Canucks defender Nate Schmidt apparently wants to be traded
It looks like @Nate Schmidt’s time as a member of the Vancouver Canucks could be over after one season.
According to reports from The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta and CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal, things aren’t working out for Schmidt in Vancouver and he’d like a change of scenery. Back in May, Canucks general manager Jim Benning denied any rumour that Schmidt had requested a trade while being interviewed on Donnie and Dhali.
Since the day the season ended, this rumour will not die. It won’t go away. It resurfaces, it dies down, and then it comes back to the surface,” Dhaliwal said on Friday’s show. “It came back to the surface again on the weekend. I have not had anybody tell me it’s not true.
“I heard again on the weekend [Schmidt] does want out. Not hearing why… I tried to diffuse it on the weekend and people are still telling me, ‘Yes, Rick, he wants out.’”
The Canucks acquired Schmidt as a cap-dump from the Vegas Golden Knights back in October for a third-round pick in 2022. In 54 games with the Canucks, he scored five goals and 15 points and logged 20:06 per game, a decline across the board from his production in three seasons with Vegas.
Schmidt has four years left on a contract with a $5,950,000 cap hit. Benning is in a difficult this off-season as he needs to sort out new deals for both @Elias Pettersson and @Quinn Hughes, so dumping money will be one of his biggest priorities.