After four seasons with the Capitals, Schmidt was left exposed by Washington in the expansion draft. Schmidt signed a two-year, $4.45 million contract with Vegas and put up a career high in points (36), while also leading the team in average ice time (22:14). Schmidt is a valuable defenseman, but be careful not to overrate his fantasy value. The 27-year-old wasn't known for his offense prior to 2017-18 and likely won't be able to duplicate another season in the 40-point range, especially with consideration to his 20-game suspension for violating the NHL's Performance Enhancing Substances policy. Schmidt should still block plenty of shots and see time on the second power-play unit once he returns, but tempering your expectations would be beneficial to ensure he's taken at the right spot in fantasy drafts.

Schmidt got one of the rawest deals of anyone out of the NHL expansion draft, as he went from one of the league's top teams in the Capitals to the newfangled Golden Knights, for whom he’s expected to be a major minutes eater in their inaugural season. With Vegas trying (perhaps halfheartedly) to bring a bunch of disparate parts together into a cohesive whole, Schmidt will surely see his rating plummet from last season's plus-22, quite conceivably into the negative range, and you can't count on him for a point total north of the teens. That doesn't leave him with much fantasy value.

Signed as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Minnesota in 2012, Schmidt has steadily established himself as a legitimate NHL prospect. Like 2012-2013, Schmidt is likely to spend the balance of the upcoming season in the AHL, but he has shown flashes of potential and will likely get another taste of NHL action as an injury call-up. The former NCAA standout has all the tools to be a serviceable top-6 defenseman in the NHL at some point in the future.