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Akira Schmid

New Jersey Devils Send Down Akira Schmid

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As Mackenzie Blackwood makes his way back into the lineup for the New Jersey Devils, the team had a difficult choice to make in the net. The team announced today that goaltender Akira Schmid will be sent down to their AHL affiliate Utica Comets. With nine games remaining in their regular season, the Comets are coming close to making the playoffs in the AHL’s North Division with a record of 31-23-6.

After a difficult start to his NHL career last season, Schmid has rebounded significantly this year. Playing on a top team in New Jersey, the goaltender has a record of 8-5-2, with a .918 SV% and a 2.24 GAA, including one shutout as well. Even the underlying numbers bode well for Schmid, with a Goals Against Percentage Minus of 86, and a High-Danger Scoring Chance Save Percentage of .855, Schmid has improved a considerable amount in his second year.

Drafted in the fifth round of the 2018 NHL Draft, Schmid will be able to log important minutes for a competitive team in Utica. As the Devils have now clinched a playoff spot, they will now have the luxury of all three top goalies on their depth chart playing important hockey into late April.

Snapshots: Ovechkin, Konecny, Schmid

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Alex Ovechkin is expected back in the Washington Capitals lineup later this week. Emily Kaplan of ESPN reports that the Capitals star will return to the Washington area on Wednesday and could make his return to the lineup as soon as Thursday night. The Russian sniper has been away from the team since February 12th, dealing with the death of his father, Mikhail.

The team has told Ovechkin to take the time he needs before returning to the lineup, but Kaplan reports that he will likely return either Thursday or Saturday. The Capitals host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday before taking on the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon. Ovechkin has continued his torrid goal-scoring pace this season with 32 goals and 54 points in 54 games played. He will look to boost the Capitals playoff chances upon his return as they sit just outside the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.

  • Travis Konecny will miss tonight’s Philadelphia Flyers contest against the Edmonton Oilers. Flyers beat reporter Giana Han of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports Konecny has an upper-body injury and will be assessed by medical staff when the team returns home. The Flyers wrap up a four-game western road trip tonight and will be looking to tighten things up defensively after allowing 15 goals in the previous three games. They will miss Konecny’s presence as he is the team’s leading scorer with 54 points this season.
  • The New Jersey Devils have called up goaltender Akira Schmid from the AHL’s Utica Comets as per a team release. Devils reporter Amanda Stein added Mackenzie Blackwood tweaked something in practice this morning, so Schmid will serve as Vitek Vanecek’s backup when the Devils face the Montreal Canadiens tonight.

New Jersey Devils Assign Akira Schmid To AHL

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After calling him up on an emergency basis yesterday, the New Jersey Devils have sent goaltender Akira Schmid back to their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets.

The move returns Schmid, 22, to a Comets team where he shares the crease with fellow goalie prospect Nico Daws. The Swiss netminder has had a bit of an odd season, as his numbers are poor at the AHL level but highly impressive in the NHL.

In eight AHL games, Schmid has a 4-1-3 record, a 2.72 goals-against-average, and a grisly .887 save percentage. On the flip side, in nine NHL games Schmid has gone 5-4 with a 2.24 goals-against-average and an impressive .919 save percentage.

One would typically expect a player to post better numbers at the lower level of competition, but that hasn’t been the case for Schmid. It’s highly likely that the state of the Devils, a team overflowing with competent defensive defensemen, played a role in Schmid’s numbers being better at the NHL level.

In any case, Schmid will head back to the AHL level looking to help Utica reach the playoffs. The team sits third in the AHL’s North Division and will hope to increase its lead on the two teams at their heels, the Laval Rocket and Syracuse Crunch.

Ondrej Palat Activated From Injured Reserve

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The New Jersey Devils have removed Ondrej Palat from injured reserve, according to the NHL’s media site. Tyce Thompson, who was recalled recently, no longer appears on the roster and according to Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com is being sent to the Utica Comets. The team also has recalled Akira Schmid, but had an extra roster spot available already so didn’t need a further transaction.

Palat, 31, hasn’t played since October 24 when he logged more than 20 minutes for the first time in a Devils uniform. He would undergo groin surgery a week later, meaning he would miss most of New Jersey’s incredible start to the year. Now that the Devils have started to falter, there’s no better time for the Stanley Cup champion to get back into the lineup.

