FORT LAUDERDALE — Florida Panthers defenseman Nate Schmidt is just shy of his 34th birthday and can look back on having skated in his 700th NHL game. So nobody should be surprised that with such a veteran’s viewpoint, he knows better than to take this year’s run to the Stanley Cup Final for granted.

Schmidt will tell you that unlike his younger self, he knows how this game works.

“You never know when you’re gonna be back,” he said.

If it were as simple as taking a wiser look on a team level, that would be one thing. But with Schmidt, it cuts deeper.

Way deeper.

“You know how it is,” he said. “I mean, there comes a point where sometimes you also try to promote yourself to make people remember.”

Make people remember, he means, how much he can contribute.

And by people, he’s includin

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