The Columbus Blue Jackets, parent club of the AHL’s Springfield Falcons, goaltenders Jeremy Smith and Mike McKenna to one-year, two-way (NHL/AHL) contracts for the 2013-14 season.
The Blue Jackets have also re-signed forward Cody Bass to a one-year, two-way contract and forward Ryan Craig to a two-year, two-way contract.
Nashville’s second-round pick, 54th overall, at the 2007 NHL Draft, Smith has spent the past three seasons with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. The 24-year-old has a career AHL record of 66-46-7 with a 2.39 GAA, .916 SV% and eight shutouts in 128 games with Milwaukee.
Last season, Smith appeared in 43 games for Milwaukee, going 19-19-3 (2.77, .907) with one shutout. In 2011-12, Smith went 31-19-2 and finished among the AHL leaders in wins (second), GAA (fourth, 2.17), saves (1,406, fifth) and minutes played (3,283, first).
McKenna, 30, went 19-18-1 with a 2.42 GAA and a .923 save percentage in 39 appearances for Peoria in 2012-13. McKenna has made 244 appearances in his AHL career, with a record of 110-103-13 with 12 shutouts.
McKenna has appeared in 17 career NHL games with Tampa Bay and New Jersey. The St. Louis, Mo., native was originally drafted by Nashville in 2002.
Bass, 26, appeared in 18 games with Springfield in 2012-13, tallying two goals, five assists and 54 penalty minutes. He added two goals and two assists in eight Calder Cup Playoff games, and became the third player in AHL history to score overtime goals in back-to-back games of a playoff series, scoring consecutive winners in the Falcons’ first-round matchup with Manchester.
A Calder Cup champion with Binghamton in 2011 and that year’s recipient of the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award as the AHL’s Man of the Year, Bass has appeared in 212 career AHL games, registering 23 goals and 34 assists for 57 points along with 413 PIM. He has also skated in 48 career NHL games, recording two goals and three assists.
Bass was Ottawa’s fourth-round pick, 95th overall, at the 2005 NHL Draft.
Craig, 31, captained the Springfield Falcons in 2012-13, scoring 20 goals and dishing out 27 assists for 47 points in 75 games. He added two goals and two assists in eight postseason contests.
Originally drafted by Tampa Bay in 2002, Craig has notched 117 goals and 131 assists for 248 points in 458 career AHL appearances, as well as 32 goals and 31 assists in 190 NHL matches.
A native of Abbotsford, B.C., Craig has hit the 20-goal mark three times in the AHL.