Though he isn’t an elite offensive player, you will have a hard time finding any former linemates that would say a negative word about playing with Palat. He is the kind of good-at-everything player that every team relies on, and is a consistent presence at both ends of the rink. Marian Hossa-lite, he’s been called in the past, as he allows linemates to cheat offensively while covering a lot of the defensive responsibility.

That’s what the Devils were hoping to add when they signed Palat to a five-year, $30MM contract last summer. The front-loaded deal, which pays him $8.25MM this season, also came with a full no-movement clause for the first three years. The veteran forward is supposed to be able to lend his championship experience to one of the youngest groups in the league, and he’ll be welcomed back to try and help turn things around after a recent skid.

That turnaround may have already started with a decisive 5-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings last night, but there are some challenges coming on the schedule. The New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes, both division rivals, are on tap after tonight’s game against the St. Louis Blues.

New Jersey Devils Recall Three Players

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Ahead of their game against the New York Rangers tonight, the New Jersey Devils have made several recalls. Alexander Holtz, Kevin Bahl, and Nico Daws have all been brought up, giving them some extra bodies to help cover a few absences.

Nathan Bastian is going for imaging today on a shoulder injury according to Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com, and team reporter Amanda Stein explains that Daws is up to cover for Akira Schmid, who is feeling ill.

The trio of young players is a reminder that the Devils, tied for first in the NHL with 18 wins, have a number of extra high-level prospects at every position. Holtz, 20, was the seventh overall pick in 2020 and has played just 13 NHL games so far. Bahl, still just 22, was a key part in the Taylor Hall trade and has played just 27. Daws, incredibly, has actually seen the most action in a single season of the three, playing 25 games for the Devils last year when they had so many goaltending injuries.

For a team already finding a ton of success with their young NHL roster, the number of impressive players in the system could lead to a long-term window of contention.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Blackwood, Ristolainen

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The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with three Western Conference superstars making the cut. Jason Robertson is on top after scoring four goals and eight points in three games. After missing training camp, Robertson has picked up right where he left off last season and now has eight goals and 18 points in 12 games.

Second and third went to Nathan MacKinnon and Erik Karlsson, who each had their own impressive weeks. The Colorado Avalanche center had seven assists in the two games overseas, both wins in Finland, to become the league’s all-time scoring leader in games played outside of North America. Karlsson meanwhile had four goals and eight points in three games including a hat trick and has already matched his goal total from last year (ten) in just 14 games.

  • Mackenzie Blackwood has been diagnosed with an MCL sprain, and will meet with doctors tomorrow for further evaluation according to New Jersey Devils team reporter Amanda Stein. Blackwood left a game against the Edmonton Oilers on November 3, leaving the Devils with Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid as their tandem for the time being.
  • After being scratched on the weekend, some wondered whether Rasmus Ristolainen was still dealing with the effects of his previous injury. Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella told reporters including Giana Han of the Philadelphia Inquirer that Ristolainen’s injury isn’t the issue and that “everything about his game needs to be better” when he gets back into the lineup.

Devils Recall Akira Schmid, Send Andreas Johnsson To AHL

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With Mackenzie Blackwood suffering a lower-body injury while stretching across to make a stop against Edmonton on Thursday, the Devils needed a second goaltender.  That second netminder will be Akira Schmid as the team announced today (Twitter link) that he has been recalled from AHL Utica.  To make room for him on the roster, winger Andreas Johnsson has been sent down to the Comets.

The 22-year-old Schmid has played in four games so far this season with Utica, posting a 1.97 GAA along with a .918 SV%, numbers that are considerably better than the ones that Nico Daws has put up so far which helped Schmid earn the nod.  He does have a bit of NHL experience having played in six games with the Devils last season but he struggled in those appearances to the tune of a 4.83 GAA and a save percentage of just .833.  Vitek Vanecek will likely get the bulk of the workload until Blackwood is able to return and no timeline has been provided on that front yet.

As for Johnsson, the 27-year-old actually had the second-best year of his career last season with New Jersey, collecting 13 goals and 22 points in 71 games.  However, with a $3.4MM AAV and a tenuous hold on a roster spot, the Devils correctly predicted that he’d pass through waivers unclaimed last month, allowing him to be shuffled back and forth as roster needs warrant.  He hasn’t played with the Devils this season and has six points in four games with the Comets so far.

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