News broke on Sunday that the Utah Hockey Club had re-signed Olli Määttä to a three-year contract extension with a $3.5 million average annual value (AAV). Määttä was acquired by Utah general manager Bill Armstrong back at the end of October after seeing the blue line he worked so hard to rebuild in the offseason decimated by injuries. With this deal solidifying Utah’s defensive core for the next few seasons, Armstrong’s next order of business should be to re-sign Karel Vejmelka.
Olli Määttä’s Unexpected Impact
After being acquired for just a third-round pick, expectations were not overly high for Määttä in Utah. At the time, they needed bodies to stabilize a sinking ship with two top-four defensemen who were injured. However, