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The Utah Hockey Club has proven to be quite feisty and competitive in the team's first season in Salt Lake City. Utah is in fifth place in the Central Divison with a 24-23-9 record, giving the team 57 points. While Utah can see the Vancouver Canucks in the final spot in the Western Conference playoff structure with 63 points, it would take quite a bit of work for Utah to make up ground on the 9th place Calgary Flames and the 8th place Canucks to earn a spot in the postseason.
Based on recent deals, Vejmelka would likely exceed our projection and land much closer to Blackwood, and potentially above. He’s been great this season. #UtahHC #NHL pic.twitter.com/UAgDSAAZVN
— AFP Analytics (@AFPAnalytics) February 22, 2025
Utah has several excellent players that have been performing well for head coach Andre Tourigny. Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther and Nick Schmaltz have been the most notable among the forwards, while defenseman Mikhail Sergachev has been their most notable blue liner.
However, their most outstanding performer this season has been goaltender Karel Vejmelka. His outstanding play has helped make the Utah Hockey Club a competitive team most nights and a difficult opponent to take down in regulation time.
As a result of Vejmelka's consistent performance, NHL inside Darren Dreger has reported that the team is talking to the goaltender about a contract extension. A number of goaltenders throughout the NHL have received recent extensions, so it may be relatively easy to look at goalie comps which would allow Vejmelka and the team to fine common ground.
Kevin Lankinen of the Vancouver Canucks and Logan Thompson of the Washington Capitals are the latest goaltenders to sign extensions. Lankinen put his signature on a 5-year, $22.5 million contract earlier this week. The extension includes a no-movement clause for the first year of the deal. He can also name 15 teams that he cannot be traded to in the following three seasons.
Vejmelka has put solid numbers on the board for Utah Hockey Club
The 28-year-old from the Czech Republic has a solid 2.57 goals against average along with a .909 save percentage as he has built a 13-15-4 record with 1 shutout. Vejmelka is in his fourth season in the NHL. His first three season was with the Arizona Coyotes.
Vejmelka has been mentioned in trade rumors because of his outstanding play, and he could fit in with a team like the Edmonton Oilers that has Stanley Cup aspirations. However, since Vejmelka's play has been so competitive, the Oilers might have to give up quite a bit of talent to get Utah to bite on such a deal.
The Utah goaltender is earning $2.725 million this season. He is scheduled to become a free agent at the conclusion of the season.
