The Utah Hockey Club will start the season with Connor Ingram and Karel Vejmelka as their tandem. How will the two fare? Let’s look at each of the Utah goalies individually and go over how they did last season, and what the expectations for this season will be.
Analyzing the Utah Goalies Heading into the 2024-25 Season
Connor Ingram
The first of the Utah goalies is the starter. Coming into this season, Ingram is almost guaranteed to be Utah’s starting goalie on Opening Night. Ingram had the most complete season of his career last year, where he went 23-21-3 with a .907 save percentage. Those numbers don’t jump out at you right away, but after everything that happened around Arizona in their final two years, putting up those numbers is impressive.
Now Ingram will be in a new city with no distractions. There’s no reason to think he can’t get better. The defense in front of him also got much better with the additions of Mikael Sergachev and Ian Cole. Don’t be surprised if Ingram has a really solid season as the starter for Utah.
Karel Vejmelka
The second of the Utah goalies is an intriguing case. Vejmelka will be the backup for Utah to start the season. He is an interesting case because in the previous two seasons he played well when the Coyotes were a horrifically bad team. In 2021-2022, the Coyotes went 25-50-7 and were a 57-point team, while Vejmelka posted a .898 save percentage. In 2022-2023, the Coyotes improved to 70 points, and in that season, Vejmelka posted a .899 save percentage. That number dropped to .896 during the 2023-24 season, which is not the most ideal.
The bottom line is Vejmelka performed as an average to slightly below average goaltender on some really bad Arizona teams. He has starter potential, but Ingram is the frontrunner to be the starter. The best-case scenario for Utah would be that Vejmelka takes his game to the next level and becomes a 1B goaltender with Ingram, which shouldn’t be out of the question. These two guys are players that should really benefit from the move to Utah.
The Potential for This Tandem is There
The hockey club has two goalies that have starter potential. Would it be crazy to say that the Vejmelka and Ingram tandem could be one of the best in the league? Probably. Is it crazy to say they have the potential to be in the top half of the league as a tandem? Not really. Every team needs a viable backup, as the grind of the NHL season can be taxing, especially on a goalie.
The Tandem will be able to play in an NHL Arena
It had to be pretty weird for Ingram and Vejmelka to play in a college arena for the first few years of their careers. Playing in a college arena had to have had an effect on the team’s energy at points last year. Playing in an NHL-caliber area should motivate both goalies on a nightly basis.
Utah is in a good position going into their first season in a new city. Some teams that go through relocation have a tough first year, while this team looks like they should be in a good position.
Goaltending Is a Huge Key for Utah’s Success
While Utah revamped their blue line and their forward group looks solid, they are still a young and unexperienced team. There will most likely be some nights that this group won’t be able to muster up a ton of offense and will need the goaltending to bail them out. This tandem seems to have the talent to do that, but if one of Ingram or Vejmelka has a bad season, Utah could be in some trouble.
While Ingram and Vejmelka are relatively young at 28 and 27, they are going to have to show the promise that they’ve shown at times throughout their limited time in the NHL.
Main Photo: Rob Gray-Imagn Images
