In this edition of the hotstove we share our thoughts on Nate Schmidt's six-year, $35.7 million ($5.95M per) extension with the Vegas Golden Knights.
Todd Cordell
I like Nate Schmidt's game. He defends fairly well, he is an excellent skater, and he is capable of chipping in offensively. With all that said, this deal is too rich for my blood. As of now, Schmidt is scheduled to be the 25th highest paid defender in 2018-19. He is a solid player but I think that is a little overkill. He is not the high-end guy he'll be paid to be.
This isn't the kind of deal that will cripple a team, however, it's another example of the Golden Knights buying high and overpaying to keep their guys around (see Alex Tuch and Marc-Andre Fleury). I think it's going to catch up to them sooner or later.
Peter Tessier Nate Schmidt has never scored more than 17 points in a season before last year on a team that had so many players exceeded even the wildest of expectations. Now he's earning double his salary for six years starting next season.
The bills are coming due for Vegas and George McPhee is hardly trying to look for deals let alone negotiate. He's gambling with house money, time and time again. He might win, and win big but last year was something special and different and unprecedented so why not make decisions that take those conditions into consideration?
Is it a bad deal- hard to say as Nate has not played a game this season so far but... when he does all eyes can be on what 5.9 million gets you after one career year.
James Tanner Nate Schmidt is a good player. He is a decent middle pairing defenceman, but he's no star. I don't know if I like paying him almost six million per year. He's 27 and this takes him to 33. If he was 23 and was going to improve as the cap hit became more tolerable by the year, I'd like it. But at 27 he's never getting better, only worse. The cap hit is kind of high for what he does, the term is kind of long for a guy who only has one year of being more than a fringe player. I don't like this contract, even though I do like Schmidt as a player. It makes sense to lock up young players and stars, but there is no need to give term to middle of the lineup players - the Knights have Schmidt, Tuch, Smith, Pacioretty, Theodore, and Marchessault all signed long-term, which is a pretty mediocre core to lock into. Only the Theodore contract really makes a ton of sense to me.
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