He’s only played one regular-season NHL game, but the experience of spending time with the Vegas Golden Knights has stuck with Wolves rookie defenseman Jimmy Schuldt.
“Being around those guys is important,” Wolves coach Rocky Thompson said. “You see how hard they work, how professional they are, but also how they have fun. The game’s fun, and I believe that when you’re having fun that’s when you’re working hard.”
Following the end of his collegiate career at St. Cloud State that saw him become a Hobey Baker award finalist, Schuldt signed an entry-level deal with the Golden Knights and played in their April 6 season finale. He had 21:03 of ice time and picked up an assist in a loss to the Kings.
Schuldt, 24, was ineligible for either the NHL or AHL playoffs and spent the summer as a restricted free agent in a contract stalemate with Vegas, only signing Sept. 5. Schuldt opened the season with the Golden Knights but didn’t get into a game before getting assigned to the Wolves on Oct. 11.
Despite the brevity of his time in the NHL so far, Schuldt took something from being around players with a contending team.
“It was more just being able to be around the guys and seeing what it takes to be an NHL defenseman day-in and day-out,” Schuldt said. “There’s so much that I learned from guys like Deryk Engelland, Nate Schmidt and Shea Theodore and all those seven guys that I was able to play with, and kind of see what it’s like to be a pro hockey player.”
As a college hockey player, there were few better than Schuldt.
Undrafted, Schuldt became one of the best collegiate defensemen in the country. A captain for three years, Schuldt was a 2018-19 Hobey Baker Award finalist after scoring 10 goals and adding 25 assists. Following his college career, Schuldt was a sought-after free agent and chose Vegas.
And though his game has bumps to smooth out, Schuldt’s pedigree is beginning to show through. He scored his first goal Sunday in Rockford, and is getting more acclimated to the level of play.
Thompson said Schuldt is working to get better without the puck, but his confidence is growing offensively and he’s doing better things on the power play. Schuldt’s transition game is also moving in the right direction, something Thompson always believes happens because “you’re starting to play better without the puck.”
“When you play better without the puck, you end up getting the puck more,” Thompson said. “When you play poorly without the puck and have bad body position, you bleed chances, the opposition continues to have possession and when you get it, you just don’t have the gas in order to execute.
“So we weren’t able to see a lot of his strengths early on, but because he’s got a good work ethic, he wants to be better, he wants to be good and he wants to have a more rounded game, he’s been good to work with.”
Schuldt knows he has to get more experience playing in the defensive zone against AHL-caliber forwards and consistently doing the right things.
“That will come,” Schuldt said. “It’s already starting to. I think I’m improving already, but I think things are going well.”