Smith served as team captain of both the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers, the former of which he led for five years and guided to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals.

On February 25, 1997, during the 1996–97 season, Smith was involved in a blockbuster trade, moving to the Toronto Maple Leafs, along with Steve Sullivan and the rights to Alyn McCauley, in exchange for Doug Gilmour, Dave Ellett and New Jersey's fourth-round draft pick in 1999[1] (which Toronto had acquired in the Dave Andreychuk trade the year before.

Smith captained the Oilers to a largely unexpected run to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, in which they faced the Carolina Hurricanes, another dark horse team.

In his first and only season in Philadelphia, Smith captained a rebuilt Flyers[3] squad to an Eastern Conference showdown against their inter-state rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Despite the fact that the Penguins won the series, the Flyers' turnaround from the worst team in the NHL to their status in 2007–08 was a testament to Smith's leadership abilities.