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Schmid Named USHL’s Outstanding Goalie

Amanda Stein is reporting on the Devils’ official blog that goalie Akira Schmid, who recently signed his Entry Level Contract with the Devils, has been named the United States Hockey League’s Goaltender of the Year.

He played 2020-21 with the Sioux City Musketeers and had a record of “22 wins, 13 losses, and one overtime loss in 36 games.” He finished the season with a 2.01 goals against average and a .921 save percentage. Stein also said that “his three shutouts tied him as the league leader.”

In the playoffs, he went 2-2-0 in the Clark Cup Playoffs, but he Musketeers were eliminated in the first round of the postseason by the Omaha Lancers – his former USHL team who traded him to Sioux City in the 2019-20 season. He finished the playoffs with a .920 save percentage and a 2.28 goals against average.

Stein mentioned that the Bern, Switzerland-native played three seasons in the USHL, appearing “in 86 games with a .918 save percentage. He has a record of 43-33-4 and six career shutouts.”

He inked his ELC with New Jersey on May 17, 2021. Stein said that he was taken “in the fifth round, of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by” the Devils.

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Goaltender Akira Schmid Signs ELC

The Devils this morning announced that they have signed goaltender Akira Schmid, their fifth-round pick in the 2018 Draft, to an Entry Level Contract.

The contract is for three years and kicks in the 2021-22 season.

Schmid, newly 21-years-old on May 12, played last year with the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League. He is 6-feet, 5-inches and 205-pounds and led the USHL last year in goals against average (2.01) and save percentage (.921). He finished the season with a 22-13-1 record over 36 games. He also notches three shutouts. Sioux City – as mentioned in the press release the Devils put out – was eliminated from the Clark Cup Playoffs last week by the Fargo Force. He was “2-2 with a .920 save percentage and [a] 2.28 save percentage.”

In 2018-19 with the Omaha Lancers (also of the USHL), he led the league in save percentage (,926) and was second in goals against (2.18). He was named to the USHL’s Third All-Star Team in the postseason.

A native of Bern, Switzerland, Schmid represented the Swiss in at three World Junior Championships (2018 to 2020) and two under-18 World Championships (2017 and 2018),

In international competition, he was teammates with Devils’ captain Nico Hischier at the 2917 under-18’s. He played youth hockey through to 2018 with the Swiss club Langnau.

The Devils have now signed two goalie prospects since May 5. They signed Nico Daws (selected 84th overall in 2020 in the third-round) to a three-year ELC in early May.