Advertisement

Capitals tried to reacquire Nate Schmidt after losing him to Golden Knights in expansion draft

May 29, 2018 at 5:00AM
ARLINGTON, VA - SEPTEMBER 4: Nate Schmidt of the Washington Capitals poses for his official headshot for the 2013-2014 season on September 4, 2013 at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Nate Schmidt ORG XMIT: 177614479
Schmidt (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

LAS VEGAS – Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt is the one who got away for the Capitals, the player Washington lost in last year's expansion draft. During Sunday's media day ahead of Monday's Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, Vegas General Manager George McPhee revealed Washington attempted to trade for Schmidt immediately after he was swiped.

"We made our selection and then Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan called and asked if there's any way we could do a deal for him to get Schmidt back, and I said, 'I don't see anything, but we'll try to come up with something to give you a chance to say no,' " McPhee said. "So we made a proposal that I didn't think would work, and it didn't work because our guys like Schmidt. So we overreached on the ask, and that's the way it went."

MacLellan said what Vegas asked for Schmidt "didn't make sense." MacLellan might have offered to trade skilled winger Marcus Johansson; the Capitals ultimately dealt him to New Jersey later in the summer because of salary cap constraints. Johansson finished with 24 goals and 34 assists during the 2016-17 season. As Washington's longtime general manager, McPhee would have been especially familiar with the Capitals roster.

Losing Schmidt stung for Washington because the former Gophers and St. Cloud Cathedral player was projected to play in the Capitals' top four defense corps going into this season. With Vegas, he has averaged more than 22 minutes per game, a top-pairing blue-liner who often plays against opponent's top forwards.

"We had just got him to the point, development wise, where he was going to expand his role, and we unfortunately had to lose him," MacLellan said. "We were in a tough situation where we were going to lose someone we liked."

Too late for his liking

Jonathan Marchessault, Vegas' leading scorer in the playoffs, walked off the ice and toward the Golden Knights' dressing room after taking an open-ice check.

Washington's Tom Wilson landed a blindside hit on Marchessault well after he got rid of the puck near center ice.

Wilson was later called for interference against Marchessault after the officials gathered to discuss what happened. David Perron, who had come off Vegas' bench, was penalized for cross-checking Alex Ovechkin during the same stoppage of play 5:53 into the third period.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Marchessault later returned to the ice. Afterward, he said: "It was a late hit … The league is going to take care of it."

Same for Seattle

Commissioner Gary Bettman said an NHL team in Seattle would have the same favorable expansion terms given to the Golden Knights.

Bettman said the league could vote on adding its 32nd team in Seattle later this year, although it won't happen in June.

Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly both confirmed the NHL plans to keep the same rules on the next expansion draft. If it happens within the next two years, as increasingly expected, Vegas won't have to lose any of its players.

Seattle's ownership group will have to pay a $650 million expansion fee and make arena improvements to play in the NHL as soon as 2020.

As for the Golden Knights, Bettman reiterated he was in awe of their first-year success. "No one saw this coming," he said.

Advertisement

Etc.

• Fans began filling up the plaza outside T-Mobile Arena several hours before Game 1 despite 94-degree temperatures. The parking lots and casino restaurants nearby were jammed with people decked out in costumes ranging from suits of armor to a Sasquatch.

• Famed ring announcer Michael Buffer yelled "Let's get ready to rumble!" before announcing starting lineups.

Advertisement
about the writer

about the writer

NEWS SERVICES

More from Minnesota Star Tribune

See More
In this photo taken Monday, March 6, 2017, in San Francisco, released confidential files by The University of California of a sexual misconduct case, like this one against UC Santa Cruz Latin Studies professor Hector Perla is shown. Perla was accused of raping a student during a wine-tasting outing in June 2015. Some of the files are so heavily redacted that on many pages no words are visible. Perla is one of 113 UC employees found to have violated the system's sexual misconduct policies in rece

We respect the desire of some tipsters to remain anonymous, and have put in place ways to contact reporters and editors to ensure the communication will be private and secure.

card image
Advertisement
Advertisement

To leave a comment, .

Advertisement