Akira Schmid has dealt with a ton of noise within the Vegas Golden Knights organization in the past month. Carter Hart has joined the team on a two-year deal and Carl Lindbom has experienced a meteoric uprising in the past few weeks. That's not even mentioning that Adin Hill had a breakout season in 2024-25.
One can say that life's tough for the Swiss goaltender. However, like a Swiss chocolate, Schmid was sweet and tasty in Tuesday's 1-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. The netminder stopped all 24 shots and neutralized Dylan Larkin, netting the Golden Knights two more points.
That included a big third-period stop that kept it a one-goal game. He snatched a rebound in mid-air from Alex DeBrincat, leading to the 1-0 shutout. Throughout the night, Schmid took up space in the net, tracking every puck and making ideal cuts to keep the game in Vegas's favor.
Does that sound familiar, Golden Knights fans? That's something that Sean Burke and company have talked about endlessly, after all.
Tuesday's performance could be the building block for Schmid to stick around for a few years within the organization. Even with a stacked goaltending room, he can make a compelling case for being on the Golden Knights and give them more depth.
Assessing Akira Schmid's current position within the Vegas Golden Knights (and why it matters)
Akira Schmid is set to become a restricted free agent next season. The Swiss netminder will have arbitration rights, which makes things even more interesting. Considering that the Golden Knights have Hart and Lindbom in the fold, that puts the 25-year-old in a complex situation.
What's a team to do when you have so many netminders? That's a good problem to have, particularly when the current crop and prospects have plenty to show for it. On the surface, it appears that Schmid is in a pickle.
However, he's shown that he can stand his ground against tougher teams. Take his performance against the Avalanche from last season as an example. He stole a point by stopping 34 of 36 shots. One of those goals included a goal that was reviewed, where he clamped down on the puck like a cat clamping down on someone's hand near its belly.
Mind you, he stopped big names like Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Artturi Lehkonen from scoring goals. That's impressive when you consider that the Golden Knights went to him when Ilya Samsonov became stale.
More performances like Tuesday will have the Golden Knights thinking more about Schmid's future
As mentioned, the Golden Knights goaltending room is loaded. You have plenty of big names out in the open, ready to impact the team. It's a good problem to have for Vegas since they have countless options to work with.
As for Schmid, performances like Tuesday will have the organization thinking about why he should stick around. The 25-year-old has proven himself to be a stable presence whenever he plays, providing a similar style to Hill. Imagine what will happen when he returns.
All Schmid has to do is build off performances like Tuesday's game. If he can do that, there's no reason why you can't keep him around. Wouldn't that be cool, like the Alps?