Schmidt, Golden Knights still trying to hammer out contract
The Golden Knights and defenseman Nate Schmidt met for nearly four hours with a Toronto arbiter Thursday as they tried to settle on a contract for the restricted free agent.
“It went fine,” Schmidt’s agent Matt Keator said after the hearing. “Both sides were very professional, and Nate handled it well.”
There’s still time to broker a deal before the arbiter rules Saturday. Schmidt, 26, is seeking a one-year, $2.75 million deal while the Knights are offering $1.9 million over two years. A four-year NHL veteran, Schmidt made $875,000 last season playing for the Washington Capitals.
Of the 30 NHL players who filed for arbitration, only Schmidt made it to Toronto for a hearing. He scored three goals and had 14 assists in 60 games for the Capitals in 2016-17 and was claimed by the Knights from Washington in the expansion draft June 21. However, it was the Capitals who made Schmidt his qualifying offer.
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Keator said he planned to talk again with Mcphee before the arbiter rules Saturday. When asked if he thought a deal could still be made prior to the ruling, he said, “We’ll see where it goes.”
The team said through spokesman Eric Tosi that it will have no comment until the ruling is announced Saturday or a deal is reached prior to the ruling.
Schmidt was a free agent out of the University of Minnesota in 2013 when he was signed by Washington. At the time, George Mcphee — the Knights’ general manager — was Washington’s GM.
In 200 games spanning four NHL seasons, Schmidt has eight goals, 35 assists and is a plus-36 while averaging 16:34 minutes of ice time. His highest salary was his first two seasons in Washington when he made $925,000 per year.
Contact Steve Carp at scarp@ reviewjournal.com or 702-3872913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.