In the rare moments Nate Schmidt wasn’t happy, he’d take a walk outside, a natural mood booster courtesy of Vitamin D. He took those walks throughout his first two seasons as a fringe player with the Washington Capitals, his time split between the NHL and the minors.
A new contract that would pay him the same amount of money regardless of what league he was in spoke to his expected NHL status for this season. But two games in, Schmidt was watching his teammates from the press box, an early-season scratch. Capitals fans created a hashtag for Schmidt’s saga, and at times, Schmidt wasn’t sure of his own #Schmidtuation, so he would take a walk outside.