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Nate Schmidt

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Vegas Golden Knights

September 17, 2017 at 4:57 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 1 Comment

Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2017-18 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Vegas Golden Knights

Current Cap Hit: $69,375,832 (under the $75MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Alex Tuch (Two years remaining, $925K)
D Shea Theodore (One year remaining, $863K)

Potential Bonuses

Tuch: $425K

While the brand-new franchise is focused on building up a powerhouse team over the next five years, which means draft picks and more draft picks, which will create a revolving door at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, there should be at least one constant who is already locked in for the future in Theodore. The just-turned 22-year-old is considered to be a long-term piece and despite the team’s overwhelming defensive logjam, the hope is Theodore is on the team’s opening day roster. Theodore shined last year during Anaheim’s playoff run when he along with several other defenseman had to step in for injured players and fared well. Theodore, a offensive defenseman, was a first-round pick of the Ducks in 2013 and despite having just nine points in 39 regular season games last year, he put up eight goals in 14 playoff games.

Tuch, a talented forward acquired near the expansion draft in a side deal with the Minnesota Wild, has a chance to immediately make the team out of training camp. The 21-year-old wing was a first-round pick in 2014 and scored 18 goals for the AHL’s Iowa Wild last year.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

F James Neal ($5MM, UFA)
F Mikhail Grabovski ($5MM, UFA)
D Jason Garrison ($4.6MM, UFA)
F David Perron ($3.75MM, UFA)
D Luca Sbisa ($3.6MM, UFA)
D Clayton Stoner ($3.25MM, UFA)
D Brayden McNabb ($1.7MM, UFA)
D Jonathon Merrill ($1.14MM, RFA)
F William Karlsson ($1MM, RFA)
D Colin Miller ($1MM, RFA)
D Deryk Engelland ($1MM, UFA)
G Calvin Pickard ($1MM, RFA)
F Jon Marchessault ($750K, UFA)
F Teemu Pulkkinen ($700K, RFA)

The Golden Knights will be looking to move as many of their players at the trade deadline as they can. Neal should be their biggest trade bait as many teams wouldn’t mind adding a goal-scorer right in time for the playoffs. The 30-year-old wing is coming off a 23-goal season in Nashville and has scored 165 goals in the last six seasons combined. The team hopes that playing on a top line should keep his scoring numbers up high so that his price increases at the perfect time, but a recent report that a wrist injury suffered during the playoffs last year is still affecting Neal and he will miss two to four weeks is concerning. The team also has high hopes it can move Perron. After putting up a career-high 28 goals in 2013-14, he has struggled with injuries but rebounded last year with an 18 goal season. If he can stay healthy and produce similar numbers, he might be worth a mid to late pick.

One key decision the team will have to make is what to do with Marchessault, who is coming off a 30-goal season a year ago in Florida. At $750K, he is a bargain for the next year, but if he can duplicate his numbers from last year, he would be in line for a big payday. Complicating the situation is that Vegas head coach Gerard Gallant is a big fan of the 26-year-old and was the head coach in Florida wlast year when Marchessault started his breakout season.

The team also has a number of restricted free agents who they will likely hold onto. While Pickard’s name is rarely mentioned in Vegas as he is the current backup, don’t be surprised if Pickard is penciled in as the goaltender of the future. The 25-year-old struggled with Colorado last year (although he did have one of the worst teams around him), but was a promising prospect before that. Miller is another who should be retained. The 24-year-old was a promising defender in Boston who was just beginning to get full-time work. He got into 61 games last year and showed quite a bit of promise. Karlsson should get a bottom line spot in the lineup. The 24-year-old is coming off a 25-point season and the team hopes he takes his game up a notch.

While Grabovski likely won’t see the ice ever in Las Vegas (freeing the team of his $5MM cap hit), Garrison is a defender who may prove to have some value if he can produce on one of the team’s top defensive lines. The 32-year-old struggled at times in Tampa Bay and his offensive numbers have declined in the past couple of years. McNabb is considered to be an excellent defender and should provide solid defense for Vegas. He missed a lot of time due to a broken collarbone injury he suffered last October, forcing the 26-year-old in and out of the lineup all season and he eventually lost his starting job at the end of the year, but should get regular minutes with the Golden Knights. Sbisa is another player who should get playing time in hopes the team can move him later this year. The 27-year-old blueliner was a solid defenseman, but few teams were interested in his $3.6MM pricetag.

