The Vegas Golden Knights‘ coach Gerard Gallant announced an injury to defender, Nate Schmidt, Thursday afternoon. Schmidt is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
Coach Gallant confirmed that Nate Schmidt is out week-to-week with a lower body injury. #VegasBorn
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) October 3, 2019
Nate Schmidt Injury
The injury likely occurred in the first period of the Knights’ opening game against the San Jose Sharks Thursday. Nate Schmidt and Logan Couture collided in the Knights’ defensive zone with 10:33 remaining in the first period. Schmidt did not return to the game after the collision, but the Knights emerged victorious in a four-to-one win.
The defender has been an important cog in the Vegas defence in the team’s short history with Schmidt playing 137 games and registering 66 points over the last two seasons. Schmidt started his career in 2013 after the Washington Capitals signed him out of college. The St. Cloud Minnesota native played his college hockey at the University of Minnesota.
Moving Forward
Nate Schmidt often features on the Golden Knights’ top defensive pairing with Brayden McNabb. The injury leaves the Knights with major minutes to replace with Schmidt averaging 21:57 of time on ice last year. With a major piece of the lineup out of commission, the Knights may have to spread minutes out amongst their healthy defenders.
Luckily, the Golden Knights will not have to deal with Schmidt’s absence for long. A week-to-week designation is good news after a potentially dangerous collision. Although Schmidt is a big part of the Knights defence corps, they will only have to find a replacement on a temporary basis. With seven defenders on the NHL roster, it is unlikely the Knights will need to bring anyone up from the AHL. Unless Schmidt’s injury proves to be more severe than initially expected, Vegas should deal with the absence effectively. Though Vegas is left without one of their best defenders, the team is deep enough to deal with challenges.
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