After looking at one of the RFA Prospect goalies for the New Jersey Devils yesterday, today we look at the other in Akira Schmid. He struggled this year after his playoff heroics last season; is he still set to be part of the team’s future?
We continue to look at the New Jersey Devils free agents today here at All About the Jersey by following off of Jared’ piece yesterday about one of the Devils restricted free agent goaltenders in Nico Daws. Today, we look at a player who was his partner in Utica for a chunk of the season in Akira Schmid.
Schmid, like Daws, is a first time free agent; he was projected to be the backup/1B behind Vitek Vanecek this season, but even when Vanecek struggled, Schmid wasn’t able to seize the crease. While still young and with some possible untapped potential, the Devils are trying to enter a consistent contention window, meaning they may not have the time to be patient for him to find his own consistency. Today, we will look at who Schmid is, what he did this year, and what the Devils might do with him for this next contract.
Who is Akira Schmid and What Has He Done as a Devil?
Akira Schmid was another late round find of the Devils, being selected 136th overall in the 2018 NHL Draft with a fifth round pick that originally belonged to Calgary but was acquired from Arizona in exchange for Scott Wedgewood. He cam up through the Langnau junior system in Switzerland, and drew the attention of some NHL teams prior to the draft through a strong showing at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, as Brian wrote about when Schmid was originally taken by the Devils.
Schmid would move over to North America after his selection and spend almost all of the next three seasons in the USHL playing for first the Omaha Lancers and then the Sioux City Musketeers. He would sign his entry-level deal with the Devils on May 17, 2021 and joined Utica for the 2021-22 season. One would anticipate him developing there for the entire season, but this was the season that injuries plagued the Devils goaltending, with Mackenzie Blackwood and Jonathan Bernier both missing most of the season. As such, Schmid would actually see six games of NHL action; while his .833 save percentage didn’t earn him a win, it wasn’t exactly a fair situation to be putting a rookie into. In the AHL, Schmid fared much better, with a .911 over 38 appearances; he would also make one playoff appearance for Utica, posting a mere .895 in the loss.
2022-23 saw Schmid’s AHL save percentage take a dip to .905 in 23 games, but of more importance, he wound up getting called up when injuries inevitably struck Blackwood again. As both Blackwood and Vanecek would miss some games, Schmid got the opportunity to start in 18 NHL contests, where he would amass a .922 save percentage and nine wins. After Vanecek turned in back to back awful performances in the first round of the playoffs against Our Hated Rivals, the team turned to Schmid, who turned in one of the most memorable Devils’ playoff series performances of all time. Schmid would win four of the next five games for the Devils with two shutouts in
Seen as the heir apparent coming into 2023-24, Schmid struggled (as did basically anyone in between the pipes for the Devils prior to the trade deadline) posting only a .895 save percentage in 19 games. The Devils would send him back to Utica to try to rediscover his game, but his 23 games for the Comets saw a similar .894 posted. Utica, like their parent club, would miss the postseason, not allowing Schmid to even attempt to find some more playoff magic.
Akira is still young enough that he could bounce back and be a piece for the Devils, and while he has arbitration rights as part of negotiating his next contract, I don’t think coming to an agreement will be all that difficult, as he still has a lot to prove at the NHL level. CapFriendly has his qualifying offer at $813,750 according to their calculator to retain Schmid’s rights, and while there might be a slight increase over that, I don’t think Schmid has been consistent enough to earn much more than that. Another factor to keep in mind is that, again according to CapFriendly, Schmid also has only eight games of NHL eligibility left until he requires waivers.
What Will Schmid Do Going Forward?
Jared spoke yesterday about Tom Fitzgerald and his plans for goaltending in free agency, so I want to direct our focus more to the latter part of what he wrote. Going back to CapFriendly again, we can take a look at the Devils goaltenders signed for next season. Jake Allen is currently slated to be the NHL backup at least for next season and Fitz is going to go and get himself a starter (allegedly) so that takes care of the New Jersey Devils roster. But what about the non-roster goalies section?
Going down to that section shows seven names, although I fully expect that Erik Kallgren and Keith Kinkaid will not be coming back as unrestricted free agents. Maybe the Devils go out and get another seasoned goalie as some injury insurance, but let’s assume they don’t. If they only run with the young goalies, there are still FIVE of them now fighting for playing time between Schmid, Daws, Jakub Malek, Tyler Brennan and Isaac Poulter. Now Malek is probably not coming over to North America next season, so that’s one less, but would the Devils be content to have Brennan and Poulter in the ECHL? Or do they want to see the potential of one of these other young netminders in Utica with both Daws and Schmid struggling?
