The Utah Mammoth sent four players to the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. J.J. Peterka had a goal and three assists in five games for Team Germany, who fell to Slovakia in the quarterfinals. Olli Maatta played over 13 minutes per game on Finland’s blue line until they were eliminated by Team Canada in the quarterfinals, and Clayton Keller, who got into the United States’ final preliminary game against Germany, stayed in the lineup.
The only Mammoth player in Italy who didn’t dress was Karel Vejmelka, who served as the third-string goalie for Czechia, sitting in the stands until they lost to Canada in overtime in the quarterfinals.
Related: Karel Vejmelka Embracing Olympic Opportunity as Czechia’s Starting Role Remains Up for Grabs
It’s surprising that Vejmelka didn’t dress at all, given that Czechia had an .864 save percentage. However, essentially getting a three-week break will benefit the Mammoth down the stretch.
Czechia Had Great Goaltending Options
There has been some debate about Czechia’s decision to go with Dan Vladar of the Philadelphia Flyers over Vejmelka. Vladar has been excellent for the Flyers this season with a .904 save percentage and 6.84 goals saved above expected. But Vejmelka’s stats now look similar, after an underwhelming start to the season. He posted the fourth-best save percentage and fourth-most goals saved above expected in the NHL since the calendar flipped to 2026.
However, both goalies manned the Czechia crease at the 2025 World Championship. Vladar finished that tournament with the second-best save percentage and had a 1.09 goals-against average (GAA) in five games, while Vejmelka had a 2.98 GAA in four games.
It’s true that Vejmelka entered the Olympics as the hotter goalie, and the position is all about confidence. However, it’s hard to blame Czechia for rewarding Vladar for his play at the World Championships.
Vejmelka Deserved a Break
While the start of the season was a little rocky for Vejmelka, he posted a .915 save percentage and 9.73 goals saved above expected in his last 15 games leading up to the Olympic break. Since Jan. 1, when he returned from a brief stint on injury reserve, Vejmelka has played a league-high 15 games, tying him for the league lead with 44 games with Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators.
Both players are on pace to play 63 games this season, which would blow past Vejmelka’s career high of 55 games, set last season. He may have adjusted to a heavier workload last season and will now have four seasons with 45 or more starts under his belt. But, there is reason to be concerned that it’s too much, and he started to burn out late last season.
For most of the 2024-25 campaign, Vejmelka was one of the best goaltenders in the NHL, and he might have entered the Vezina Trophy finalist conversation (the award was always going to be Connor Hellebuyck’s), with a .910 save percentage and saving 8.47 goals above expected before Mar. 1. After that, however, his save percentage dropped to .892, through his final 21 games, likely because he started 24 of the team’s last 25 games.
Vejmelka’s Heavy Workload
Last season, the Mammoth were forced into a tough spot after Connor Ingram stepped away from the team for personal reasons after his mother’s passing. Vejmelka was then pushed into a starter’s role, and the team didn’t have another option they trusted in net.
There wasn’t much else the Mammoth could do after what Ingram went through. However, management didn’t address the issue, and now we’re looking at a similar situation. Vejmelka is on pace to play too many games because they didn’t find another goaltender who can be trusted consistently.
Coming into the season, I was critical of the Mammoth’s goaltending situation, especially with Vitek Vanecek as the backup. When the Mammoth signed Vanecek, he had given up 23.2 goals above expected over the previous two seasons and had the fifth-lowest save percentage of the 75 goalies who played 1000 minutes over that stretch. He has continued to be unplayable with an .884 save percentage and a 3-9-2 record in Utah this season.
Mammoth Have to Start Thinking Playoffs
The Mammoth are in the first wild-card berth in the Western Conference with room to move up, and they are going to need Vejmelka to play almost every game down the stretch if they want to maintain their standing. This will likely ensure he ends up leading the league in games played, which hasn’t boded well for the league’s leading teams in the playoffs.
Of the four goalies to finish in the league lead over the past three seasons (Hellebuyck and Andrei Vasilevskiy tied in 2024-25) and make the playoffs, they have combined for only one playoff round win. On top of that, that one series win was when the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets beat the St. Louis Blues, who made the playoffs on a tiebreaker, in 2024-25.
The good news is that this season, the NHL took a three-week break for the Olympics, and while many of the other top goalies around the league didn’t get a break, Vejmelka did, despite being in Italy. That can only be a positive for the Mammoth, who have 25 games remaining. Down the stretch, they will have two sets of back-to-backs, which likely means Vejmelka will start 23 games.
In seasons past, this would be a huge concern, especially for a team that could be a dark horse in the playoffs. However, after an extended break, this season could be different. It will be worth keeping an eye on him to see if he starts to wear down, with too heavy a workload, or if the break gave him a chance to reset. The Mammoth return to action on Wednesday when they host the Colorado Avalanche.
