giveaways.
Smith’s finest season with the Senators came in 2015-16. In 81 games, he had a career high in goals (25) and points (36), and led the NHL with an impressive shooting percentage of 20.7%.
Smith has also been known for his strong penalty killing. Despite being a career -48, he does have 20 career shorthanded points in 612 career regular season games.
Anisimov, also a center, had 15 goals and 22 assists for 37 points in 78 games in 2018-19. The Senators become Anisimov’s fourth NHL career team as he also played for the New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets. Among the players Anisimov has been traded for in the past include Canadian Olympic gold medalist Rick Nash of Brampton, Ontario and Brandon Saad. Nash won a gold medal for Canada at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