Read more

Two Years Remaining

G Marc-Andre Fleury ($5.75MM, UFA)
F Vadim Shipachyov ($4.5MM, UFA)
D Nate Schmidt ($2.23MM, UFA)
F Oscar Lindberg ($1.7MM, UFA)
F Pierre-Edouard Bellemare ($1.45MM, UFA)
D Griffin Reinhart ($800K, RFA)
D Brad Hunt ($650K, UFA)

We’ll see where Fleury’s game is in two years, but the 32-year-old goaltender actually struggled last year with the Penguins. He finished the season with a 3.02 GAA in 38 games and had a .909 save percentage, well under his usual numbers. The question is, can he improve on that much when he doesn’t have Pittsburgh’s solid defense behind him and is, in fact, behind an expansion defensive line? Obviously, he made a name for himself in the playoffs when he had to sub in for an injured Matt Murray and thrived for a round until Murray returned. Pickard might be ready to supplant Fleury in two years if he hadn’t already done it.

Shipachyov is a different story. The 30-year-old KHL forward has been a big-time goal scorer for many year and now brings his talent to Las Vegas. However, he only inked a two-year deal and no one is quite sure how his game will translate to the NHL. They likely will avoid trading him in the first year of the deal, but don’t be surprised if he gets moved before his contract expires.

Schmidt is finally going to get a chance to prove he’s a top four defenseman. On a crowded defensive line, Schmidt was still a very good player, but he must prove himself now that he will be among the better defenders on the team. Lindberg is another young player who will be given a better opportunity to thrive. The 25-year-old center who was selected from the New York Rangers has tallied 21 goals in two season combined and the hope is he breaks out with the Golden Knights.

Three Years Remaining

F David Clarkson ($5.25MM, UFA)
F Cody Eakin ($3.85MM, UFA)
F Erik Haula ($2.75MM, UFA)

The one thing is the team has few long-term deals and Clarkson’s deal shouldn’t count against the cap as the 33-year-old veteran missed all of last season and played in just 23 games in the 2015-16 season. He has been plagued by lower back issues for the last few years. The Golden Knights took the contract of Clarkson off the Columbus Blue Jackets’ hands for a first-round pick in 2017 and a second round pick in 2019.

Eakin, on the other hand, is a gamble made by general manager George McPhee. Originally drafted by McPhee in Washington back in 2009, Eakin has had an up and down career, including three seasons where he scored 16 or more goals, but the 26-year-old center really struggled in Dallas last season with just three goals in 60 games. McPhee likely thinks he can revive his career. Haula came from Minnesota in the expansion draft, but the 26-year old center has consistently improved in the four years he’s been in the league, finishing with 15 goal and 11 assist season. The team signed Haula to a three-year deal during their free agency window before the expansion draft. By taking Haula and avoiding Minnesota’s glut of defensemen, they also acquired Tuch as part of the overall deal.

Four Or More Years Remaining

F Reilly Smith ($5MM through 2021-22)

Only one deal goes over four years as the team took the challenge of trading for Reilly Smith at the expansion draft for a 2018 fourth-round pick as part of a side deal. Smith is still just 26 and has scored 40 goals over the past two years combined, although he had a down year last year with just 15 goals and 22 assists. The team hopes Gallant, Smith’s former coach, can get him to play at the level when Smith was at his best.

Buyouts

None

Retained Salary Transactions

Alexei Emelin ($1.1MM for 2017-18)

Still To Sign

None

Looking Ahead

The team should thrive in Vegas as the team has made Fleury the face of the franchise and hopes to build the team’s initial success on Fleury, Neal and Shipachyov. The team is committed to build for the future. Their flurry of deals, however, netted them three first-round picks this year and a bunch of others and the hope is that if some players can have big years, the team can unload those for even more picks.

Eventually this team will be built around players like Cody Glass, Erik Brannstrom, Nick Suzuki, Theodore and other young players who are going to be added to their franchise over time.

