Schmidt (ankle) has been skating in Vegas each day since Tuesday and is expected to participate when training camp opens Friday, Dan Marrazza of the team's official site reports.

EDGE Analysis

The former Caps defenseman suffered the injury while hurdling during an August workout, around a month later Schmidt has declared himself "pretty close to 100 percent." This is music to the ears of the new franchise, as Schmidt projects to be their No. 1 defenseman after emerging for Washington during the 2017 postseason. With this in mind, it's still difficult to project Schmidt as anything more than a secondary or tertiary option on the blueline for fantasy rosters.