The Panthers have traded for a goaltender. What to know about their new addition
The Florida Panthers have a goaltender.
The Panthers on Monday night traded for the Vegas Golden Knights’ Akira Schmid, sending the Golden Knights a 2028 third-round pick in return.
“Akira is a talented and athletic goaltender who has shown poise in high-pressure moments,” Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito said in a press release announcing the trade. “We are excited to welcome him to our organization.”
Schmid, 26, has played in 82 NHL games across five seasons for the New Jersey Devils and Vegas. He had the largest workload of his NHL career last season, going 16-10-6 in 34 games (29 starts) for Vegas last season. He had a 2.59 goals against average and .893 save percentage in that span with two shutouts.
On the international stage, Schmid most recently represented Switzerland at the 2026 Winter Olympics. He also earned a silver medal at the 2024 IIHF World Championship, posting a perfect 3-0-0 record along with a .946 save percentage and 0.86 goals against average over three tournament games.
He was a pending restricted free agent so his exact salary for the 2026-27 season has not yet been determined. The Panthers have about $5.8 million in cap space before accounting for Schmid’s salary and a potential contract for defenseman Radko Gudas, who the Panthers acquired the rights to earlier Monday.
While Schmid fills the role of a high-end backup, Florida still needs to acquire a starting-caliber goaltender prior to the start of the season with both Sergei Bobrovsky and Daniil Tarasov departing. Free agency opens at noon Wednesday.
This story will be updated.
This story was originally published June 29, 2026 at 10:10 PM.
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