Vancouver Canucks acquire defenceman Nate Schmidt for 3rd round pick

The Vancouver Canucks have acquired defenceman Nate Schmidt from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for a 3rd round pick in 2022.

The trade was broken by TSN’s Darren Dreger.

Schmidt, 29, is entering the second year of a six year contract paying him an AAV of $5.9-million. In 59 games this season, Schmidt scored seven goals and 31 points.

He just completed his third season with the Golden Knights and they have been the best of his career. In 196 games with Vegas, Schmidt scored 29 goals and 149 points as his offensive game flourished.

In four years prior with the Washington Capitals, he scored .22 points per game. That has spiked to .49 points per game with the Golden Knights.

Looking at his isolated impacts at even-strength this past season, Schmidt brought offence at the league average rate. Defensively, he contributed at a six percent rate below league average. These, however, appear to be an anomaly as he provided offence and defence positively every year prior.

Schmidt was a penalty kill specialist this last year contributing at a 12 percent rate above league average in that category.

With this trade, the Canucks have $4.0-million in cap space, according to PuckPedia.

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