Akira Schmid

BIOGRAPHY

Akira Schmid was born May 12, 2000, in Bern, Switzerland. He is a goaltender in the NHL.

Schmid played most of his youth and junior hockey in the SCL Tigers system. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft at the end of the 2017–18 season, during which he was loaned multiple times from his junior team to professional teams within Switzerland. He moved to North America to start the 2018–19 season, playing three seasons in the United States Hockey League (USHL) for the Omaha Lancers and Sioux City Musketeers.

On 17 May 2021, Schmid signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils. Schmid made his National Hockey League (NHL) debut on 11 December 2021, in a 4–2 loss to the New York Islanders. By making his debut with the Devils, Schmid made history in becoming the first goaltender to debut in the NHL directly from the USHL.

In the 2022–23 season, on 10 November 2022, Schmid collected his first career NHL win with the Devils in a 4–3 overtime win against the Ottawa Senators. On 25 February 2023, Schmid recorded his first NHL shutout with the Devils in a 7–0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers.