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Detroit signs Smith to two-year, $5.5 million extension

Brendan Smith

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith (2) waits for the face off during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues in Detroit, Friday, Feb. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

AP

The Red Wings have reached an agreement with RFA blueliner Brendan Smith, signing him to a two-year, $5.5 million deal with a $2.75M average annual cap hit.

Smith, 26, was Detroit’s first-round pick at the 2007 draft and appeared in a career-high 76 games last year.

Despite that games played total, it wasn’t an incredibly successful campaign; Smith’s numbers took a dip (in points and minutes per game, specifically) and former head coach Mike Babcock made him a healthy scratch for Game 1 of the club’s opening-round series against Tampa Bay.

Still, Smith figures to be a fairly key cog of Detroit’s defense moving forward.

He’s scored himself a pretty decent raise -- up from the $1.26M he was making annually on his old deal -- and should be firmly planted in the top-six group alongside Niklas Kronwall, Kyle Quincey, Jonathan Ericsson, Jakub Kindl and Danny DeKeyser next season.