Canucks: A look at Nate Schmidt’s performance so far this season

The Vancouver Canucks acquired Nate Schmidt from the Vegas Golden Knights last October to help fill the void on the defence’s right side. Surprisingly, all it took to snag him was a third-round pick in 2022. Fans and analysts were genuinely pleased with the move and it wasn’t hard to see why. The 29-year-old is a solid puck-moving defenceman who can start the counter-attack effectively and help out offensively.

“We’re really excited to be getting a player and person of Nate’s quality,” said general manager Jim Benning per Sportsnet’s Ian MacIntyre after the trade. “We needed to address our defence and Nate checks a lot of boxes. He’s been a really good player in this league and he’s going to help our young guys and our team get better moving forward.”

Schmidt also has a very fun and outgoing personality both on and off the ice; he loves to yell “whoop whoop” when he wants to receive a pass.

So far, Schmidt is on pace to score three goals and seven assists in a 56 game season. He hasn’t really been the player the Canucks hoped for when they acquired him from Vegas. There are games where he doesn’t look noticeable. Sure, he has been playing on the left side at times (he is more comfortable on the right despite being a left-handed shooter.) The offence and puck-moving ability hasn’t been as prominent as fans were anticipating. His defending has been average, which still makes him one of the better Canucks defencemen.

Schmidt’s numbers

Schmidt has been creating chances and only Alex Edler has been better than him in that department despite his struggles on the power play.

Schmidt leads all Canucks defencemen in corsi at 49.95% and shots for percentage with 50.76%. He is also second on the team amongst blueliners in expected goals with 48.59%. Edler is the leader with 50.81%.

Schmidt’s PDO is 1.004, which also includes an on-ice SV% of 90% (shots against when he was on the ice). That means he’s been kind of unlucky.

Schmidt clips

Schmidt’s bad luck was shown on Thursday night’s game against Calgary when Andrew Magiapane’s shot first bounced off of Jordie Benn, then Schmidt, for the second Flames goal.

Schmidt’s ability to look up and pass up the ice is a reason why he was acquired in the first place. Here, he makes a nice to pass Adam Gaudette, who is stopped by Jacob Markstrom.

This clip below shows Schmidt can make good defensive plays. After the Canucks’ power play expired, Josh Anderson had the opportunity to pass to Joel Armia for an odd-man rush but is thwarted by Schmidt, who uses his stick to prevent the pass.

Could we see Quinn Hughes with Schmidt?

Schmidt has been paired with numerous players including Tyler Myers and Edler. However, this begs the question of whether or not we should see Schmidt paired up with Quinn Hughes.

Now, the idea has been brought up since the trade. The Canucks would have two puck-moving defencemen who could provide a fast transition up the ice, especially with the Lotto Line. Hughes hasn’t been that great defensively, and Schmidt could cover for him while Hughes focuses on offence.

They have only played 20 total minutes together this season. If paired more often, we could possibly see a two-headed monster that dominates using their puck possession and skating abilities. At this point in the season, I don’t see why not.

Schmidt has been underwhelming so far for the Canucks, but the team plays a different system than the Golden Knights. He also played tough minutes with Vegas alongside defensive defenceman Brayden Mcnabb. Pairing him with an offensive weapon like Hughes could possibly elevate his game.

Schmidt hasn’t been terrible so far but has maybe been underutilized. If he and the team can become more familiar with each other, we will then be able to witness his impact on full display.

*Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.