Karel Vejmelka #70 of the Utah Hockey Club enters the ice before the second period against the Montreal Canadiens at Delta Center on January 14, 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – As the NHL season continues to wind down and the Utah Hockey Club finds themselves amidst a heated playoff race, the club also has some work to be done in terms of which pending free agents to resign. With players like Nick Bjugstad, Ian Cole and Alexander Kerfoot all on expiring contracts, goaltender Karel Vejmelka poses as arguably the biggest name for the team to come to terms with.
Following such an impressive stretch between the pipes and helping the team gather three critical wins at home, Vejmelka shared his thoughts on a potential extension.
The simple answer? Yes.
Ever since arriving in Salt Lake City, Vejmelka has quickly become a fan favorite as he’s arguably carried the team on his back for a majority of the season.
Karel Vejmelka made an ABSURD 49 saves in tonight’s @utahhockeyclub 4-1 victory 🤯 pic.twitter.com/xSr5Gb1plO
— NHL (@NHL) November 14, 2024
With a .910 SV% (15th in the NHL) and 2.45 goals against per night (tied for 8th in the NHL), Vejmelka has played the best hockey of his career in a Utah sweater.
The result? A talented goaltender who appreciates the love, recognizes the opportunity and wants to remain in Utah.
“For sure. I don’t have reasons to change anything. It was the first thing on my mind to be part of the team,” Karel Vejmelka said.
“We are like big family now. I would like to be part of it for a couple more years.”
Vejmelka on if he wants to be in Utah long term:
“For sure. I don’t have reasons to change anything. It was the first thing on my mind to be part of the team.”
“We are like big family now. I would like to be part of it for a couple more years.” pic.twitter.com/2nCNYKZ0tZ
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 4, 2025
As of right now, all signs seem to point towards an extension for No. 70.
In addition to National Insider Frank Seravalli’s report that “Utah has made progress,” with Vejmelka this week, General Manager Bill Armstrong shared that the team is currently looking over their expiring contracts and wants to get some of them resigned.
Olli Maatta’s extension with #UtahHC: 3 years x $3.5 million.
He may not be the only one this week. Sounds like Utah had made progress with pending UFA goalie Karel Vejmelka.
Both played huge roles in Utah’s inaugural season playoff push.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 3, 2025
“For us, there’s some guys still we want to get signed on the team that are free agents,” Armstrong said.
“So, we’re still looking at all those options.”
According to Vejmelka, his agent is in the process of working on an extension with Utah.
“Obviously it’s a really important thing to me…my agent is working on it, so I just try to focus for the rest of the season,” Vejmelka said.
“We’ll see what’s going to happen.”
Karel Vejmelka on if a contract extension has been on his mind:
“Obviously it’s a really important thing to me…my agent is working on it so I just try to focus for the rest of the season.”
“We’ll see what’s going to happen.” pic.twitter.com/aunBgtbECn
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 4, 2025
In addition to Vejmelka’s impressive numbers this season, talented and consistent goaltenders are really hard to come by in the NHL.
For a lot of championship teams, the difference between raising a Stanley Cup or not generally comes down to the performance between the pipes.
While Vejmelka has yet to prove himself in the postseason, his performance this year certainly bodes well, and he should be the No. 1 guy Utah relies on as they attempt to emerge from a rebuild.
As of right now, Utah also doesn’t have a whole lot of other options regarding a reliable goaltender.
Connor Ingram has struggled, Jaxson Stauber is inexperienced, and prospect Michael Hrabal is still a few years away from being NHL ready.
But for Vejmelka, he’s proven himself all season, wants to stay in Utah and appears talented enough to be a critical component of the team reaching the playoffs consistently over the next few years.
The Utah Hockey Club will now face the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena. The game can be viewed on SEG+. Fans can also tune in on air on the KSL Sports APP or on 97.5 and 1280 The Zone. Click here for the full schedule.
