The Devils assigned netminder Akira Schmid to the AHL’s Utica Comets on Thursday, according to a team release.
Most expected the Devils to make a move to shake up their crease, but few expected the team to demote last year’s breakout performer between the pipes. Schmid, 23, logged a .922 SV% in 18 appearances in 2022-23, usurping Mackenzie Blackwood for the backup job behind starter Vítek Vaněček by season’s end. The Swiss goalie even stole starts from Vaněček in the postseason, starting eight of New Jersey’s 12 playoff games while recording a .921 SV% and two shutouts. It became clear by the summer that Schmid had secured the backup job behind Vaněček this season, leading the Devils to part ways with Blackwood and trade his signing rights to the Sharks.
Both Schmid and Vaněček have failed to recapture last season’s strong play, however. The Devils’ .888 team SV% is near the bottom of the league, and it’s almost singlehandedly keeping them out of a playoff spot after finishing with 112 points last season.
Even though he’s been below average, Schmid’s numbers are far superior to Vaněček’s this season. In 15 appearances (13 starts), he’s posted a .893 SV% and conceded -3.8 goals saved above average compared to Vaněček’s .885 SV% and -10.2 GSAA in 22 appearances (20 starts).
Choosing to send down the better of your two goalies will certainly raise some eyebrows, but short of trading Vaněček, it’s the only choice Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald had at his disposal to try and improve their goalie situation in the short term. Waiving Vaněček would destroy his trade value as the team continues to browse the market for upgrades, while Schmid can head to Utica without needing waivers.
Last season in Utica, Schmid went 11-7-4 with a .905 SV%, 2.62 GAA and two shutouts in 23 games as he bounced between leagues.
The team now turns to 23-year-old Nico Daws to see if he’s ready for full-time NHL play. New Jersey recalled him yesterday after he posted a 2.39 GAA and .929 SV% in three starts with Utica this month. The 2020 third-round pick missed the first two months of this season after undergoing hip surgery over the summer.
Daws has not made an NHL appearance since the end of the 2021-22 campaign when he made 25 appearances for a Devils team plagued by injuries between the pipes that season. Behind veteran Jonathan Bernier, who played ten games before sustaining a career-ending hip injury, Daws was the best of the other six goalies who suited up for the Devils that year with a 10-11-1 record and .893 SV%. Those still weren’t standout numbers for a team that had decent defensive stats, but he’ll lean on that experience now as he gets another NHL shot. He will presumably start one of the Devils’ upcoming back-to-back road games against the Senators and Bruins to wrap up 2023.