The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed defenseman Ty Smith to a one-year contract extension, the club announced Saturday morning.
Smith, 23, split the 2022–23 season between the Penguins and the American Hockey League’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Pittsburgh originally acquired Smith and a 2023 third-round pick from the New Jersey Devils last July in exchange for defenseman John Marino.
The Penguins announced that Smith’s new one-year deal with the club carries an average annual value of $750,000. Smith will be eligible to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer.
Smith appeared in 39 games with the WBS Penguins during the 2022–23 season, collecting seven goals and 24 points.
The five-foot-eleven defender, who shoots left, also skated in nine games with the NHL Penguins in 2022–23, racking up four points (one goal, three assists) while averaging 20:12 per night.
The New Jersey Devils originally selected Smith with the No. 17 overall pick in the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft. The Lloydminster, Alberta product spent four full seasons with the Western Hockey League’s Spokane Chiefs before turning pro with the Devils in 2020.
Smith spent both the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons with the Devils, collecting seven goals and 43 points while averaging 18:36 of ice time in 114 career games with the club.
With the Penguins, Smith will compete for ice time as a member of a defensive group that also includes Kris Letang, Jeff Petry, Ryan Graves, Marcus Pettersson, Jan Rutta, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, and Chad Ruhwedel.
Since signing Smith, the Penguins now have three restricted free agents left: forwards Drew O’Connor and Filip Hallander, as well as goaltender Filip Lindberg. O’Connor is set to attend an arbitration hearing on Aug. 4.
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