Vegas Golden Knights Alexei Emelin| Brad Hunt| Brayden McNabb| Calvin Pickard| Clayton Stoner| Cody Eakin| Cody Glass| Colin Miller| David Clarkson| David Perron| Deryk Engelland| Erik Haula| Griffin Reinhart| James Neal| Jason Garrison| Jon Merrill| Jonathan Marchessault| Luca Sbisa| Marc-Andre Fleury| Mikhail Grabovski| Nate Schmidt| Oscar Lindberg| P-E Bellemare| Reilly Smith| Salary Cap Deep Dive| Shea Theodore| Teemu Pulkkinen| Vadim Shipachyov| William Karlsson

1 comment

Uncertainty Surrounding Nate Schmidt Injury

September 4, 2017 at 6:05 pm CDT | by Zach Leach Leave a Comment

Few players have received as much attention this off-season as new Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt. The up-and-coming blue liner was selected by the NHL’s newest club in the Expansion Draft after a pair of strong seasons with the Washington Capitals. Then, before even playing a game with the Knights, the restricted free agent and his new team went to salary arbitration, where Schmidt was the only player this off-season to actually receive a reward from the arbitrator after a hearing. Vegas signed Schmidt to the two-year, $4.45MM deal that had been awarded and it appeared the two sides were all set for the 2017-18 season, with Schmidt prepared to play a major role on defense.

However, things have changed in an unexpected way. Back in mid-August, it was announced that Schmidt was unable to attend a fan event in Montana due to an injury. It was later revealed that Schmidt suffered an ankle injury while training, but no other details were offered. Weeks later, there has been no update on Schmidt’s condition with training camp just around the corner. Sin Bin inquired about the status of Schmidt’s injury today and, again, received no feedback. A team representative simply stated that “there is no update”.

At this point, some worry by fans has become warranted. Although the Knights still roster ten other NHL-caliber defenseman, Schmidt was slated to battle for a top pairing role and his absence would make the start of Vegas’ inaugural season much more difficult. While there’s just as little evidence to support any thought that he might miss time as there is about the injury itself, the lack of information coming from the team is cause for concern. Keep an eye out for updates on the Knights’ promising young rearguard as the season quickly approaches.

Arbitration| Expansion| Injury| Vegas Golden Knights| Washington Capitals Nate Schmidt

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NHL Snapshots: Johansson, Hanzal, Spezza, Tuch

September 3, 2017 at 1:59 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 1 Comment

Former Washington Capitals forward Marcus Johansson said he wasn’t surprised that he found himself traded a couple of months ago to the New Jersey Devils. Despite winning another President’s Trophy, given to the top regular season team, Johansson knew that the team’s lifespan was limited and was prepared for a possible breakup. The Capitals traded Johansson, lost defenseman Nate Schmidt to the expansion draft and allowed Justin Williams, Kevin Shattenkirk and Karl Alzner all depart via free agency.

NBC Sports Cam Tucker writes that Johansson recognizes that as being part of the game and is ready to move on to a bigger role with the Devils who need scoring. New Jersey had the third-worst offense in the NHL last year at 2.2 goals per game.

“Sometimes you have to change things and we had some good opportunities to win these past two years and we didn’t take them and I think this is what comes afterward,” said Johansson. “They have to change something and guys needed new contracts and stuff like that, so that’s the way it goes. There’s nothing more to say about it.”

  • Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun writes that the renaming of the Toronto Maple Leafs arena last week that has Scotiabank getting the naming rights for $800MM (CAD) on July 1, 2018, will have a huge benefit to the players throughout the league. He writes that half of the $40MM each year goes to the hockey-related revenue, which should have a positive influence on the future salary cap.
  • Sportsday’s Mike Heika interviewed Dallas Stars’ head coach Ken Hitchcock about the team’s center position and learned that the new coach expects to play newly acquired Martin Hanzal at center, but still hasn’t made up his mind when it comes to Jason Spezza. “To me, Hanzal is a center. The role Jason will have is a split duty role, and if I play Spezza on the wing, it will be a left wing. Jason will play a lot of center and some wing. We need to start with the puck, so he’s definitely going to be taking draws on his strong side,” Hitchcock said.
  • Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen writes that while the Golden Knights are not likely to keep any first year players (other than Vadim Shipachyov, people should keep an eye on Alex Tuch. The 21-year-old wing who was a first-round pick of the Minnesota Wild in 2014, could be a darkhorse candidate to make the team. Vegas, known for stockpiling draft picks, actually traded their third-rounder two months ago for Tuch. He scored 18 goals in 57 AHL games for the Iowa Wild and managed to play in six NHL games a year ago.

