Breaking: Golden Knights Addresses Goaltending Depth Issues.

The Vegas Golden Knights still have a lot of questions and decisions to make this summer, but their goaltending appears to be set following the first day of free agency. After parting ways with Logan Thompson, trading for Akira Schmid, and signing Ilya Samsonov, the Golden Knights strengthened their netminder depth behind starter Adin Hill.

Here is what it means for the club’s new trio of experienced, NHL-ready puck stoppers:

Adin Hill

Vegas’ retooling in net is a statement of confidence in Hill, but not a big one. Managing a veteran club aiming to maximize their Stanley Cup window and return to glory in 2023, general manager (GM) Kelly McCrimmon might have prioritized acquiring an established, bona fide No. 1 like Jacob Markstrom or Linus Ullmark. Instead, he expressed confidence that Hill could be the goalie he was during the Stanley Cup run a little more than a year ago.

However, this decision should not be confused with job stability. Hill is out of contract after this season, so this is a clear prove-it campaign for the 28-year-old. He had a good regular season (19-12-2, 2.71 goals-against average,.909 save percentage) and once again showed postseason excellence (1.70 GAA,.931 SV%), albeit in a losing effort after entering the series in Game 5. But he was also bitten by the all-too-familiar injury bug, which limited 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 goaltender, the arrival of Samsonov indicates that Vegas management felt the team’s goaltending was inadequate. The Golden Knights aren’t exactly flush with budget space, but they believed that the $1 million in increased salary spending was justified by the upgrading of Samsonov ($1.8 million) over Thompson ($800,000).

The question is whether Vegas gets the 2022-23 version or the 2023-24 one.

Akira Schmid

Among the goalie musical chairs of recent days, the most significant organizational upgrade in net likely comes in the No. 3 spot. A club with the Golden Knights’ injury record requires an effective, reliable third option. With all due respect to Jiri Patera, the Czech goalie was neither very effective or reliable this season.

Schmid should make a significant difference. Like Samsonov, the 24-year-old former New Jersey Devil followed up an outstanding 2022-23 season with a disappointing 2023-24 one. He had a 2.13 GAA and.922 SV% in 18 games, but he fell back to earth this season with a 3.15 GAA and.895 SV% in 19 games for a struggling Devils squad. Even those 2023-24 figures outperformed Patera’s brief six-game NHL stint (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.