Florida Panthers sign Nate Schmidt to one-year, $800,000 contract

The Florida Panthers are going with the bargain bin approach for their blue line again this year, as they’ve signed defenseman Nate Schmidt to a one-year, $800,000 contract, as reported by Daily Faceoff insider Frank Seravalli.

Schmidt was an unrestricted free agent after he was bought out by the Winnipeg Jets with one year remaining on his six-year contract with a $5.95 million cap hit. He’ll make $5.15 million less than his previous deal, with his new contract having the second-lowest AAV of his career, and only makes up 0.91% of the 2024-25 salary cap.

There are currently no details regarding any no-move/no-trade clauses or signing bonuses with this contract.

Schmidt was bought out after a struggling season that saw him produce just 2 goals and 12 assists for 14 points in 63 games. It was his worst output in any season in his career with at least 50 games played, with his previous career low being 15 points that came in 54 games in the COVID-shortened season.

Schmidt was an undrafted free agent signing by the Washington Capitals out of the University of Minnesota. The Caps signed him to an entry-level deal in 2013, and after making his debut in the 2013-14 season, Schmidt spent the next four seasons with the Caps before he was claimed by the Golden Knights in the expansion draft. He spent three years with Vegas before he was moved to the Vancouver Canucks in the 2020 offseason as a cap dump, and after one season he was moved again to the Jets, where he’s spent the past three seasons before he was bought out this summer.

So far the Panthers haven’t made any drastic moves, mostly making smaller moves to fill in the roster around the edges by bringing in players like Schmidt, Rasmus Asplund, Tomas Nosek, Jesper Boqvist and Chris Driedger. They have just over $5.7 million in projected salary cap space after the signing, with the only restricted free agents remaining in their system being Anton Lundell and Mack Guzda.