Akira Schmid On Path For Success With New Jersey Devils

Akira Schmid seemingly came out of nowhere this season, taking over the New Jersey Devils backup role right before the playoffs started, supplanting Mackenzie Blackwood to be the relief for Vitek Vanecek. Vanecek had the Devils’ only 30+ win season by a player not named Martin Brodeur. Schmid made a name for himself this season during multiple call-ups. Things went terribly last season. He might have been the worst of the seven goalies who took the net, and that’s saying something.

This season was a wild and fun one for the young Swiss goalie. His size, calmness, poise, and focus enhance his economic goalie techniques. That helped him spring ahead in the regular season, where he had 18 starts. During the regular season, Schmid posted 0.546 Goals Saved Above Expected per 60 according to Money Puck. When looking at the goalies who played at least 10 games, only six have done better than Schmid in the regular season.

The goalies ahead of him were some of the best in the league this season; Filip Gustavsson, Ilya Sorokin, Jeremy Swayman, Juuse Saros, and Linus Ullmark. In the playoffs, Schmid is the number two netminder with 1.322 GSA Expected per 60 ahead of Igor Shesterkin, Linus Ullmark, and Filip Gustavsson. (He’s third if you count Jeremy Swayman’s 28 seconds, which we did not.)

Schmid is the reason this Devils-Rangers series is tied at two games a piece.

Statistics and eye test will show Schmid only get better over time. The question now becomes, will he be the star in net for New Jersey moving forward? If Schmid can keep playing up to the high standards with very low rebounds and be able to freeze the puck more, it’ll be a treat to watch him for many years. This kind of calmness has been unmatched since Martin Brodeur retired.

This isn’t to suggest he will be like Brodeur. That’s too high a bar to place on him this early. Most goalies like Schmid don’t necessarily benefit from the butterfly style of goaltending, just from athletics and reflexes. Schmid is a tall human being. He is 3 inches taller than Brodeur and takes an extra 3 inches of time and space away from shooters when looking to go for a clean shot on net. If there is an X factor in this series and many future playoff runs, it will be because Brodeur, Fitzgerald, and company all believe in drafting guys like Schmid. He will eventually take over the starter’s net sooner than later.

Eventually, as the Devils keep tacking on more key performances in the playoffs and add more top-notch defensemen like Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec, the team will win games by keeping the puck out of the net. Add in an offense driven by Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, and this is a recipe for success.

Schmid is the future of the franchise in net, while Vanecek is still the big dog sharing the net with him. Don’t forget about Nico Daws, who drove the Utica Comets past the Laval Rocket in the first round of the AHL playoffs. The Devils are staring at a European-born tandem in due time. It starts with Schmid taking the starter’s net for good.