Stastny has 646 points (220 goals, 426 assists) in 824 NHL games.
"He's a guy that finds the ice," Schmidt said. "He's so smart. He's one of those work smarter, not harder, kind of guys. Playing against him in the Western Conference Final, that's when you find out what guys are made of, and I think he should add a lot of dynamic to our forward group."
Vegas also signed defenseman Nick Holden, 31, who had 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) in 73 games with the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins.
The Golden Knights are also without some of the pivotal players who helped them to the Cup Final, including forwards David Perron, who signed with the Blues, and James Neal, who signed with the Calgary Flames.
Perron and Neal combined for 110 points (41 goals, 69 assists) for Vegas, which scored the fifth-most goals in the NHL (268).
"Yeah, we lost a lot of key pieces," said Schmidt, who had an NHL career-high 36 points (five goals, 31 assists) in 76 games. "But people are coming into Vegas, and we're going to see."
The Golden Knights still have many of the same players who excelled last season. Schmidt predicts forwards Alex Tuch and Tomas Tatar will have breakout seasons, and forwards Erik Haula (55 points; 29 goals, 26 assists) and
William Karlsson
(78 points; 43 goals, 35 assists) will take a step forward.
Schmidt also expects big things from defenseman Shea Theodore, 23, who had 29 points (six goals, 23 assists) in 61 games and 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 20 playoff games.
"I think he's the guy that's going to catapult us," Schmidt said. "I think he's a stud and hopefully he's going to bring himself, and us, to the next level this year."
