Vegas Golden Knights: Evaluating Nate Schmidt’s Usage

Nate Schmidt has emerged as the Vegas Golden Knights’ most trusted blueliner. But they need to utilize him better.

The Vegas Golden Knights are off to a roaring start. A huge reason for this is they’ve gotten much better play from certain players than expected. William Karlsson immediately comes to mind. So does Malcolm Subban. But looking at the blueline, even the most ardent Nate Schmidt supporter couldn’t have seen him as their top defenseman.

There are a ton of ways to evaluate a blueliner. But we’ll use the most simple way – time on ice. This shows what kind of role a player is in and how much their coach trusts them (or doesn’t). Is it flawed? Absolutely. But it’s a pretty good way of at least seeing what role a player is in.

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Entering Dec. 8, Schmidt leads all Golden Knight skaters in even strength TOI with 447 minutes. The next closest defenseman, Deryk Engelland, has played 411 minutes. On top of his even strength duties, Schmidt also serves over two minutes a game on the power play and a shade under two minutes per game killing penalties.

Washington Capitals fans probably aren’t too surprised to hear he’s their top defenseman. After all, Schmidt posted extremely promising possession numbers while in Washington. He never really got a fair shake, so even this Caps fan was excited to see him get a well deserved and long overdue increase in playing time.

Struggles

It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for Schmidt in Vegas, though. For the first time in his career, he’s posting a negative relative even strength CorsiFor percentage. Granted, some regression from his 2.60 percent relative CorsiFor percentage was expected given he’s on pace to best his career high in even strength time on ice and he’s had very limited experience as a top pairing defenseman.

But still, the decline is a bit shocking. However, let’s take a deeper look at his numbers.

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Who’s Dragging Him Down?

WOWY is an acronym for “with or without you“. It tracks each player’s time on ice and who they spend it with. This allows users to see how each player does with or without another player. Now, Schmidt’s situation is a little weird. Most top defenseman play with a variety of their peers. Schmidt has spent over 58 percent of his total even strength time with Luca Sbisa.

Looking at his WOWY, it’s fairly obvious what the issue is. And it’s definitely not Schmidt. His CF percentage with Sbisa is 45.02 percent. In other words, 54.98 percent of all even-strength shot attempts when that duo is on the ice are by the other team. That’s not good. While over 50 percent of the even strength scoring chances Schmidt and Sbisa are on the ice for are for the good guys, Schmidt’s numbers without Sbisa are better.

Away from Sbisa, Schmidt has a much better even strength Corsi For percentage (and scoring chances for percentage). Meanwhile, his partner’s possession numbers see a huge drop away from him.

A bit of context is necessary. Some teams are very good at limiting scoring chances while still having a relatively poor CorsiFor percentage. Last season’s Minnesota Wild immediately come to mind.

This isn’t the case with the Golden Knights. They’re an above average Corsi team, ranking 13th in even strength Corsi For percentage. Vegas is even better as far as scoring chances, ranking 11th.

So What Should They Do?

Here’s the problem. Vegas doesn’t have a Drew Doughty or an Erik Karlsson. Schmidt is a very capable top pairing defenseman. But he won’t be winning any Norris Trophies. The Golden Knights don’t have a franchise defenseman yet.

Also, Vegas has a total of two right-handed defensemen. Colin Miller and Deryk Engelland. That’s it. So the answer isn’t as easy as it sounds. However, what they should do is explore other options.

For example, Schmidt has done quite well with Brayden McNabb. Both are left-handed, but it’s worth noting Sbisa is a southpaw as well. Also worth noting is Schmidt has experience playing on the right side. Before the Capitals traded for Kevin Shattenkirk last season, Schmidt played on his off side and made Brooks Orpik look like a competent defenseman.

Considering Vegas just signed McNabb to an extension, it’s safe to say they view him as an important part of their future. It’s safe to say the Golden Knights view Schmidt in a similar manner. They’re the only active defensemen Vegas has under contract for next season. So why not try out the two a little bit more?

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Schmidt’s doing a very good job considering he’s adjusting to a brand new role with far more responsibilities than he ever had with the Capitals. But the Golden Knights could make his job easier. And if Vegas finds a franchise defenseman, Schmidt should be an excellent complementary partner for him (or her).