Reilly Smith wore No. 18 during his time at Miami (Ohio) University almost 10 years ago.
The number went with him to three NHL teams over parts of six seasons until Smith was acquired by the Golden Knights in an expansion draft-day trade with Florida and switched to No. 19.
This summer, Smith had the chance to reclaim his familiar digits after James Neal departed to Calgary in free agency.
But he barely gave it a second thought and used his self-deprecating sense of humor to explain why.
“There’s too many Vegas 19 jerseys. I didn’t want them to change it,” Smith said facetiously.