Florida Panthers Acquire Akira Schmid

Before this past season, Schmid had struggled to advance beyond the status of organizational No. 3 goalie. While he had received a backup’s workload in past seasons, much of that was to do more with the instability of the Devils’ goaltending situation. In an organization with more stability in net, it’s likely Schmid would have spent much of that time in the AHL.

That’s not to say he hasn’t had his moments at the professional level, though. Schmid posted a .911 save percentage in 38 games as an AHL rookie in 2021-22, and had a stellar .922 save percentage in 18 NHL games the following year.

Schmid displayed incredible promise in the playoffs that same year, taking over the net for the Devils in the middle of their first-round playoff series against their arch-rivals, the New York Rangers.

Former Devils head coach Lindy Ruff’s decision to start Schmid was the turnaround point of that series, as Schmid registered two shutouts and a cumulative .951 save percentage across his five starts in that series. His 4-0 shutout over the Rangers in game seven of that series ranked as one of the franchise’s highest moments in the decade that followed its 2012 run to the Stanley Cup Final.

At that moment, it looked as though there was real potential for Schmid to become the Devils’ “goalie of the future.” But that would not come to pass. Schmid struggled the following year (.895 save percentage, 19 games played) and was ultimately shipped to Vegas alongside 2020 No. 7 overall pick Alexander Holtz on this date two years ago.

While Schmid’s form had been defined by its highs and lows before his trade to the Golden Knights, Schmid’s tenure in Vegas represented a solid step forward. He spent most of the 2024-25 campaign in the AHL, but performed well in his five-game cameo at the NHL level, to the tune of a .944 save percentage. That gave Vegas confidence they could trust him in the NHL the following season. In 2025-26, Schmid went 16-10-6 with an .893 save percentage and 2.59 goals-against-average.

While he routinely provided Vegas with enough to win games, and actually started the most regular-season contests of any Golden Knights netminder, the team turned to Carter Hart as their No. 1 goalie. That kept Schmid off the ice as the Golden Knights won their third Clarence S. Campbell Bowl in franchise history.

By trading Schmid, the Golden Knights have begun to clear up a somewhat crowded goaltending picture. Hart remains under contract and is expected to resume his No. 1 role next season, while 2023 Stanley Cup champion Adin Hill is a very real possibility to be traded in the coming days. Hill carries a $6.25MM cap hit and Vegas may need to clear that money off their books to be able to extend Rasmus Andersson. And amidst all of that, one of Vegas’ top goalie prospects, Carl Lindbom, appears to be close to NHL-ready after posting a .926 save percentage in the AHL.

With Schmid out of a contract and eligible for arbitration, this junction of the offseason felt like a natural point for Vegas to move on from the goalie.

From the Panthers’ perspective, the third-round pick the team paid falls in line with other comparable moves from prior offseasons. It cost the Pittsburgh Penguins a fourth-round pick to acquire goaltender Arturs Silovs last summer, though Silovs had a notably thinner NHL resume compared to Schmid.

While it’s tough to imagine the Panthers trusting Schmid as their undisputed No. 1 goalie next season – a season where the team expects to compete for a third Stanley Cup in four years – it’s clear he’ll at least make up half of the team’s goaltending tandem.

That means backup Tarasov, who posted an .895 save percentage in 33 games last season, is likely to hit the open market. The trade could also signal Florida is willing to move forward without Bobrovsky, the hero of the team’s three deep playoff runs.

At this stage, it’s still too early to do anything but speculate on what the full scope of the Panthers’ goaltending plans are. All that is clear today is that the Panthers had a definite need to invest more resources in NHL-ready talent at the position, and they’ve done exactly that with this deal.