Barry Trotz hopes Nate Schmidt’s brief stint with Capitals was rewarding

Standing toward the front of the Washington Capitals’ dressing room, equipment assistant Dave Marin held three identical black-and-gray hockey sticks, asking Nate Schmidt which ones he wanted to take with him back to Hershey and which ones should stay.

Schmidt was interested two of the three, bypassing the longest one in favor of two others. He took one in his arms, pantomimed his puck-handling and seemed certain of his decision, then led Marin out of the room and into a hallway where a handful of others rested against the wall.

The defenseman’s stay with the Capitals was likely to last all of two days, with the club scratching him on Monday night and certain to send him back to the minor leagues shortly thereafter. Defenseman Tim Gleason remained in the lineup for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series against the New York Rangers, making Schmidt’s presence obsolete.

Gleason had been dealing with an unspecified injury in recent days, with coach Barry Trotz sharing only that it resulted from the defenseman blocking a puck and that it was “somewhere on his body.” Gleason’s only blocked shot of the series occurred in Game 1, when he stepped in front of a tip-in attempt by the Rangers’ Carl Hagelin at 8:24 of the third period.

That left Schmidt, who played in 39 games for the Capitals this season, in line to head back to Hershey, though Trotz didn’t close the door on his potential return to Washington. Because of that experience, and because he’s been playing in the Calder Cup Playoffs, Schmidt would be more likely a replacement for an injured defenseman than Dmitry Orlov, who remains on long-term injured reserve and has not played with the Capitals this season after undergoing surgery on his left wrist last summer.

“Obviously, we’re doing it for sort of emergency purposes, but it serves two purposes,” Trotz said. “If someone were to go down, Schmidtty would probably be the natural recall from Hershey if we don’t go the Orlov route, and it gives him a chance to sort of get in the fold a little bit and recognize that he could very easily go from Game 2 or Game 3 in the American League series back to Game 7 that quickly, within 24 hours. Those are things that we’re trying to just prepare him for, if that were the case.”

Schmidt, who said he received a phone call asking him to head to Washington shortly after the start of Game 2, said he was excited to see the intensity of his teammates during the postseason. He had not been with the club since March 21, when he played nearly 13 minutes with Gleason injured, and then played in the final 11 games of Hershey’s regular season.

The Bears will begin their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal match-up on Wednesday against Hartford — coincidentally the Rangers’ top minor league affiliate.

“We’ve been playing pretty well, and we have a great group of guys — great team, great staff,” Schmidt said. “It’s a lot of fun there as well. We have a real legitimate chance of making a special run there, too, so it’s a great time for the organization.”