Nashville Predators signed center Jerred Smithson

The Nashville Predators signed center Jerred Smithson to a two-year contract extension on Thursday. The contract, which runs through the 2010-11 season, will pay him $725,000 in 2009-10 and $750,000 in 2010-11. Smithson, 29, set career highs last season in games played (81), goals (seven) and points (16). Over five seasons in the NHL, two with Los Angeles and three with Nashville, he has appeared in 241 games and has totaled 17 goals and 28 assists. Nashville also signed defenseman Ville Koistinen to a one-year, $700,000 contract. The contract was based on the award of an arbitrator who heard the case on July 28. Koistinen, 26, registered four goals and 13 assists in 48 games for the Predators last season, his first in the NHL.