VAN would most likely target a 3C in free agency or by trade. I don' think they move Schmidt after 1 season either. Fleury has not proven anything at the NHL level to play top pairing minutes either.

So your solution is to make the defense even worse

why would carolina do this, they get a worse contract

Schmidts contract is awesome.

Yea really. Im not sure what they are talking about. I would do that deal especially if Seattle takes Gardiner or Skjei

Bjork and 5th for Virtanen. Beyond that keep him.

Miller has been the 2nd best defenseman. They are not moving him.

are you serious? I can't tell. Schmidt gets paid 5.95 for 4 more years and is 29yo with 3 points in 15 games

He’s an awesome d man. I would be thrilled to have that contract on my team. Great contract.

Sometimes defensemen aren’t defined merely by their points. That being said. He has been a half point per game d man the last three seasons.

Carolina has Hamilton and skjei already so purely by cap management they would have no purpose for nate schmidt

Ditch Hamilton. Trust me. The canes will be better off without him.

Schmidt is like, 20 times the player Skjei is. Hope that Seattle takes him or something. That was a brutal trade for the canes. No one could make any sense of it at the time, and they still cant.

The solution is to build around Hughes and stop saddling him with garbage. Fleury is a solid young (24) defensemen with a good shot. Schmidt doesn't fit this group.

So you don't like the option of Fleury, that's cool. With my roster, they'll have almost 34 million in cap space heading into 2022-23, with Boeser being the only significant FA to re-sign. Plenty of money to target an upgrade on D and a 3C, and three picks in the first 2 rounds of the 21 draft to add more prospects to the mix.

That's sad. How is it they keep winning?