Golden Knights sign Akira Schmid to two-year, $1.75 million contract

The Vegas Golden Knights have solidified some goaltending depth signing freshly acquired goaltender Akira Schmid to a two-year contract. The deal pays the 24-year-old netminder $875,000 per season and is a one-way contract, this according to CapFriendly.

Schmid was recently acquired by the Golden Knights from the New Jersey Devils and is coming off a 2023-24 campaign where he played the majority of his hockey in the American Hockey League. The Bern, Switzerland native appeared in 19 games for the Devils, posting a 5-9-1 record, meanwhile dressed in 23 games for the Utica Comets, collecting a 9-8-5 record, with a 3.06 goals against average and .894 save percentage.

Schmid’s breakout came during the 2022-23 season, when he won five consecutive starts early on in the season. He finished the year posting an 9-5-2 record and ended up in a numbers game in the Devils’ crease. The story’s essentially remained the same as Schmid hasn’t been able to find consistent minutes in New Jersey and perhaps a change of scenery will propel his young career.

New Jersey dealt Schmid in a deal which also involved former 2020 first-round pick Alexander Holtz also landing in Vegas, meanwhile the Devils received forward Paul Cotter in exchange. Speculation grew after the trade that the Golden Knights saw Schmid as a number three and were in the market for another goaltender. Ilya Samsonov was signed two days later to a one-year deal.

Vegas’s depth chart in net looks drastically different heading into next season. Before signing Samsonov and acquiring Schmid, the Golden Knights traded Logan Thompson to the Washington Capitals in exchange for two third-round picks.

Vegas is far from finished this offseason as general manager Kelly McCrimmon is currently over the salary cap and has all 23 NHL roster spots filled after day three of free agency.