Defenseman Brendan Smith has signed a PTO with the Blue Jackets, in line with a team release.
Smith, 36, was as soon as a fringe top-four possibility however has slid right into a definitive No. 7 function in recent times, even typically slotting in as a fourth-line winger. He spent 2024-25 with the Stars on a one-year, $1M deal, spending a lot of the yr within the press field and averaging a career-low 13:13 per recreation. He logged 32 appearances, recording six factors with a -9 score and 41 hits. The 6’2″, 200-lb lefty didn’t see any playoff motion for Dallas, both.
After lengthy stretches with the Pink Wings and Rangers to start his profession, he’s now performed for 3 groups, the Hurricanes, Devils and Stars, within the final 4 seasons.
Smith’s finest years got here in Detroit, the place he topped out with 19 factors in 71 video games throughout his first full-time season within the NHL again in 2013-14. He additionally went his complete profession with the Wings with out having detrimental possession impacts at even energy, proving there was some particular defensive upside there after they chosen him within the first spherical in 2007.
When he moved to the Rangers, although, these possession metrics took a success that they by no means actually recovered from. He even ended up on waivers in the course of the 2017-18 marketing campaign and had a short demotion to AHL Hartford, though he hasn’t performed within the minors since then.
With Columbus, Smith now competes for a contract in a decently crowded mixture of depth forwards and defensemen. His capacity to leap up on the wing will definitely assist his case when doing roster math. He’s not a risk to unseat a reputation like Erik Gudbranson or Damon Severson for a bottom-pairing function, so his best-case goal could be to unseat the extra offensively gifted Jake Christiansen as an additional defender or beat out a reputation just like the newly-signed Hudson Fasching for the 14th ahead spot and be used as a flex.
Columbus already has 15 defensemen beneath contract, 14 of whom will employees the NHL and AHL rosters. That actually makes it an uphill battle for Smith to land a two-way deal since his match with AHL Cleveland could be murky.
