Former Golden Knights goaltender Akira Schmid is headed to arbitration after filing on Sunday, joining a group of 15 players that also includes Trevor Zegras and Jason Robertson.
Schmid, who was traded by Vegas to the Florida Panthers for a 2028 third-round pick in the NHL Draft, posted a 2.59 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage last season. He also finished with two shutouts. The source material describes the Swiss Olympian as possibly the Golden Knights’ best regular-season goaltender.
His qualifying offer was set at $918,750, a number that would have been a bargain for Florida. Instead, the Panthers now face a much steeper financial outcome after the arbitration filing.
The move also fits into a broader pattern for Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon, who is presented here as having handled his restricted free agents well. The source points to Schmid as another example of Vegas avoiding a costly situation, especially when compared with the much bigger concern of Pavel Dorofeyev. In that case, the source warns that adding another $10+ million player would be a major hit to the salary cap and could force tougher cuts, something McCrimmon wants to avoid while the team remains in its Stanley Cup window.
The arbitration list released Sunday also included Xavier Bourgault of the Ottawa Senators, Kirby Dach of the Montreal Canadiens, Jamie Drysdale of the Philadelphia Flyers, Jet Greaves of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Alex Jefferies of the New York Islanders, Peyton Krebs of the Buffalo Sabres and Connor McMichael of the St. Louis…
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