Akira Schmid

Akira Schmid (born 12 May 2000) is a Swiss professional ice hockey player who is a goaltender for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the New Jersey Devils in the fifth round, 136th overall, in the 2018 NHL entry draft, and has also played in the NHL for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Playing career Schmid played most of his youth and junior ice hockey in the SCL Tigers system, appearing in just one game at the National League level, a relegation match in 2018. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2018 NHL entry draft at the end of the 2017–18 season, during which he was loaned multiple times from his junior team to professional teams within Switzerland. He moved to North America to start the 2018–19 season, playing three seasons in the United States Hockey League (USHL) for the Omaha Lancers and Sioux City Musketeers.

On 17 May 2021, Schmid signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils. Schmid made his National Hockey League (NHL) debut on 11 December 2021, in a 4–2 loss to the New York Islanders. By making his debut with the Devils, Schmid made history in becoming the first goaltender to debut in the NHL directly from the USHL.

During the 2022–23 season, on 10 November 2022, Schmid collected his first career NHL win with the Devils in a 4–3 overtime win against the Ottawa Senators. On 25 February 2023, Schmid recorded his first NHL shutout with the Devils in a 7–0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers. In first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, Schmid started game three after starter Vítek Vaněček gave up nine goals in the first two games of the series. He went on to get the win in that game,

On 29 June 2024, during the 2024 NHL entry draft, Schmid and Alexander Holtz were traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Paul Cotter and a third-round pick in 2025. As a restricted free agent, Schmid did not receive a qualifying offer from Vegas, and thus became an unrestricted free agent two days later; however, he ultimately signed a two-year contract with Vegas on 3 July. Since he was the third-string goaltender for Vegas behind Adin Hill and Ilya Samsonov, Schmid was reassigned to the AHL's Henderson Silver Knights on 2 October. Following an injury to Samsonov, Schmid was recalled to the NHL on 2 November; he subsequently made his debut for Vegas on 11 November, entering a game against the Carolina Hurricanes in relief of Hill, and stopping all 12 shots faced. After another recall in March 2025 following a second Samsonov injury, Schmid made his first start for Vegas on 6 April, stopping 21 of 23 shots faced in a 3–2 overtime victory over the Calgary Flames. Schmid later made his playoff debut for Vegas on 24 April, entering in relief of Hill again and stopping all nine shots faced in a 5–2 first-round game 3 loss to the Minnesota Wild.

After entering the 2025–26 season as Hill's full-time backup, Schmid took over as Vegas' starter in late October after Hill suffered a lower-body injury. Schmid subsequently recorded his first shutout with Vegas on 4 November 2025, stopping all 24 shots faced in a 1–0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

On 29 June 2026, Schmid was traded by the Golden Knights to the Florida Panthers, in exchange for a 2028 third-round pick. As a restricted free agent, Schmid was later signed to a two-year, $4 million contract extension with the Panthers on 24 July 2026.

International play

Schmid represented Switzerland at the 2024 IIHF World Championship and won a silver medal. In his first start of the event, a preliminary round match against Great Britain, he recorded a 15-save shutout.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Bold indicates led league. Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2016–17 SCL Tigers Elite Jr. A 2 1 1 0 121 8 0 3.97 — — — — — — — — — 2017–18 SCL Tigers Elite Jr. A 32 18 9 3 1,867 81 2 2.60 — 4 2 2 238 12 0 3.02 — 2017–18 EHC ThunMSL 4 3 1 0 244 9 0 2.21 — — — — — — — — — 2018–19 Lethbridge Hurricanes WHL 1 0 1 0 57 7 0 7.43 .741 — — — — — — — — 2018–19 Corpus Christi IceRays NAHL 2 2 0 0 120 3 0 1.50 .948 — — — — — — — — 2018–19 Omaha Lancers USHL 37 16 14 2 2,012 73 2 2.18 .926 — — — — — — — — 2019–20 Omaha Lancers USHL 6 2 2 1 359 18 0 3.01 .891 — — — — — — — — 2019–20 Sioux City Musketeers USHL 7 3 4 0 405 23 1 3.41 .888 — — — — — — — — 2020–21 Sioux City Musketeers USHL 36 22 13 1 2,147 72 3 2.01 .921 4 2 2 237 9 1 2.28 .920 2021–22 Utica Comets AHL 38 22 8 5 2,167 94 2 2.60 .911 1 0 1 62 4 0 3.89 .895 2021–22 New Jersey Devils NHL 6 0 4 0 236 19 0 4.83 .833 — — — — — — — — 2022–23 Utica Comets AHL 23 11 7 4 1,349 59 2 2.62 .905 — — — — — — — — 2022–23 New Jersey Devils NHL 18 9 5 2 902 32 1 2.13 .922 9 4 4 460 18 2 2.35 .921 2023–24 Utica Comets AHL 23 9 8 5 1,353 69 1 3.06 .894 — — — — — — — — 2023–24 New Jersey Devils NHL 19 5 9 1 915 48 0 3.15 .895 — — — — — — — — 2024–25 Henderson Silver Knights AHL 30 9 18 3 1,762 105 0 3.58 .886 — — — — — — — — 2024–25 Vegas Golden Knights NHL 5 2 0 1 238 5 0 1.26 .944 1 0 0 19 0 0 0.00 1.000 2025–26 Vegas Golden Knights NHL 34 16 10 6 1966 85 2 2.59 .893 — — — — — — — —NHL totals 82 32 28 10 4,256 189 3 2.66 .898 10 4 4 479 18 2 2.26 .924

International

Awards and honors Award Year RefUSHL Third All-Star Team 2019 First All-Star Team 2021 Goaltender of the Year 2021