The Vegas Golden Knights have signed goaltender Akira Schmid to a two-year, one-way contract, with a salary of $875,000 for each season, according to CapFriendly.
Less than a week ago, the Golden Knights acquired Schmid and Alexander Holtz from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Paul Cotter and a third-round pick in the 2025 draft. Schmid’s salary from 2021 to 2024 was around $850,000, which would have led to a qualifying offer of about $900,000 from Vegas, but the team opted not to extend this offer to him.
Schmid was only on the free agent market for a few days before officially joining the Golden Knights, who plan to start him with their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights. Vegas has already addressed the gap left by trading Logan Thompson by signing goaltender Ilya Samsonov to take on the backup role.
Schmid’s performance over the past two seasons has been notably inconsistent, despite playing a similar number of games each season. In one season, benefiting from a strong performance by the rest of the young roster, Schmid achieved a 9-5-2 record with a .922 save percentage and a 2.13 goals-against average. However, in the following season, he recorded a 5-9-1 record for New Jersey with a .895 save percentage and a 3.15 goals-against average.
Given this stark contrast in his performance, it will be challenging for Vegas to predict which version of Schmid they will be getting. By starting in Henderson, Schmid will join a team on the upswing, as they aim to qualify for the Calder Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2021-22 AHL season.
