5. The team found a gem in goalie Karel Vejmelka
Typically when you have a goalie that went 13-32-3 with 1 shutout and a .898 goals against average, you don’t get excited, but hear me out.
Vejmelka played for the Coyotes.
On most nights he kept this team in most games. Have a look at the game on November 29th in Winnipeg. He posted a 46 save shutout, the first of his career. Winnipeg are a playoff caliber team loaded with scoring talent. They brought their best and so did Vejmelka. He did get better too, as the season went on, recording a save percentage above .900 in his final five games. He also faced 38 shots or more in three of those games.
As a result of his solid play, Vejmelka was re-signed to a three year, $8.2 million contract. I believe that this will end up being a steal, as Karel will man the crease and keep the team in games during this rebuild. You have to remember that he was not originally brought in to carry this team. He was an afterthought in last season’s crease dilemma, as the team tried to play anybody just to get through the season.
Sorry Carter Hutton and Scott Wedgewood. You were not in the team’s long-term plans.
The Yotes should have actually kept Wedgewood, he was solid. The poor guy barely got settled into his long awaited Coyotes gear (he played way too many games in his New Jersey Devils equipment) and was shipped off to Dallas for a 2023 fourth round pick.
Vejmelka is a gem and could very easily be our guy for the present and future.