The 35-year-old Smith scored only 41 goals during his career, but made his presence felt in other ways.

"Whether we ever got anything out of him offensively or not didn't matter," Senators general manager Brian Murray said at a news conference. "What I liked about Jason was his leadership and the grit he provided around the net."

In 1,008 career games since 1993 with New Jersey, Toronto, Edmonton, Philadelphia and Ottawa, Smith had 169 points with 1,099 penalty minutes. He also appeared in 68 playoff games, recording 11 points.

Before the Senators brought last year to offer leadership, Smith captained the Edmonton Oilers for five years and led them to the 2006 Stanley Cup finals. He also captained Philadelphia for a season.

He represented Canada at the 2001 world championships.

Smith's decision will help the Senators as his $2.6 million salary won't count against the salary cap. Ottawa had been about $1.3 million over the cap.