Canucks: Nate Schmidt traded to Winnipeg for 3rd round pick

The Vancouver Canucks continue to be busy in the offseason.

On Tuesday afternoon, reports began to come in that the team had finally found a trade partner for blueliner Nate Schmidt.

As per insiders Pierre LeBrun and Elliotte Friedman, it initially appeared that Schmidt had agreed to waive his NMC to join the Winnipeg Jets. The team later confirmed the transaction, announcing that they had received a 2022 third-round pick in return, which was exactly what the Canucks gave up to acquire Schmidt in the first place.

As we all know, Schmidt’s first season with the club didn’t go exactly as planned.

The 30-year-old registered his lowest points total since 2014-2015 with just 15 points in 54 games, to go along with a career-worst minus 7 rating.

The 6’1”, 195 pound top-four defenceman was acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights during the 2020 offseason, with the hopes that he’d be able to play on both sides of the blueline if needed, while also using his smooth-skating ability to help the team transition the puck up the ice.

Unfortunately, that did not happen.

According to Hockey Reference, Schmidt’s deployment in Vancouver was also not ideal for his overall capabilities, as the blueliner only found himself in 34.8% of all offensive zone starts. To put this into perspective, he entered his first year in Vancouver with a career average of 49% offensive zone starts. During his time in Vegas, Schmidt saw a minimum 48.5% of offensive starts and was able to post strong possession numbers and an over-50% Corsi For (CF) percentage as a result.

Put simply, the Canucks tried to play him like a stay-at-home defensive defenceman, instead of the true offensively-minded defenceman that he is.

A few weeks after the Canucks’ season came to an end, it was reported that Schmidt wanted to pursue a trade that would send him out of Vancouver, deeming that the relationship between he and the organization was not a good fit.

It took a bit of time, but General Manager Jim Benning was finally able to get the job done, without retaining any salary. Between this transaction, as well as the Holtby and Virtanen buyouts, the Canucks were able to free up $12.2 million against the cap. They also inked newest Canuck Conor Garland to a five-year contract, rounding out their total projected cap space just north of $26 million.

The Canucks still have to re-sign RFA superstars Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes, who are expected to get hefty raises from their entry-level deals. They’ll also need to lock in defensive centre and fellow RFA Jason Dickinson, while also searching for a new back-up goaltender, two right-handed defencemen and some fourth-line depth forwards.

In other words, it was a necessity for Benning to trade away Schmidt and his $23.8 million cap hit if he wanted a decent chance at constructing a contending roster for next season.

Now we wait until free agency, which is set to open on July 28th at 9am PST.

What are your thoughts on the Schmidt trade? Should it be considered a win for the Canucks, given the return? Let us know in the comments!