Evaluating the New Jersey Devils Goaltending Options Part One: Internal Options

He hit a few lows throughout the regular season, but this could partially be from becoming the heavy workload of being “the guy” for the first time. Where some soured on him was in the playoffs. In both rounds, he got shelled in every game. He let in four and five goals twice in the four games he started. It became borderline unwatchable for Vanecek in the postseason as every shot he faced looked like a battle. That being said, there is a 52-game regular season sample size suggesting that he is a solid middle-of-the-pack starting goalie.

Akira Schmid

The Devils’ other option is 23-year-old Akira Schmid. After a few horrible starts in 2021-22, Schmid broke out in a big way this past year. After being called up following another Mackenzie Blackwood injury, Schmid ended up playing in 18 regular season games. There were inconsistencies that you would expect from a young goalie, but on a few occasions, he stood on his head. Many Devils fans remember his remarkable season debut in a relief role against the Ottawa Senators back in November.

It was on a national scale in the playoffs where Schmid made a name for himself. His heroics against the New York Rangers in the first round is what propelled them to Round 2. But similar to his regular season, there were a few bumps; including Game 6 against the Rangers and Games 1 and 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes. Nevertheless, Schmid showed enough promise to earn himself significant playing time in the NHL next season.

The big question surrounding the goaltending, and Schmid in particular, is if they should keep him as the backup, or send him to Utica to carry a starter’s workload. Schmid is waiver exempt, meaning the Devils do not have to worry about another team claiming him should they send him down to Utica.

Despite a small sample size, he has shown great potential, and in a full season would probably put up solid numbers. For Fitzgerald, his first option is to keep Schmid up in the NHL as a backup, but only play in 25 to 30 games. His other option is to let him marinate more as a starter in Utica getting closer to 50 games. After re-signing their core players, this is Fitzgerald’s next franchise-altering decision.