I’m also in agreement with Jared here that the Devils might be parting with one of Schmid or Daws this offseason. Whichever player they feel is a better fit will be the one they keep and the other could be moved as part of a deal to patch one of the other holes in the lineup. I’m not saying that I’m advocating for this, as we all know that goaltending is unpredictable and depth is needed as injuries happen. However, with more prospects coming through, and neither of the goaltenders that we have spoken about between yesterday and today being sure things, one of them being traded seems to make the most sense.
If Schmid stays, he’s going to need to try to earn his way back to the NHL. There will (should) be a solid NHL starter and Jake Allen above him in the depth order. If Schmid can bounce back and find some of his 2022-23 form, he could surpass Allen and find himself back in Jersey as either a backup or 1B option. It will be interesting to see how Akira plays in the preseason, as that could be an indicator of what the future truly holds for him.
Who are Schmid’s Comparables and What is His Value?
A lot of my work here was done for me yesterday, as there are quite a few similarities between Schmid and Daws with where they are now, how much NHL experience they have, and who they compare to in terms of contract expected. Schmid has played in 43 NHL contests to date and compiled a .899 save percentage overall; a few less games than Daws and a few save percentage points higher, but not enough of a difference to make much of an impact.
As was discussed yesterday, Sam Ersson, Lukas Dostal and Arvid Soderblom are all good comparable for Schmid as they were for Daws. While all were leaned on at least a bit more heavily than either Schmid or Daws this season, their save percentages weren’t much higher or lower, with the exception of Soderblom at .880. The only one of those three to sign a deal north of a million was Ersson, and at $1.45 million per season, he’s still not an expensive option.
Carolina’s Pyotr Kochetkov is one comparable not mentioned yesterday that could be reasonably linked here. After 27 NHL games and a save percentage of .909 being the best he had achieved in a season to that point, Carolina signed him to a four year deal at $2 million per season. Again, I don’t see the Devils giving Schmid a deal like that; Carolina viewed/views Kochetkov as an important piece of their future, and with the sheer volume of young goalies in the Devils’ system right now, I’m not sure they see Schmid (or Daws) in that light anymore. It’s an interesting outlier here for sure, but again I think the Ersson deal might be the ceiling of what a new Schmid contract will look like.
What Would I Do With Schmid and What Do I think the Devils Will Do?
If I were making the call here, I think Schmid is the goalie that I keep over Daws. Schmid has shown a bit more in his time in the NHL, and I do think he can bounce back in the right situation. I’m thinking he gets a prove it type of contract for two seasons at about $1-$1.2 million per year. I feel like I would have to offer him a bit more than Daws because of the postseason success from 2022-23 and the fact that he does have arbitration rights as well.
As for what the Devils do? Your guess is as good as mine right now. If they plan to keep both Schmid and Daws, then I could see them offering Schmid a deal similar to the one I projected above. However, if the idea is to trade one of them, then I don’t know which direction they go. Daws played a couple more games than Schmid last season, but I feel like that was mostly due to waiver exempt status rather than performance, as their goals against average was identical and their save percentages were separated by .001. Daws is the slightly younger guy, but Schmid has had a bit more NHL success. It’s an unenviable decision and yet one that might wind up being unimportant in the grand scheme of things at the same time.
Final Thoughts and Your Take
I think if there is no veteran “third goalie” signed to go behind Fitz’s big fish and Allen, we could see a bit of Akira Schmid back in New Jersey this season. He might just be an injury or illness fill-in, but he still feels like the next guy up right now to me.
As mentioned yesterday with Daws, Schmid does not require waivers yet, so if the Devils decide to keep one or both of them in the fold, and get a true #1 this summer, then both Daws and Schmid could spend another full season honing their games in Utica. For Akira, that may feel like a demotion after taking apart Our Hated Rivals in the spring of 2023, but unless he can translate that domination of them to the 30 other NHL teams the Devils face, he’s just not ready yet. He could be an attractive trade piece for a team that is thin in goalie prospects as well, and we know the Devils want to compete now; as such, we could see a player like Schmid moved on from. It all depends on how much value the team perceives him to hold and whether he is more valuable to the Devils on the ice or as a trade piece.
What are your thoughts on Akira Schmid and his impending RFA status? Do you think the Devils will bring him back or will he be part of a deal to help the team in a different area? What kind of contract do you foresee him signing for this season? Do you want to see him continue to be a part of the Devils team? Do you think he has a long-term future here? Leave any and all thoughts below and thanks as always for reading!