The Edmonton Oilers need a goalie. You’ll hear or read that combination of words in nearly every conversation around the team right now.
Fuel has been added to the fire given the Oilers are on a season-high five-game losing streak. With the team’s recent results and performances, a large portion of the fanbase wants the front office to make a trade for another goaltender. One name that has drawn attention is Karel Vejmelka of the Utah Hockey Club.
Vejmelka currently has a goals against average (GAA) of 2.48 and a save percentage (SV%) of .910. Additionally, he ranks 11th in goals saved above expected (GSAx) with a 13.1, according to MoneyPuck.com. In contrast, Stuart Skinner is ranked 71st with a GSAx of -3.0, requiring some scrolling to find him on the list.
It’s safe to say that Vejmelka would be a welcome upgrade in the Oilers’ crease. To learn more about him, I reached out to Mike Gould, who closely followed the Arizona Coyotes and has kept an eye on them since moving to Utah. He provided us with great insight on Vejmelka.
Starting off with Vejmelka, what’s the situation with him in Utah?
“Vejmelka has been the go-to guy in Utah this season with all the turmoil surrounding Connor Ingram, who outplayed him pretty significantly the last two seasons. This year, it’s been the opposite. Vejmelka is having the best season of his career and is shouldering most of the responsibilities in Utah, although his numbers have dipped a little of late.I think part of his improvement this year can be attributed to the arrival of Mikhail Sergachev, who has been pretty good (although not quite No. 1 D calibre) in his new environment. Vejmelka definitely deserves a lot of the credit himself though and it’s been encouraging to see him play more of a straightforward style after being a bit of a wild presence at times in Arizona.
When Vejmelka first arrived on the scene in the NHL, he was basically the default option on a Coyotes team that only really had Carter Hutton on his last legs beyond him. Vejmelka was competent, but not a standout, and that was mostly the story the following two seasons (in which Ingram was demonstrably better).In a lot of ways, Vejmelka reminds me a bit of a right-catching Mike Smith with his technique — he’s a big guy who battles hard, tends to flop around a bit, and can run extremely hot and cold. He certainly doesn’t have Smith’s mercurial temperament, but he shares a lot of traits with him from an aesthetic standpoint.”
I’m not altogether convinced Vejmelka would fare any better in Edmonton than the guys the Oilers already have, and I’m skeptical that Utah would move him, but it’d be worthwhile for them to inquire.
What intrigues me about Vejmelka is that he is technically not on the market. As you mentioned, you’re skeptical they would trade him. What would a potential trade for him look like, in your opinion?
“I think Utah would need a lot. For starters, if I’m Bill Armstrong, I’m looking at Olivier Rodrigue as part of any deal. But unlike when Michael Kesselring was tearing it up in Bakersfield a few years ago, I don’t see a ton of NHL-ready young guys with potential. I can’t see Utah coveting Noah Philp or James Hamblin, for instance. Ultimately, I think it’ll come down to draft picks. Would Rodrigue and a future 2nd suffice?”
Lastly, to wrap up, I asked Mike about Utah and where they’re at as an organization. What needs would they want to address as we approach the deadline? I see they’re trying to hunt down a Wild Card spot here, so I’m curious if they’d actually want to be sellers this year.
“Utah is in a bit of a weird spot. I like their young forwards, but I wasn’t a huge fan of them selling the farm for Sergachev in the summer. They’re going to need Cooley and Guenther to take *big* steps forward on both sides of the puck if they want to become a relevant team in the Western Conference. They might not be in Arizona anymore, but I’m not convinced they’re in any better of a position than they were in the desert. Because of that, it’s difficult to discern whether they intend on being buyers or sellers — they’re kind of between those two spots.”
Vejmelka is in the final season of a three-year contract worth $2.725 million annually and he’s set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer. Would he be a worthwhile rental addition for the Oilers?
