The Syracuse Crunch announced today that the Columbus Blue Jackets have signed center Derek MacKenzie and defenseman Dan Smith to one-year, two-way NHL – AHL contracts. As is club policy, terms were not disclosed.

MacKenzie, 26, appeared in 52 games with the Chicago Wolves, registering 14 goals, 23 assists, and 62 penalty minutes and went scoreless in 4 games with the Atlanta Thrashers last season.

Atlanta’s sixth pick, 128th overall, in the 1999 Entry Draft, MacKenzie has registered 2 assists and 20 penalty minutes in 28 career NHL games. He made his NHL debut with the Thrashers against the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on April 12, 2002. He has also tallied 83 goals, 101 assists and 441 penalty minutes with a cumulative plus/minus rating of +38 in 377 career AHL games with the Chicago Wolves.

A native of Sudbury, Ontario, he played junior hockey for his hometown Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League from 1997-01. In 257 career games, he recorded 253 points (95g, 158a) and 299 penalty minutes. His best season was 2000-01 when he racked up 40 goals, 49 assists and 89 penalty minutes in 72 contests. MacKenzie also won a bronze medal with Team Canada at the 2001 World Junior Championships, collecting 1-2-3 in seven games.

Smith, 30, tallied 11 points (1g, 10a) and 97 penalty minutes in 80 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins last year. He has totaled 26 goals, 96 assists, and 563 penalty minutes in 575 career AHL games, playing with Grand Rapids, Hershey, Springfield, Toronto, Edmonton, and Hamilton. He has gone scoreless in his 22 NHL career games, tallying 16 penalty minutes with Colorado and Edmonton.

The Fernie, British Columbia native was Colorado’s seventh pick, 181st overall, in the 1995 Entry Draft and spent four seasons in the Avalanche organization. He had nine penalty minutes and was +7 in 15 games with the club between 1998-00, including appearing in an NHL career-high 12 games during the 1998-99 campaign. He also helped the Hershey Bears, Colorado’s AHL affiliate, capture the 1997 Calder Cup championship as he joined the club late in the season after wrapping up his major junior career with the Western Hockey League’s Tri-City Americans.

Season tickets for the 2007-08 season are now on sale and can be purchased by calling the Crunch office at (315) 473- 4444 or by stopping by the Crunch office in the War Memorial at Oncenter.

Pictured: Derek MacKenzie, previous page.