Dallas Stars| New Jersey Devils| Toronto Maple Leafs| Vegas Golden Knights| Washington Capitals Alex Tuch| Jason Spezza| Justin Williams| Karl Alzner| Kevin Shattenkirk| Marcus Johansson| Martin Hanzal| Nate Schmidt

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NHL Snapshots: Engelland, Pastrnak, Eichel

August 20, 2017 at 9:21 am CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 3 Comments

There were some confused faces a couple of months ago when fading veteran defenseman Deryk Engelland was one of the first players that the Vegas Golden Knights began to negotiate with when the team’s clock started to get the first-crack at negotiating with free agents. Afterall, the long-time veteran was never a blueliner to put up offensive numbers, but it was his defensive skills and speed that had begun to show signs of wear and tear in the last year or two.

Yet, the Golden Knights chose to ink the 35-year old to a one-year, $1MM deal instead of taking one of Calgary’s exposed players in the expansion draft. Perhaps the main reason is that Engelland has been an offseason resident of Las Vegas for the last 14 years, according to Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated. He initially spent two years in Las Vegas starting in 2003, playing for the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers, where he eventually met his wife and then settled down in the city. His knowledge and experience with the fledgling sports city has proven valuable to many Vegas-bound players who are slowly arriving for the team’s inaugural season. The veteran has helped several players including defenseman Nate Schmidt and forward Erik Haula in getting settled before the season starts.

Engelland’s veteran presence and leadership skills should prove valuable to a stable of young defenseman such as Schmidt, Shea Theodore, Luca Sbisa, Brayden McNabb, Jonathon Merrill and Colin Miller amongst several others.

  • Lyle Richardson of The Hockey News writes that despite an earlier rumor that Boston’s David Pastrnak might be traded which was quickly shot down by Bruins’ general manager Don Sweeney, the team’s hopes of signing him to a six-year deal for $6MM annually is not going to happen. Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl’s new eight-year, $64MM deal will only make negotiations with Pastrnak’s camp more challenging for the GM. Richardson writes that he believes Pastrnak’s camp may not ask for the $8.5MM AAV that Draisaitl received, but the Bruins must at least come up to a minimum of $7MM annually to get a long-term deal struck.
  • Speaking of long-term deals, Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington writes that phenom Jack Eichel has made it explicitly clear that he wants to sign a long-term deal to stay in Buffalo. The scribe also writes that both sides want the extension completed before training camp starts next month. “I’ve made it clear that I want to be a Sabre. I want to be in Buffalo when we start winning,” Eichel reiterated. “I want to reward the city. It’s been two great years. I don’t want to go anywhere else.” After recent extensions for Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, the team must figure out where Eichel’s contract should fit. Harrington suggests a deal around $9MM per year is what Buffalo hopes to ink him to. The 20-year old is coming off a second 24-goal season, but this year he did it in fewer games, having missed 21 games due to a high ankle sprain suffered at the beginning of the season.

Boston Bruins| Buffalo Sabres| Don Sweeney| Vegas Golden Knights David Pastrnak| Deryk Engelland| Erik Haula| Jack Eichel| Leon Draisaitl| Nate Schmidt

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Capitals Notes: Carlson, Defensive Depth, Arena

August 12, 2017 at 7:27 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 2 Comments

Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson will have his work cut out for him this coming season. The Capitals which had one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the league had no choice to break up their team due to salary cap issues. The team was forced to say goodbye to several players on their defense, including Kevin Shattenkirk, Karl Alzner, and Nate Schmidt, leaving Carlson to take on an even bigger role next year.

The defense does still have some of their high-paid defensemen remaining on the roster, including 30-year-old Matt Niskanen, who has four years remaining on the contract he signed in 2014 at $5.75MM AAV. Brooks Orpik, 36, still has two years remaining on his deal which pays him $5.5MM annually. The Capitals also locked up 26-year-old Dmitry Orlov to a new six-year, $30.6MM deal this offseason.

Carlson, who may have been one of the least noticed defenseman on his team, is currently fourth among the highest paid Capitals’ defenders at $3.96MM for one more year. He put up solid numbers of nine goals and 28 assists in 22:43 average minutes of ice time. He will likely have to do that again as the depth ends there.

Carlson said he has always been used to youth in the clubhouse with last year being an exception, so the 27-year-old veteran is not surprised the Capitals are trending in that direction, according to Tarik El-Bashir of CSNMidAtlantic. Carlson said he wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up playing with a rookie next season.

