Nexts Swiss G out of nowhere

[Wotan]

Remember Jonas Hiller? Or Martin Gerber even? This post is basically a heads up for all you guys in keeper leagues who'd like to find the next Swiss G breaking into the NHL:

You might want to put NJ prospect Akira Schmid on your radar.

I'm pretty sure for most of you he's not a common name. He's been highly regarded over here in Switzerland for quite some time though. He reminds me a bit of Hiller or Gerber back in the day because barely anyone in NA took notice of these guys and then suddenly they were a thing.

Akira Schmid has been the backbone of Swiss junior national teams, was the best G in the USHL last season and now at the age of 21 is leading the AHL with a ridiculous 7-0 record, a 1.42 GAA and a .951sv%... This is of course also thanks to an overall great start of the Utica Comets (14-1), but he's been a part of this success as shown by his 1-0 shutout victory last night.

He has the size (6'5) and from a Swiss perspective also the pedigree to turn into a very solid NHL G - yet he's barely known and hardly ever spoken of in these circles.

Speaking of Swiss Gs: there's another name you could (try to) memorize: Joren van Pottelberghe. He's a 24 yr old DET prospect whose trajectory seems to be excellent as he's clearly the Swiss league's best G these days (2.12 GAA, .924 sv% over 25 games) and has an NHL out clause in his contract...

No way they usurp Blackwood or Nedeljkovic? Nobody thought Giguère would lose his job to a Swiss import, either....

Am I a biased homer? Yes! But I also have some insights here that most of you probably don't

[Batsoup]

You had me at Akira.

[stevegamer]

Thanks for the info. I try to check out AHL stats periodically and see who is unowned that might have a future in my super deep dynasty (900 players). Schmid was out there, so I grabbed him. Always looking for decent young goalies.

[YzermansLegacy]

Been following Schmid's ascension but had completely forgotten about JVP. Some REP to you Wotan for the great (hidden) insights!!

[rataylor22]

FWIW modelling has these two at 30 and 6 percent chances of being NHLers, respectively, which especially in the case of Schmid is much higher than Hiller was tracking. That would not include this seasons results to date.

[pmorrow]

Remember Jonas Hiller? Or Martin Gerber even? This post is basically a heads up for all you guys in keeper leagues who'd like to find the next Swiss G breaking into the NHL:

You might want to put Akira Schmid on your radar.

I'm pretty sure for most of you he's not a common name. He's been highly regarded over here in Switzerland for quite some time though. He reminds me a bit of Hiller or Gerber back in the day because barely anyone in NA took notice of these guys and then suddenly they were a thing.

Akira Schmid has been the backbone of Swiss junior national teams, was the best G in the USHL last season and now at the age of 21 is leading the AHL with a ridiculous 7-0 record, a 1.42 GAA and a .951sv%... This is of course also thanks to an overall great start of the Uticah Comets (14-1), but he's been a part of this success as shown by his 1-0 shutout victory last night.

He has the size (6'5) and from a Swiss perspective also the pedigree to turn into a very solid NHL G - yet he's barely known and hardly ever spoken of in these circles.

Speaking of Swiss Gs: there's another name you could (try to) memorize: Joren van Pottelberghe. He's a 24 yr old DET prospect whose trajectory seems to be excellent as he's clearly the Swiss league's best G these days (2.12 GAA, .924 sv% over 25 games) and has an NHL out clause in his contract...

No way they usurp Blackwood or Nedeljkovic? Nobody thought Giguère would lose his job to a Swiss import, either....

Am I a biased homer? Yes! But I also have some insights here that most of you probably don't

We always appreciate getting the Swiss take! I don't think Schmid is unknown, he definitely was talked about during the WJC. Good goalie with a bright future.

[Dennis]

Bernier has been placed on IR and Schmid will serve as Jersey's backup for the time being.

https://www.nhl.com/devils/news/akir...ca/c-328856764

[Nifty Mittens]

Bernier has been placed on IR and Schmid will serve as Jersey's backup for the time being.

https://www.nhl.com/devils/news/akir...ca/c-328856764

Sounds like Blackwood is starting tonight. Maybe Schmid will start tomorrow @NYI.

[stefan17]

Thank you for the insight! I have Tarasov waiting in the wings in my dynasty league (the one in my sig) and I'm always looking for good young goalies! Going to grab him to stash him He's worth a hold right? Especially if he has such a bright future! Should I swap out Prosvetov for him? I'm set with goalies for a few years with Demko as a young starter, Lankinen hopefully a starter next year and Varlamov and Talbot, although they're getting older!

I also inherited another dynasty leaguw team this year that is not great, kind of in rebuild mode, and goaltending is the biggest problem! My goalies on that team are Fleury, Wedgewood, Anderson (IR), Mrazek (IR), Forsberg. Yeah im desperate LOL. I have Prosvetov again and Gaudreau as prospects-would Schmid be worth a grab and hold in this league? Especially since aside from Mrazek and maybe Wedgewood, I don't know if any of my other goalies will be playing next season.

[Wotan]

I'm pumped to actually see him play an NHL game (pls NJ make it happen!)

[RobertCosgriff]

I added Akira several weeks ago to my prospect roster after he started posting some great stats in the AHL. Great numbers last year in the USHL. Hopefully he will get a couple of starts in the NHL as NJ's backup and we can start to get a feel for what caliber of goalie he is. Still very young and looks to have a very bright future ahead of him!

[Dennis]

First NHL start tonight

https://mobile.twitter.com/NJDevils/...19291444916226

[Henrik18]

I didn‘t see the game…how did he look in his first nhl start?

[berni67]

I didn‘t see the game…how did he look in his first nhl start?

per Fantrax. ; Latest News

Schmid made 25 saves in his NHL debut Saturday. The Devils lost 4-2 to the Islanders.
Analysis
He was sharp. The first goal was an unfortunate deflection off his defender and the third goal was a shortie after a turnover in the neutral zone. Schmid will return to the AHL when Jonathan Bernier (lower body) returns. At 21, he needs more seasoning in the AHL, but is talented enough to put up a spot start or two while he's with the big club.

[Wotan]

Blatantly going to toot my own horn here: this post about Schmid from 16 months ago sure aged well 😄

If someone happens to be wondering about Van Pottelberghe: he's just had the first few games after a very long unjury absence. Terrible timing and I think this might just have cost him his shot with the Wings...