Settling in: Brendan Smith acclimating nicely to new chapter with Stars

Brendan Smith had a big advantage growing up.

He and his two brothers pushed each other, and all three turned out to be professional athletes. His older brother Rory, 37, was a player in the National Lacrosse League, and his younger brother Reilly, 33, is a 14-year NHL veteran currently playing with the New York Rangers.

“My household is very competitive,” said Smith, who joined Dallas this year as a free agent defenseman. “We strive to get better at everything and do it together. Both of my brothers are my best friends. It’s something I can lean on. I really think the reason we all got to this point is because of the stuff we did together growing up.”

Rory was one of the tougher players in the NLL and holds several penalty minute records. Reilly is a skilled forward that was drafted by Dallas in 2009, made his NHL debut with the Stars and went on to help Vegas win the Stanley Cup in 2023. He has 522 points in 854 career NHL games.

“We joke that the toughness goes down from the top and the skill comes up from the bottom,” said Brendan, who is a good mix of both. “I’m in the middle.”

Smith is starting to fit in with his new brothers in Dallas. The 35-year-old defenseman has played with the Red Wings, Rangers, Hurricanes and Devils. He skated in his 700th NHL game on Monday in Pittsburgh, tallying two assists. He appears to be forging a more regular spot in the lineup.

“In training camp, he had a little bit of an adjustment to our system and how we want to play,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “And then as the games started for real, I thought he played really good hockey. He’s physical, you know when you’re playing against him. He’s got a better skill level than people think.”

Smith is a veteran presence, and that’s been important for a Stars defense that had some turnover in the offseason. He has jumped in when Matt Dumba was hurt, and he also has stepped in for one game in place of Nils Lundkvist, so he can fill different roles. On Monday, he stepped in when Dumba served as a healthy scratch and helped the Stars to a 7-1 win.

“He’s not an easy guy to keep out of the lineup, and the guys in the lineup gotta know that,” DeBoer said.

Smith has been among the “hits” leaders on every team he has played on and last season tallied 15 points (5 goal, 10 assists) in 63 games with the Devils. He also has a veteran sense of what needs to be done on and off the ice.

“I can bring veteran leadership in that sense,” he said. “There’s no secret of the kind of player I am. When I’m called upon, I’ll be ready. What I learned early playing with the Red Wings is that it’s all about consistency.”

Current Stars GM Jim Nill played a big role in Smith getting his start in the NHL. Nill was among the scouting crew that drafted Smith to the Red Wings in the first round (27th overall) in 2007, and he served as GM of the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins when Smith was breaking into the league in 2010. Smith said his relationship with Nill was a significant reason he picked the Stars last summer.

“Jim was a big part of this,” Smith said. “He treats everybody like a man. I love how he conducts himself. The familiarity was huge. The team, the city, it was all great. It checks a lot of the boxes.”

When Nill took over as Stars GM in 2013, one of the first moves he made was trading Reilly Smith as part of the deal to get Tyler Seguin. Brendan said the two brothers can look back now and laugh about that.

“It was good for Reilly’s career and it obviously was good for the Stars,” Brendan said. “Those are the kind of trades you love, where it helps both teams.”

Brendan said he and Reilly still talk on a regular basis and that he leaned heavily upon his younger brother when he moved to Dallas. Brendan and his wife Samantha have two children and he said getting to Texas to start school in August was a big change.

“He definitely helped with that,” Brendan said of Reilly. “We were able to get here early and hit the ground running because of the advice he gave us.”

Smith said his family was heavily involved in both hockey and lacrosse growing up in Mimico, Ontario, and he said all three might be better lacrosse players than they are hockey players. But having Reilly in the NHL has been a blessing for him, as the two can give each other feedback on an almost daily basis.

“We end up watching each other’s games and I think it helps make us smarter,” Brendan said. “We talk all the time, and that really helps.”

This year is bringing a new challenge for Smith, because he has been a healthy scratch a lot more than usual. He has played six of the team’s first 14 games, but he is averaging 13:23 in ice time and is earning the trust of the coaching staff. Because of the time off between games, Smith said he is learning to adjust both mentally and physically.

“I’ve been talking with our strength and conditioning coach about staying in shape, and being ready,” Smith said. “There are a lot of things I have to do off the ice and late in practice to keep myself in shape. It’s a different kind of grind, a different kind of challenge that I have to get used to, but I’m up for the task.”

After hitting regular season game No. 700, he now hopes to add to his 59 playoff games. But that’s a goal for further down the road.

“He’s steady,” DeBoer said. “That’s a good thing.”

Kind of a family trait.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @MikeHeika.