SALT LAKE CITY — Nine months ago, Nate Schmidt was celebrating a Stanley Cup championship with the Florida Panthers. Now the 34-year-old defenseman is the seasoned veteran on a Utah Mammoth team that leads the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 in their first-round series heading into Game 4 on Monday at Delta Center.
Schmidt signed a three-year, $10.5 million contract with the Mammoth on July 1, just three weeks after Florida defeated the Edmonton Oilers in six games for its second straight title. He was the first player to receive the Cup from captain Aleksander Barkov.
“He arrived with credibility,” Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said.
Schmidt’s journey to Utah included stops in Washington, Vancouver, and Winnipeg before a buyout led him to Florida on a one-year, prove-it deal. He became a key contributor in the playoffs, posting 12 points and a plus-9 rating in 23 games.
“It kind of just simplified the game way down for me,” Schmidt said of his approach under Panthers coach Paul Maurice. “You realize you could be impactful doing these things really well. You don’t have to do much.”
Now Schmidt is one of the elder statesmen on a young Mammoth team that earned the Western Conference’s first wild card in its second year since relocating from Arizona. He credits the speed and readiness of players like Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther.
“It’s fun seeing guys elevate this time of year when games get big and you start to see the elevated gameplay,” Schmidt said.
Tourigny emphasized that championship experience alone isn’t enough; failure also teaches valuable lessons. “To succeed, you need to fail often or most of the time,” he said. “They know where are the traps, where you can’t go and what you have to be careful of.”
Schmidt’s role as a mediator and mentor includes sharing playoff wisdom. After Utah’s 4-2 win in Game 3, he told teammates there’s nowhere to hide when momentum shifts. “This is the playoffs,” he said. “I think that’s what our guys are going to get out of this.”
Up next: Game 4, Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Delta Center, televised on ESPN and KMCC-34. The Mammoth lead the series 2-1.
