Recently acquired Florida Panthers netminder Akira Schmid has filed for arbitration. 

Schmid is among 15 NHL players who filed for arbitration before the 5 p.m. EST deadline on Sunday, July 6. 

Per the NHLPA, the 15 RFAs who have filed for arbitration are Jason Robertson, Trevor Zegras, Jet Greaves, Cole Perfetti, Jamie Drysdale, Braden Schneider, Connor McMichael, Xavier Bourgault, Kirby Dach, Alex Jeffries, Nick Robertson, Peyton Krebs, Cole Sillinger, Ronan Seeley, and Schmid.

By filing for arbitration, players become eligible for a maximum of a two-year contract, but those one year away from becoming unrestricted free agents can only be awarded a one-year contract. 

The arbitration process is completed by the team and the player, who present their case for the contract’s price tag. More often than not, the team low-balls, while the player puts an unrealistic price. An arbitrator is used to help find the middle ground based on production, age and the term, whether it’s one year or two. 

Although Schmid and the Panthers are heading to arbitration, they can still agree to a contract before then. The date for the arbitration meeting has not been set.

The 26-year-old Swiss goaltender earned $875,000 against the salary cap on his last deal, which was a two-year contract. In the 2025-26 season, Schmid played a career-high 34 games, recording an .893 save percentage and a 2.59 goals-against average.

Heading into the 2026-27 season, the Panthers will be utilizing Schmid as the backup netminder to Jacob Markstrom. 

See more of The Hockey News on Google and save us as a preferred source. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.