Projecting the Stars: Brendan Smith

In advance of the 2024-25 NHL regular season, The Hockey News’ Dallas Stars team website is introducing a series of player projections for the Dallas Stars. Yesterday we left off with Nils Lundkvist and Thomas Harley next up is Brendan Smith.

Brendan Smith comes over to Dallas in free agency as a depth piece after spending time with the New Jersey Devils last season. Smith was signed to provide depth to the Stars defensive group that somewhat ran out of veteran depth in the playoffs last year once Jani Hakanpaa went down with injury. Will Smith have a good enough training camp to edge out some of the other new signings for an opening night spot in the top six?

Career: 38 goals, 138 points in 694 games

2023-24 Statistics: 5 goals, 15 points in 63 games

Salary Cap Hit: $1 million through 2024-25

Summary of 2023-24 Season: Smith was a fairly consistent player for the Devils last season. Despite a midseason coaching change, he played over 60 games as a third pair style defenseman, scoring only five goals but seemingly doing them at very opportune times. He was able to play up and down the lineup, pairing with their top defensemen when needed. Their number one blue-liner, Dougie Hamilton, missed a large chunk of the season, and Smith was trusted to fill the gaps more times than not. The brother of former Dallas Stars forward Reilly Smith, Smith has always been on the edge of the top six of defense corps since early in his career with the Detroit Red Wings, but has never scored double digit goals.

Projections for 2024-25 Season: With the abundance of defensemen the Stars have, there are a few permanent spots up for grabs. The Stars have four options on left side and three on the right. Smith shares the left side with Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley and Esa Lindell. Smith is a penalty kill specialist that could split the penalty kill time with Lindell, the top short-handed player in the league. Smith brings a level of physicality that the Stars have not had in previous seasons. He can be there when someone needs to answer the bell if the situation arises, and has laid some big hits over his career. Smith is not particularly offensive but can help move the puck through the zone. He has spent some time at forward, so he understands all parts of the game well enough to keep himself playing a significant role in the NHL year after year. Because the Stars system allows the defensemen to be pretty involved in the offense, it's possible he could set career highs in both goals and points scored if he keeps a regular place in the lineup.

Make sure you bookmark THN's Dallas Stars site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

Projecting the Stars: Thomas Harley

Projecting the Stars: Nils Lundkvist

Projecting the Stars: Matt Dumba

Projecting the Stars: Ilya Lyubushkin

• Follow Taylor on Twitter: @THN_taylor