Nick Schultz will tell you that this season with the Flyers, poor as it’s been from a team perspective, has nonetheless resurrected his NHL career.
“At the end of the day, you have to believe in your game and in your ability,” said the Flyers’ 32-year-old defenseman.
“Just go out and regardless how old you are or how long you’ve been in the league, you got to keep proving yourself. You keep seeing it all the time. ... You've got to make sure you are consistent and competitive.”
On Monday, Schultz was announced as the Philadelphia Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association’s nominee for the Masterton Trophy, given annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
All 30 NHL cities nominate a player and the entire PHWA then votes as a group.
(Kimmo Timonen was ineligible because he is property of the Chicago Blackhawks.)
Schultz signed here as a seventh or even eighth defenseman last summer, then quickly moved into the starting lineup after the season-opener in Boston when Braydon Coburn fractured his foot. Once in the lineup, Schultz stayed.
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He has missed just one game all season.
You could make the case he was a player whose career — now 13 years — seemed almost over last season in Edmonton before he moved on to Columbus and then signed in free agency with the Flyers.
There were very few opportunities out there for him and he even considered Europe.
Very quietly, Schultz has been the Flyers’ most consistent, everyday defensive-defenseman and could win the chapter’s Barry Ashbee Trophy this season, as well.
Schultz admitted he was relieved to get a two-year contract extension from the Flyers in February.
“It’s gone well here,” he said. “I found a fit. Couple years before the [trade] deadline I had been traded and you’re away from your family. I wasn’t looking forward to going somewhere else and doing that again. ...
“If you fit on a team and have a role and it’s going good for you, you've gotta stick with it. Especially where I am at in my career.”
Notes
Flyers GM Ron Hextall announced Monday that defenseman Luke Schenn is unlikely to play again this season because of a lower-body injury (groin/abdominal?). No full medical update was given. ... Mark Streit missed practice Monday to be with an ill relative back home in Switzerland. The Flyers expect him to return tonight.