Schmidt traded to Jets by Canucks for draft pick

Nate Schmidt was traded to the Winnipeg Jets by the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday for a third-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.

The 30-year-old defenseman scored 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in 54 games this season, his first with the Canucks after being traded by the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 13, 2020. Schmidt has four seasons remaining on a six-year contract he signed with the Golden Knights on Oct. 25, 2018 ($5.95 million average annual value).

Schmidt is the second defenseman the Jets have acquired this week; they traded a second-round pick in the 2022 draft and in the 2023 NHL Draft to the Washington Capitals for Brenden Dillon on Monday. Winnipeg re-signed center Paul Stastny to a one-year, $3.75 million contract Monday.

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Selected by Vegas from Washington at the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, Schmidt has scored 155 points (34 goals, 121 assists) in 450 regular-season games with the Canucks, Golden Knights and Capitals, and 25 points (six goals, 19 assists) in 68 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

The Canucks placed goalie Braden Holtby on waivers Tuesday for the purpose of buying out the final season of his contract, and signed forward Conor Garland to a five-year, $24.75 million contract (average annual value of $4.95 million). Garland could have become a restricted free agent Wednesday.

Garland and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson were traded to the Canucks by the Arizona Coyotes on Friday for the No. 9 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft (forward Dylan Guenther) and forwards Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel.