Canucks: 3 questions facing Nate Schmidt in 2021
The Vancouver Canucks are curious about what Nate Schmidt will bring to the team next season. Here are three of the biggest questions he’ll face in 2021.
Fans are eager to find out how defender Nate Schmidt will fit in with his new team, the Vancouver Canucks.
After going the distance against the Canucks in the 2020 NHL Playoffs as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights, Schmidt is feeling pretty giddy about joining such a young and exciting hockey team. He’s especially thrilled that he won’t be tasked with shutting down two of the more skilled players in the NHL anymore, Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes.
“I don’t have to go play against Quinn Hughes or Pettersson and these guys anymore, which is nice, to be on this side of things,” said Schmidt when he talked with Sportnet after the deal went down.
Schmidt is expected to be an excellent addition to the team. He’s a different player than the departed Chris Tanev, but even with both him and Troy Stecher out of the picture, management believes the team will have a better blueline next season. But with that one statement alone, comes a lot of different questions.
Who will be Schmidt’s defensive partner?
One of the biggest questions facing the acquisition of Schmidt is, who exactly will he be paired with on defence? Does Travis Green elect to partner up his two best defenders to make a super pairing of Hughes and Schmidt? Or would it make more sense to split up his two best puck-moving blueliners to give the Canucks a better overall transition game? Let’s examine, shall we?
Option A: Putting Schmidt to the right side of Hughes for 24+ minutes a night sounds like a very entertaining idea. Both players are solid defencemen with highly gifted offensive capabilities. The two being partnered together would be a match made in heaven and it would give the Canucks an offensive 1-2 punch from the back end that not even the best defensive teams could keep up with.
Option B: The second most likely spot on the roster for Schmidt would have to be slotted on the second pairing next to Alex Edler. As Edler (34) is set to enter his 15th season with the Canucks, he’s definitely on the back-nine of his NHL career, but Vancouver still relies on him to play big minutes against stiff competition. At times, that was a noticeable struggle for Edler last season, but with Schmidt on his side, maybe he can last another year.
It’ll be interesting to see what ends up happening with Schmidt’s position on the team. In my opinion, as intriguing as it is to want to pair Hughes and Schmidt together, I think it makes more sense for the Canucks to split them up.
With little experience on the team’s third pairing this year, Vancouver will rely on their top-four to play more minutes than they should. They’d be better off getting 45 minutes of ice time a night where at least one of their puck-moving defenders (Hughes, Schmidt) is on the ice.
Will Nate Schmidt play on the penalty kill?
Not having Tanev return to the Canucks was a major blow to Vancouver’s penalty kill. For years, Tanev has hovered inside the NHL’s top-five for most blocked shots per game and he did a lot of that shot-blocking on the PK. With him gone, it’ll be interesting to see how the Canucks find ways to be as defensively responsible.
As a player, Schmidt is a lot different than Tanev. The two may play the same position, but the way they go about isn’t similar at all. Tanev is your typical stay-at-home kind of defender, while Schmidt isn’t quite as strong in his own end, but he’s more versatile and well-rounded offensively.
Playing for Vegas last year, Schmidt was often up against the opposition’s best players at five-on-five, but when his team was down a man, Schmidt finished with the fourth-most PK minutes as a defenceman. He was a second unit contributor for Vegas, but the Canucks probably need him to be more than that. It’ll be interesting to see how this pans out next season.
How many points will Schmidt get next year?
Whenever your favourite NHL team makes a trade, it always makes you curious as to how effective that new player will be. Everyone wants to know the same thing. How many points will Schmidt score with the Canucks next season? No matter which way you put it, that’s what everyone wants to know.
As a member of the juggernaut Golden Knights, Schmidt put up the most points of his career last year in terms of points per game. In 59 contests, Schmidt tallied seven goals and 31 total points. It’s a shade over half a point per game, something he can probably shatter if he plays next to Hughes.
Either way, paired with Hughes or not, Schmidt should be the second-highest point producer on Vancouver’s blueline next year. He’s getting paid a smidge under $6 million and the Canucks are expecting him to perform like it. If things go smoothly, 2021 could be a year to remember for Schmidt.
Next. Canucks Prospect Report: Which D-men will crack the roster. dark
What are your thoughts, Canucks Nation? What other big questions face Schmidt ahead of the 2021 campaign? Comment below and let us know!
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