James O’Brien of NBC Sports: Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt was suspended for 20 games for violating the terms of the Performance Enhancing Substances Program.
The Golden Knights will need to fill Schmidt’s over 22 minutes per game. Colin Miller, Deryk Engelland, Shea Theodore, and Brayden McNabb may be asked to carry more of a workload.
GM George McPhee could look at Cody Franson who remains unsigned and could be a bottom pairing defenseman.
Schmidt carries a $2.25 million salary cap hit ($2.3 million salary) and will forfeit just under $500,000 in the last year of his deal.