14-year NHL veteran Craig Smith joins the Chicago Blackhawks on a one-year one million dollar deal

The Blackhawks should be done for the season, as they added eight new faces during free-agency. One of those eight new faces was forward Craig Smith.

Smith, was signed after the Blackhawks let multiple former Blackhawks find new opportunity. This gave Kyle Davidson the means to bring in more depth, and refresh the lineup.

Davidson and the Blackhawks signed Smith to a one-year, $1 Million dollar contract for the 2024-2025 season.

Smith has played for four different teams during his 13 season NHL career, including the Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, and Boston Bruins.

How can Smith be useful to the Blackhawks?

Smith got his start playing hockey at age 16, in Madison, WI and would play for the Wisconsin Badgers in the NCAA. The 34-year old will be closer to home in Chicago, which is a benefit.

Smith knows the value of hard-work, as during the summer as a teen he worked in Construction for some extra cash and would train afterwards, with Kevin Ulanski.

Smith would later be drafted by the Nashville Predator 98th overall in 2009 after spending two years with the USHL's Waterloo Blackhawks. He would state he chose the Badgers for the excellent education and the hockey program, and it was his dream to play in the NHL.

At 22, he would start his career with the Nashville Predators in the NHL, scoring his first goal on the Columbus Blue Jackets goalie, Steve Mason. During his rookie season, he'd score 36 points(14 G, 22 A) in 72 games.

His time with the Predators would come to an end, after finishing his 3rd contract( $4.25 Million AAV) and sign with the Boston Bruins in 2020-2021 signing a contract worth $3.1 Million AAV.

Smith in Boston found a home on the 2nd line quickly, with Taylor Hall and David Krejci. Hall spoke highly of Smith's motor and skills:

Could Hall and Smith find that chemistry again? In Dallas, he was primarily used as a checking, not scoring winger. As we've seen with Jason Dickinson this role could change.

He'd make a quick 22-game stop in Washington, being traded for Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway, Smith was attached with three draft picks to Washington. He'd score 6 points and then the team would let him walk in free agency, to be picked up by Dallas.

Smith often won his minutes on a very good fourth line with the Stars. He wasn't much danger offensively like in his prime, but he was great defensively and had a lot of puck possession. I'm not positive how much credit Smith can get individually (especially since Chicago is on the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to winning shifts). But I'd still say he's definitely one of the better fourth-liners in the league.