Akira Schmid

Akira Schmid
Born	(2000-05-12) May 12, 2000 Bern, Switzerland
Occupation	Ice hockey goaltender
Years active	2018–present
Known for	Playing for Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL

Akira Schmid (born 12 May 2000) is a Swiss ice hockey goaltender currently playing professionally for the Vegas Golden Knights in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected 136th overall by the New Jersey Devils during the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Schmid's early development took place within the SCL Tigers organization, where he made a single appearance at the National League level in 2018. Throughout the 2017–18 season, he was loaned to various Swiss professional clubs before relocating to North America for the 2018–19 season. There, he spent three seasons competing in the United States Hockey League (USHL) with both the Omaha Lancers and the Sioux City Musketeers.

On 17 May 2021, Schmid agreed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Devils. He debuted in the NHL on 11 December 2021, making history as the first goaltender to enter the league directly from the USHL. During the 2022–23 campaign, Schmid achieved his inaugural NHL victory on 10 November 2022 and later secured his first shutout on 25 February 2023. In the opening round of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, he assumed starting responsibilities and delivered crucial performances, including two shutouts, that contributed significantly to the Devils' progression.

On 29 June 2024, Schmid was traded alongside Alexander Holtz to the Vegas Golden Knights in return for Paul Cotter and a third-round draft selection in 2025. Although initially a restricted free agent, he became unrestricted after not receiving a qualifying offer but subsequently inked a two-year deal with Vegas on 3 July. Beginning with an assignment to the AHL affiliate Henderson Silver Knights, Schmid was called up following injuries to Vegas’ primary goaltenders. He made his debut for Vegas on 11 November 2024, entering in relief and stopping all twelve shots faced.

After another recall in March 2025, Schmid earned his first start for Vegas on 6 April, guiding the team to a 3–2 overtime victory. Later that month, he made his playoff debut by coming in as a substitute and stopping all nine shots faced. Entering the 2025–26 season as Adin Hill’s backup, Schmid stepped into the starting role after Hill suffered an injury in late October and recorded his first shutout for Vegas on 4 November with a 1–0 win against the Detroit Red Wings.

International play

Schmid represented Switzerland at the 2024 IIHF World Championship, where he helped secure a silver medal. In his initial start during a preliminary round against Great Britain, he posted a shutout by stopping all fifteen shots faced.

Regular season and playoffs

Bold denotes league leader.

				Regular season										Playoffs
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 Thun	MSL		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
Utica Comets	"AHL"	"11"|"7"|"4"|"1,349"|"59"|"2"|"2.62"|" .905"
New Jersey Devils|"NHL"	"9"|"5"|"2"|"902"|"32"|"1"|"2.13"|" .922"	"4"|"4"|"460"|"18"|2|"2.35"|".921"
Utica Comets|"AHL"	"9"|"8"|"5"|"1,353"|"69"|"1"|"3.06"|".894"
New Jersey Devils|"NHL"	"5"|"9"|"1"|"915"|48"|"""""	3.15		".895"
Henderson Silver Knights| "AHL" 30 |9 |18 |3 |1762 |105 |00 |358 |886 |-	Vegas Golden Knights| "NHL" 5 |2 |00 |1 |238 |5 |00 |126 |944 | 1 |00 |00 |19 |00 |00 |00000000000000000 |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"	NHL totals !48			16	18	4	2290	104	1	2.73	.903 !10		4	4	479	18	2	2.26	.924

International

Year	Team	Competition	Placement		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
2017	Switzerland	U18	8th place		3	0	3	0	153	9	0	3.52	.902
2017	Switzerland	IH18	7th place		3	1	2	0	153	5	0	1.96	.930
2018	Switzerland	U18	9th place		2	0	2	0	120	13	0	6.50	.865
2019	Switzerland	WJC	Fourth place		3	0	2	0	170	12	0	4.23	.878
2024	Switzerland	WC	Template:Silver2		3	3	0	0	139	2	1	0.86	.946
Junior career totals					11	1	9	0	596	39	0	3.92	.892
Senior career totals					3	3	0	0	139	2	1	0.86	.946

Awards and honors

Award	Year
USHL
Third All-Star Team selection	2019
First All-Star Team & Goaltender of the Year honors	2021