After acquiring Jake Allen and Kaapo Kahkonen in separate trades on Friday, the Devils returned goaltender Akira Schmid to AHL Utica. However, his stint will be short-lived for now as team reporter Amanda Stein relays that Schmid has been recalled and will serve as the backup Saturday versus Carolina.
Kahkonen hasn’t made it to New Jersey just yet while Allen will require a work visa, a process that will be delayed due to the weekend, so he likely won’t be available until closer to the middle of next week. Accordingly, they needed a second option behind Nico Daws, so this will qualify as an emergency recall, not one of their four post-deadline regular recalls.
It has been a disappointing season for Schmid so far. After taking over as the starter down the stretch last season and into the playoffs, the 23-year-old has struggled mightily this season, posting a 3.15 GAA and a .895 SV% through 19 appearances. Things haven’t gone any better with the Comets either with his numbers down there (3.47 and .886 respectively) being worse than at the NHL level.
One of the positives from New Jersey’s pivot to a new tandem entirely is that both Schmid and Daws will get to return to Utica for the stretch run, allowing them to both play some meaningful games down the stretch with the Comets in a tight battle for a playoff spot. However, it will be a few more days before that will be able to happen.
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