This is the 2025-26 edition — an archived read. Read the 2026-27 report →
Vitek Vanecek
Utah Mammoth Goaltender
An .884 across San Jose and Florida, and a Stanley Cup ring he did not play a minute for.
| Season | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | WSH | 37 | 21 | 10 | 4 | 95 | 2.69 | 2 | 1031 | .908 |
| 2021-22 | WSH | 42 | 20 | 12 | 6 | 103 | 2.67 | 4 | 1117 | .908 |
| 2022-23 | NJD | 52 | 33 | 11 | 4 | 119 | 2.45 | 3 | 1333 | .911 |
| 2023-24 | NJD | 32 | 17 | 9 | 3 | 95 | 3.18 | 0 | 862 | .890 |
| 2024-25 | SJS/FLA | 25 | 5 | 14 | 4 | 84 | 3.62 | 1 | 724 | .884 |
| 2025-26 so far | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | — | 188 | 96 | 56 | 21 | 496 | 2.83 | 10 | 5067 | .902 |
This Season So Far
The 2025-26 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
5-14-4 in 25 games across San Jose and Florida with an .884, a 3.62 average and 1 shutout, facing 724 shots.
It is the worst save percentage of his career by a distance and most of it was posted on the worst club in the league. He was traded to Florida at the deadline and won a Stanley Cup as the third goaltender.
The Physical Game
6-2 and 184 and small for the modern position, which means the technique has to be exact. He plays a conventional depth and he relies on quickness rather than on covering the net with his body.
The rebound control is the weakness and it has been at every stop — pucks come off him into the slot. The lateral recovery is decent and the glove is ordinary. He does not handle the puck well.
The Mental Game
He was a 20-game winner in Washington and a starter in New Jersey, and the save percentages have gone .9084, .9107, .9111, .8901, .884 — a straight line downwards across five seasons.
He is not being asked to be a starter here and he has not been one for two years, and the record says that is the correct assessment.
The Intangibles
A second-round pick of Washington in 2014 and 188 games with a career .9021 across four organisations.
He is 29 and Utah signed him in the summer to play thirty games behind a man who has just had the first good season of his career.