Currently, fifth on their depth chart is 30-year Taylor Chorney, who played in 18 games last year. AHL defenders Christian Djoos (58 points in 66 games) and Madison Bowey (14 points in 34 games) are currently penciled on the defensive depth chart. There is even some talk the Capitals might entertain promoting 2016 first-rounder Lucas Johansen from the WHL.

The team still has time to make some additions as they still have more than $4MM in cap space. They could attempt to sign a free agent like Cody Franson to a minimal deal or attempt to broker a deal with the Vegas Golden Knights for one of their many defenders, but the Capitals have other holes to fill on offense as well, so in the end, they may go with what they have.

  • Gone unnoticed was that the Capitals changed the name of their stadium last week. Previously known as the Verizon Center since 2006, the new stadium will be called Capital One Arena, according to NHL.com. Originally opened in 1997 as the MCI Center, and while the connection between Capital One and the Capitals is a clever one, the arena is also home to the Washington Wizards of the NBA, the Washington Mystics of the WNBA and Georgetown University basketball.

 

Washington Capitals Brooks Orpik| Dmitry Orlov| John Carlson| Karl Alzner| Kevin Shattenkirk| Matt Niskanen| Nate Schmidt

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Nate Schmidt Receives Arbitration Award

August 5, 2017 at 1:37 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

The Golden Knights now know what they will be paying defenseman Nate Schmidt for the next two years.  Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports reports (Twitter link) that Schmidt has been awarded a two year, $4.45MM deal by an arbitrator.  He will receive $2.15MM in 2017-18 and $2.3MM in 2018-19.  He will now be eligible for unrestricted free agency in July of 2019.

The deal comes in quite a bit closer to what Schmidt’s representatives proposed than what Vegas offered.  Back on Tuesday, the team offered a two-year pact worth a total of $1.95MM while Schmidt countered with a one-year, $2.75MM pact.  Because it was Schmidt who filed for arbitration, the team got to choose between signing him for one season or two.

The 26-year-old was selected from Washington in June’s Expansion Draft after a strong late-season and playoff showing.  In 60 regular season games, Schmidt had three goals and 14 assists while averaging 15:27 per night.  He got into the playoff lineup when Karl Alzner went down and never looked back.  Overall, Schmidt played in 11 postseason contests, collecting a goal and three assists while seeing his average ice time increase to 16:39 per game.

[Related: Golden Knights Depth Chart From Roster Resource]

With this award, the Golden Knights now have all of their players selected from expansion under contract.  They still have more than $5.5MM in cap space remaining and considering their willingness to take on bad contracts in exchange for other assets, it will be interesting to see if GM George McPhee will go that route once again.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (via Twitter) was first to report that the award had been made.

Transactions| Vegas Golden Knights Nate Schmidt

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After Arbitration Hearing, Nate Schmidt Still Without Contract

August 3, 2017 at 2:59 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

Though arbitration hasn’t resulted in any decisions yet this season, Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt could be the first to have a ruling come down. Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the two sides went through the hearing today in Toronto, and still do not have a contract worked out. That leaves them with a 48 hour window with which to come to some sort of an agreement, similar to Tomas Tatar and Viktor Arvidsson last month.

Schmidt submitted a one-year $2.75MM ask, while the team countered with a two-year deal worth a total of $1.95MM. Like any arbitration, those are outside points on a contract that will ultimately fall somewhere in the middle. The two year term is not negotiable however, as Schmidt filed for player-elected salary arbitration, which gives the option on length to the team.

That said, a long-term contract is still a possibility between the two sides. Schmidt has shown impressive potential with the Washington Capitals in the past, and is a dynamic player who could fit in quite well with a team strapped for high-end skill. His skating ability would be quite the draw for new fans, though success on the ice is obviously paramount. If Schmidt does receive a cheap two-year term, he would immediately become an excellent trade chip, something we’ve discussed in the past for the Golden Knights. The 26-year old would be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the two years.

Arbitration| Vegas Golden Knights Nate Schmidt

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Nate Schmidt, Vegas Golden Knights Exchange Arbitration Figures

August 1, 2017 at 8:33 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

Nate Schmidt is one of the final arbitration cases and is due to have a hearing on Thursday morning in Toronto with the Vegas Golden Knights. The two sides traded figures today, with the team offering a two-year deal worth a total of $1.95MM while Schmidt is looking for a one-year $2.75MM award according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Schmidt is the final restricted free agent left to sign for the Golden Knights, who are still working towards avoiding arbitration with the young defender. With two years left before he hits unrestricted free agency, the team opted for the two-year term that will take him right to the open market. As discussed previously, the Golden Knights are clearly trying to position themselves as a player at the trade deadline, and seem uninterested in players signed for more than two years.

