[2] In September 1988, the Jets fired John Ferguson, giving the GM job to Smith on an interim basis before making him the permanent General Manager in December.
[4] A couple of Smith's noteworthy non-player moves during his time with the Leafs were the hiring of Pat Quinn as head coach and managing assistant Mike Kitchen.
He was named "Executive of the Year" by The Sporting News, but still faced pressure from Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz, who wanted to replace Smith with Bob Pulford.
[6] He was fired by the Blackhawks in October 2003, and replaced by Pulford, who would claim Smith's termination was attributed to his deteriorating relationship with head coach Brian Sutter.
Smith would also trade Ed Olczyk to the New York Rangers for fan favorites Tie Domi and Kris King on December 28, 1992.
When it comes to the NHL entry draft, Smith has been perceived as favoring Russian players over the physical style types often seen in the North American junior systems.
Ward, who would go on to become to become a solid journeyman defender who played more than 800 games and became Stanley Cup winner with the Red Wings was traded for one year of Paul Ysebaert.
I thought I'd be a Winnipeg Jet forever, but at the end Mike pretty much made it impossible for me to really push forward with my career there.
During the Summer of 1993, Smith would send future Olympian, and Frank J. Selke Trophy winner Kris Draper to the Detroit Red Wings for $1.00.
On November 25, 1993, Smith would trade star forward Stu Barnes along with a sixth round selection (previously acquired from the St. Louis Blues; Chris Kibermanis) in 1994 to the Florida Panthers for Randy Gilhen.
Smith has authored ten books related to coaching in hockey at the grassroots level and is an avid collector of Native American artwork.