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Schmidt's NHL star rising now that he's a Dallas draft pick

Prince George native selected by the Stars in the third round of Saturday's NHL draft

The Texas heat was blistering hot Saturday in Dallas and there’s no relief in sight with summer weather well ensconced for the next week.

Cameron Schmidt is heading that way Sunday and he knows the perfect place to cool off. He’s going to find a chilled indoor ice rink where he'll give the Dallas Stars a glimpse of what they can expect from the speedy Giants winger once he matures into a pro hockey player after they selected him in the third round, 94th overall,  of Saturday's NHL draft in Los Angeles.

Schmidt was tuned in to TV broadcast for the first round Friday and was up early Saturday to see how the rest of draft unfolded with his parents Kris and Crystal and sister Mackenzey in their home in College Heights when he heard his name called.

“It’s a lot of relief, obviously a big buildup to the draft and a lot of emotions going on and lot of weight taken off, to hear my name was awesome,” said the 18-year-old Schmidt. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Stars general manager Jim Nill called and spoke to Schmidt right after the draft was complete.

“He just said, ‘Welcome to the organization,’ and he said he liked my game and liked the person I am and didn’t care about the size and how big I was, and all that,” said the five -foot-seven, 161-pound Schmidt.

Schmidt had a stellar sophomore season with the Giants and finished with 40 goals and 78 points in 61 games. He also produced four goals and five assists in five playoff games before Vancouver was eliminated by the Spokane Chiefs.

He made a big impact with Team Canada, starting last summer with a gold-medal win at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. He also played well helping Canada win the CHL USA Prospects Challenge and the IIHF World-Under 18 Championship.

“I had a good start to the season, I was able to play at in the Hlinka Gretzky before the season started and took that momentum into the season and I was able to perform at the start,” said Schmidt. “Going into playoffs I played pretty well as well, the team ran into a pretty tough Spokane team. I think our team did pretty well over the season and I’m happy to see what we do next year.”

Schmidt was one of the strongest players in fitness testing in early June at the NHL Combine in Buffalo, attended by 11 NHL teams.

The five-day development camp starts on Monday and Schmidt will be meeting up with Stars draft picks from this and previous years and some of their younger prospects, including former Prince George Cougar centre Chase Wheatcroft, who played in the AHL the past two seasons with the Texas Stars.

“I’m pretty sure he’ll be down there, I saw him on the list,” said Schmidt. “I’ve never met him but I watched him when he was playing with the Cougars.”

Schmidt has been working out on the gym five days a week and returned to the ice last week at Kin 3, skating with a group of juniors and pros that included Anaheim draft pick Nico Myatovic.

Prince George minor hockey has produced some high draft picks the past few years with the likes of Myatovic (Anaheim, second round, 33rd overall, 2023)  and Miguel Marques (Nashville, third round, 84th overall, 2024), and now Schmidt.

Forward Chase Harrington, another highly-touted pro prospect who played for the Spokane Chiefs, wasn’t eligible for this year’s draft because of his December birthday and he’ll have to wait until the draft next June.

Schmidt attended high school at Prince George Secondary School and left after his Grade 8 year so he play for RINK Academy in Kelowna. He’s on the verge of graduating with just a bit of online work still ahead of him.

He’ll be going to Dallas for rookie camp in August and will likely participate in a rookie tournament before the Stars main camp gets underway in early September.