The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed defensemen Tommy Cross and Adam Clendening to one-year, two-way contracts and defenseman Dillon Simpson to a two-year, two-way contract.
Cross, 28, joins the Blue Jackets after six seasons with the Boston Bruins organization, including the last three as captain of the AHL’s Providence Bruins. Cross tallied eight goals and 28 assists for a career-high 36 points in 73 games in 2017-18, and tied for fifth in the AHL with a plus-30 rating.
In 364 career AHL games, all with Providence, Cross has compiled 31 goals and 103 assists for 134 points along with a plus-65 rating. He is the P-Bruins franchise leader in career games.
A second-round draft pick by Boston in 2007, Cross played three regular-season games and one Stanley Cup Playoff game with the NHL Bruins.
Clendening, 25, totaled five goals and 30 assists for 35 points in 59 AHL games between Rockford and Tucson last season. He also notched one goal and 13 assists for 14 points in 13 postseason games, helping the IceHogs reach the Western Conference Finals.
Clendening, originally drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round in 2011, has notched 28 goals and 133 assists for 161 points in 261 regular-season games in the AHL with Rockford, Tucson, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Utica. He also has four goals and 20 assists for 24 points in 86 NHL games with Arizona, the N.Y. Rangers, Edmonton, Pittsburgh, Vancouver and Chicago.
A Calder Cup finalist with Utica in 2015, Clendening was a Second Team AHL All-Star as a rookie in 2012-13 and a First Team selection in 2013-14.
Simpson, 25, notched four goals and 14 assists for 18 points in 61 AHL games with Bakersfield last season.
Over four pro seasons, Simpson has appeared in 242 AHL games with Bakersfield and Oklahoma City, tallying 14 goals and 52 assists for 66 points with a plus-15 rating.
Edmonton’s fourth-round pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, Simpson has also appeared in three NHL games with the Oilers.
