Blue Jackets sign pair of Calder Cup champions

The Columbus Blue Jackets, parent club of the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, have signed center Derek MacKenzie and defenseman Dan Smith to one-year, two-way contracts.

MacKenzie, 26, has spent the past six seasons as a member of the Atlanta Thrashers organization. In 2006-07, he tallied 14 goals and 23 assists for 37 points with a plus-14 rating in 52 games for the Chicago Wolves, and was scoreless in four games with the Thrashers.

He has tallied 184 points (83 goals, 101 assists) in 377 career AHL games, all with Chicago, and was a member of the Wolves’ 2002 Calder Cup championship team. MacKenzie registered two assists in 28 NHL games for Atlanta, and made his NHL debut at Columbus on Apr. 12, 2002.

smith-d_200.jpgSmith, 30, tallied one goal, 10 assists, 97 penalty minutes and a plus-13 rating in 80 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2006-07. In 575 career AHL games, the 11-year pro has totaled 26 goals and 96 assists for 122 points, and he won a Calder Cup championship as a rookie with the Hershey Bears in 1997.

A native of Fernie, B.C., Smith has gone scoreless in 22 career NHL games with Edmonton and Colorado.