Nate Schmidt has been awarded a two-year contract worth $2.25 million per season in salary arbitration. Schmidt, now with the Vegas Golden Knights, spent the first four seasons of his professional career with the Washington Capitals and their AHL-affiliate the Hershey Bears.
The Minnesota native was signed out of the University of Minnesota. During his time with the Golden Gophers, he played in 96 games. During those 96 games, he scored 12 goals and added 62 assists to his point total to go along with his 36 penalty minutes over three seasons. His best season with Minnesota was his sophomore season, scoring three goals and adding 38 assists to his season total.
Nate Schmidt Awarded Two-Year Contract in Salary Arbitration
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After moving on from his NCAA career Schmidt played eight games at the end of the 2012-13 season with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. During those eight games, he scored a single goal and added three assists. He was able to showcase his offensive abilities from the blue line nicely.
The next year was when he made his debut in the NHL. In 2013-14 he split his season between the AHL and NHL, playing 38 games in the AHL and 29 in the NHL with the Capitals. In his 38 AHL games, he scored two goals and added 11 helpers to his total. And in his 29 games in the NHL he had two goals and four assists.
Schmidt did the same thing the following season, playing in 19 AHL games and 39 AHL games. He has since been able to assert himself as an NHL level defenseman, playing his entire year the last two seasons entirely with the Washington Capitals.
In his first season spent entirely in the NHL Schmidt played in 72 games, scoring two goals and adding 14 assists to go with his 16 penalty minutes. Last season Schmidt had three goals and 14 assists, and 16 penalty minutes again, in 12 fewer games.
It is due to his age and offensive ability as a top six NHL defenseman that the Vegas Golden Knights selected Nate Schmidt in the expansion draft last month.
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