On February 8, 1980, Smith and Don Lever were traded to Atlanta for Darcy Rota and Ivan Boldirev, as reported in The Montreal Gazette the following day. Smith played four games for Atlanta before the team relocated for the 1980–81 season, where he became an original member of the Calgary Flames. On December 27, 1980, Smith scored the game-winning goal on a two-on-nothing, give-and-go breakaway with fellow journeyman Alex McKendry to beat Philadelphia 2–1, as the Associated Press noted in reports published the following day. In all, Smith scored seven goals over 45 games with Calgary before he was sent down to the Birmingham Bulls of the CHL. There, he registered 11 points in 10 games before the Bulls folded abruptly on February 20, 1981. Eight days later, Smith was on the move again, this time to Detroit, where he was traded for Rick Vasko, scoring 5 goals in 20 games for his highest NHL season total of 12.