TAMPA BAY – If Nate Schmidt can’t make you smile, you may need to check your pulse.
For a team looking to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, his personality has been a perfect fit.
“He’s fit in really well,” fellow Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov said during the team’s media availability on Wednesday in Tampa. “He’s an easy-going guy. Talks too much a little bit sometimes (laughs), but I like that. Sometimes you’re a little bit tired in the morning and you come into the locker room and all you need is to hear those guys to bring a smile to your face.”
Not just bringing positivity, Schmidt, a 12-year NHL veteran, has also brought production.
Taking the ice in 80 games during the regular season, the 33-year-old rearguard registered 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) and 81 blocks while averaging 16:32 of ice time per game minutes per game.
“He’s been great for us all year,” said forward Sam Bennett. “He’s got such an upbeat, positive attitude all the time and one of the louder guys in the locker room. You need guys like that.”
Nate Schmidt crashes the net to put the Panthers up 3-1 in the second period.
A veteran of five different NHL teams, Schmidt sees something special with the Panthers.
“To say I wasn’t nervous coming in at the very beginning of the year, it would be wrong because I was,” he said with a smile. “You never know how you’re going to help a team like this, but I find that this team with the personalities they have, the game style, the standard we have, it doesn’t even need to come from the staff. It comes from the bench; it comes from the guys in the room.”
Still seeking his first Stanley Cup, Schmidt, who joined the defending champions on a one-year contract last summer, said it was Florida’s locker room that really sold him during free agency.
“It was a long way to South Florida,” said Schmidt, who arrived to the team with 76 career playoff games already under his belt. “The one thing I heard about this team is how they treat each other and take the everyday look at it. It’s something that I coveted.”
Gaining some early confidence in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Schmidt helped the Panthers take Game 1 by a score of 6-2 against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night.
On the ice for 15:51, No. 88 registered two goals, three shots, two hits and a blocked shot.
Finding the back of the net twice at Amalie Arena, Schmidt became the fourth defenseman in the last 30 years to score multiple goals in his playoff debut with a franchise, according to NHL Stats.
Nate Schmidt scores his second goal of the game, putting the Panthers up 6-2 on the power play.
“He falls into that category of a veteran player that appreciates and enjoys the playoffs,” said head coach Paul Maurice.
Making his mark, Schmidt’s two goals on Tuesday gave him playoff goals with four different teams, a list that also includes the Washington Capitals, Vegas Golden Knights, and Winnipeg Jets.
Per NHL Stats, the only other defensemen in NHL history to score a playoff goal with more franchises are Larry Murphy and Paul Coffey, who each scored with five different teams.
Being in a conversation with two legends?
Just another reason to smile.
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