Canucks hit jackpot with D-man Schmidt
TORONTO — Nate Schmidt is a better-than-average Top 4 pairing NHL defenceman — and a real character player to have around — who became available when the Golden Knights signed prized free agent Alex Pietrangelo.
It wasn't that the Knights didn't want to keep Schmidt. It's that at almost $6 million a year Vegas couldn't afford it under current salary-cap constraints.
So the Golden Knights looked to trade Schmidt, give him away really. And preferably to a team in the Eastern Conference, where they wouldn't have to see much of him during the season. But no deal was made. Not by the Boston Bruins, who failed to retain Torey Krug and may not have Zdeno Chara back next season. Not by the cash-strapped Maple Leafs, who signed T.J. Brodie and
Zach Bogosian as free agents, neither of whom is the equal of Schmidt. Not by the Buffalo Sabres, who could use help in the b back end. In fact, you could go almost team by team in the Eastern Conference and see whe where Schmidt could have helped just about everyb everybody.
With nowhere else to turn the Knights traded Schmidt to the Vancouver Canucks for a third-round draft pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. In other words, they gave him away. A defenceman more impressive than Brodie or Chris Tanev or any of those middle-range defencemen who moved teams as a free agent in the past week.
The Canucks were certainly stung by losing No. 1 goalie and likely MVP Jacob Markstrom in free agency. But they bounced back rather nicely by stealing Schmidt. Why other teams weren't interested is indicative of a rather unexplainable hockey marketplace.