Vitek Vanecek

This Season So Far

The 2026-27 season has not started. The empty row above is his, and both it and this paragraph fill in on their own from the morning after he first plays: what he has done, what it is worth against his own last season, and the run he is on when the two disagree.

Last Season

22 appearances, 5-13-3, a 2.93 goals-against average and a .8834 save percentage with 1 shutout. His career figure across 210 games is .9004.

The Physical Game

6-2 and 184, which is light, and the technique has never been the strong part. He is a reactive goaltender who relies on quickness rather than position, and the rebounds go to dangerous places.

Against a club that finished 28th in even-strength expected goals against and last in the league on the penalty kill, that combination is close to unplayable.

The Mental Game

5 wins in 22 appearances is a difficult year by any measure, and there is no evidence he handled it badly. He has been a starter in Washington and New Jersey and has settled into the backup role without fuss.

The Intangibles

The comparison inside one dressing room is the whole page. Behind the same defence, Sorokin stopped .9059 with 7 shutouts and Vanecek stopped .8834 — a gap of 23 thousandths.

New York’s goaltending finished 20 goals better than the chances it faced, which is third-best in the league, and every one of those goals is Sorokin’s.

He is 30 with a career .9004. The league median among goaltenders with 25 or more games was .896, and he did not play enough to qualify. On this roster the backup barely plays, which is probably the correct arrangement.