On Monday, the Capitals announced defenseman Nate Schmidt would miss the next 6-8 weeks after suffering a scapular fracture while playing for AHL Hershey.
Schmidt, 23, has spent the majority of this season with the Caps, appearing in 33 games while averaging 13 minutes a night. He’d been on assignment with the Bears to get some playing time; there was a stretch from Dec. 24 to Jan. 8 where he didn’t get in the Caps lineup and was reduced to watching from the press box, which included the 2015 Winter Classic at Nationals Park.
A former standout at the University of Minnesota, Schmidt was hurt over the weekend on a hit from Milwaukee’s Chris Wagner.