The Vegas Golden Knights still have plenty of questions to answer and moves to make this offseason, but their goaltending appears to be set after the first day of free agency. After parting ways with Logan Thompson, trading for Akira Schmid and signing Ilya Samsonov, the Golden Knights solidified their netminding depth behind starter Adin Hill.
Here’s what it all means for the club’s new trio of experienced, NHL-ready puck stoppers:
Adin Hill
Vegas’ retooling in net serves as a vote of confidence in Hill – just not a huge one. Managing a veteran club that is very much looking to maximize their Stanley Cup window and return to their 2023 glory, general manager (GM) Kelly McCrimmon could have prioritized landing an established, bona fide No. 1 like Jacob Markstrom or Linus Ullmark. Instead, he demonstrated faith that Hill could be the goalie he was during the Stanley Cup run a little over a year ago.
Still, that decision shouldn’t be confused with job security. Hill is without a contract after this season, making this a clear prove-it campaign for the 28-year-old. He posted decent regular season numbers this past season (19-12-2, 2.71 goals-against average, .909 save percentage) and once again demonstrated postseason brilliance (1.70 GAA, .931 SV%), albeit in a losing effort after entering the series in Game 5. But he also got bit by the all-too-familiar injury bug, holding him to just 35 games.
Those bumps in the road necessitated the addition of Samsonov, who has started 40 or more games in each of the past three seasons and whose presence will loom large if Hill falters or gets hurt.
Ilya Samsonov
While Hill remains the No. 1 option in net, the addition of Samsonov signals that Vegas brass felt that the club’s goaltending wasn’t good enough. The Golden Knights aren’t exactly an organization brimming with cap space, but they decided that the $1 million in additional cap expenditures incurred was worth the upgrade of Samsonov ($1.8 million) over Thompson ($800,000).
And perhaps, rightfully so. Samsonov has seen action in 126 games over the past three seasons, mostly spent on playoff-bound Toronto Maple Leafs teams. In 2022-23, he went 27-10-5 with a 2.33 GAA and .919 SV%. By adding the still-young 27-year-old, the Golden Knights front office now has a substantial safety net behind Hill. It’s worth noting, however, that even as Vegas was ready to make a change in goal, Thompson’s 2023-24 numbers were far better than Samsonov’s. Thompson posted a 2.70 GAA and .908 SV%, a clear step above Samsonov’s 3.13 GAA and .890 SV%.
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The question is whether Vegas gets the 2022-23 version or the 2023-24 one.
Akira Schmid
Amidst the goaltending musical chairs in recent days, the biggest organizational upgrade in net probably comes with regards to the No. 3 slot. A team with the injury luck of the Golden Knights needs an effective, trustworthy third option. And with all due respect to Vancouver-bound Jiri Patera, the Czech netminder wasn’t particularly effective or trustworthy this past season.
Schmid should make a big difference. Like Samsonov, the 24-year-old former New Jersey Devil followed up an exceptional 2022-23 campaign with a rather underwhelming performance in 2023-24. He managed a 2.13 GAA and .922 SV% in 18 games, but then came back down to earth this past season with a 3.15 GAA and .895 SV% in 19 games for a disappointing Devils team. But even those 2023-24 numbers substantially out-performed Patera’s small, six-game cup of coffee in the NHL (3.98 GAA, .893 SV%).
A restricted free agent, Schmid still has to be signed before formally joining the organization – presumably to serve as top dog with the Henderson Silver Knights and provide insurance in the event of injury. Given the health history of Hill (and, to a lesser extent, Samsonov), it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Schmid get some time at the NHL level.
Now that the dominoes seem to have fallen into place (at least as it pertains to the goalie position), the path from last season’s group to this season is clear. Samsonov has replaced Thompson as the primary backup, bringing 70 more games of NHL experience despite being a mere three days older. Meanwhile, Schmid is set to take the position of Patera, further solidifying the Golden Knights’ depth at the position. But even amidst all the personnel changes in net, Vegas’ success will ultimately still boil down to Hill’s game and availability.
