The Utah Mammoth have signed veteran defenseman Nate Schmidt to a three-year deal worth $3.5 million annually.
Schmidt, 33, is not new to expansion franchises. He was an original member of the Vegas Golden Knights team that made it to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final. The Golden Knights lost that year — and he was no longer on the team when they won in 2023 — but he got his ring this year with the Florida Panthers.
He scored three goals and nine points in 23 playoff games en route to the Cup.
After leaving the Golden Knights, Schmidt struggled to find a permanent home. He played a season with the Vancouver Canucks before being traded for a third-round pick to the Winnipeg Jets, who eventually bought him out. He signed a one-year prove-it deal with the Panthers, which revived his status as a legitimate top-four defenseman.
“Even with his age, he’s one of the best skaters and he continues to improve on that and become a better player,” said general manager Bill Armstrong in a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
Schmidt is widely regarded as one of the most jovial players in the league. Similar to Brandon Tanev, whom the Mammoth signed earlier in the day, he will bring a morale boost and veteran experience to Utah’s relatively young locker room.
“I think you look at the hockey player first, and what they can bring to your club, and then that’s a bonus, is the fact that their character, their work ethic and those intangibles help us make the next step,” Armstrong said.
He fits the Mammoth’s bill in terms of championship pedigree. He joins Mikhail Sergachev, Olli Määttä, Ian Cole and Kevin Stenlund as players who have won at the NHL level, while most of their other players have won championships at other levels.
Utah is now overloaded with defensemen, which likely isn’t a bad thing after suffering so many injuries to the back end last season. Their list of NHL blue liners includes:
- Mikhail Sergachev (left)
- Nate Schmidt (left)
- Olli Määttä (left)
- Ian Cole (left)
- Dmitri Simashev (left)
- Scott Perunovich (left)
- John Marino (right)
- Sean Durzi (right)
- Maveric Lamoureux (right)
- Nick DeSimone (right)
Armstrong said he doesn’t anticipate any injuries to defensemen to start the season, but rather a deep team and a competitive training camp. John Marino, who missed the first 42 games and the final five games last season, should be available to start the year.
Other Utah Mammoth news
Additional Tuesday transactions regarding the Mammoth include:
- Brandon Tanev signed (three-year deal).
- Scott Perunovich signed (one-year, two-way, league-minimum deal).
- Kailer Yamamoto re-signed (one-year, two-way, league-minimum deal).
- Nick Bjugstad left to the St. Louis Blues via free agency.