Schmidt Among Former Bears Selected in Expansion Draft

June 21, 2017

Three former Hershey Bears are off to Sin City. Former Bears defenders Deryk Engelland and Nate Schmidt were selected by the Vegas Golden Knights during Wednesday night's NHL Expansion Draft. Forward Cody Eakin was also selected by the Golden Knights.

Engelland, 35, calls Las Vegas home after playing for the ECHL's Las Vegas Wranglers in 2004-05. The rugged blue liner has spent the past three seasons with the Calgary Flames, and has posted 86 points (22 goals, 64 assists) and 500 penalty minutes in 469 career games with Pittsburgh and Calgary. Engelland played parts of two seasons with Hershey from 2005-07. In 81 games with the Bears, Engelland tallied four goals and 10 assists, as well as 172 penalty minutes.

Schmidt, 25, has played in the Captials organization for the duration of his career. Schmidt signed as a free agent with Washington out of the University of Minnesota in 2013, and made his professional debut with Hershey. In parts of three seasons with the Bears, Schmidt, played 65 games scoring 26 points (six goals, 20 assists). He also appeared in 13 playoff games, scoring 11 points (four goals, seven assists). The St. Cloud, Minnesota native has skated in 200 NHL games with the Capitals, posting 43 points (eight goals, 35 assists) and +36 rating.

Eakin, 26, has spent the last five seasons with the Dallas Stars. He was a third round draft pick of Washington and skated in four regular season games, and five playoff games with Hershey during the club's 2009-10 championship season. He had 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) with Hershey during the 2011-12 season.

The Vegas Golden Knights are the NHL's 31st team and will start play in the 2017-18 season, skating at the T-Mobile Arena just off the Las Vegas Strip.