While they could still reach a longer term deal with Schmidt, it’s not clear if they view him as a long-term piece of the franchise or a valuable asset that can continue to kick start a build through the draft. The dynamic skater could easily be one of the top options for a team this deadline looking to shore up their defense, especially after the excellent showing he had in the playoffs for the Washington Capitals. Schmidt almost made Karl Alzner obsolete, arguably playing better than him when the now-Montreal Canadien went down to injury in the first round.

Schmidt is coming off a year where he made $875K, so Vegas is offering him a very modest raise heading into next season. As always, these are outer limits for the negotiation and an arbitration decision would almost certainly come somewhere in the middle. In 60 games, Schmidt put up 17 points and was generally effective, though he still doesn’t have a very high profile among fans mostly due to his lack of draft pedigree. He was signed out of the University of Minnesota in 2013.

Arbitration| Washington Capitals Elliotte Friedman| Nate Schmidt

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Nate Schmidt Still Working Towards Contract With Golden Knights

July 31, 2017 at 10:41 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

One of the few remaining arbitration cases left on the docket, Nate Schmidt is the Vegas Golden Knights’ final restricted free agent to sign this summer. Though he has a hearing scheduled for Thursday, August 3rd, Schmidt and the team are still hoping to get something done before the meeting according to Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Schmidt turned 26 a few weeks ago, and has two years of team control left. If the Golden Knights choose a one-year arbitration award, he would remain a restricted free agent again next summer and be eligible to repeat the process. Otherwise, any contract longer than two years would start buying out unrestricted free agent years, driving the price noticeably higher. Schmidt is coming off an interesting season where he averaged less than 15 and a half minutes a night but was dynamic and explosive every time he was given a bigger opportunity. He recorded 17 points in just 60 games, and could easily be the Golden Knights’ highest-scoring defenseman this season.

He’s coming off a contract that paid him just $875K last season, and it will be interesting to see how high the Golden Knights are willing to go and if they even want to lock him up long term. As we’ve looked at before, the team is clearly preparing itself to move several players at the trade deadline this year, and Schmidt would hold a lot of value on a short-term deal. If they don’t believe he can be part of the first winning Vegas team—which could happen sooner than you think—getting him under a reasonable cap number without buying out UFA seasons makes him a very appealing target around the league.

Arbitration| Schedule| Vegas Golden Knights Nate Schmidt

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Upcoming RFA Arbitrations

July 29, 2017 at 11:30 am CDT | by Mike Furlano Leave a Comment

Next week is the last week for scheduled RFA arbitrations. So far no team or player has managed to actually make it to arbitration. Rather, parties have settled in every arbitration case prior to the arbitration hearing date. The same fate may await the following six players who make up the final set of arbitration dates.

August 2nd: Calvin de Haan – New York Islanders
The New York Islanders defenseman had a $1.97MM cap hit last season, and put up 5G and 20A in 82 games.

August 3rd: Nate Schmidt – Vegas Golden Knights
The former Washington Capitals defenseman—selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL expansion draft—put up 3G and 14A in 60 games last season. His previous cap hit was $812K.

August 3rd: Nino Niederreiter – Minnesota Wild
The 24 year-old Wild forward had a previous cap hit of $2.66MM and scored 25G and 32A in 82 games last season. Expect a significant raise.

August 4th: Mikael Granlund – Minnesota Wild
The 25 year-old Wild forward put up even better numbers than Neiderreiter with 26G and 43A in 81 games. Expect a significant raise over his previous $3MM cap hit.

August 4th: Conor Sheary – Pittsburgh Penguins
Fresh off a career season and a Stanley Cup victory, Sheary looks for a significant raise over his $667K contract. Sheary put up 23G and 30A in 61 games last season.

August 4th: Nathan Beaulieu – Buffalo Sabres
The 24 year-old defenseman scored 4G and 24A in 74 games last season. His previous cap hit was an even $1MM.

Arbitration| Buffalo Sabres| Expansion| Minnesota Wild| New York Islanders| Pittsburgh Penguins| RFA| Vegas Golden Knights Calvin de Haan| Conor Sheary| Mikael Granlund| Nate Schmidt| Nathan Beaulieu| Nino Niederreiter

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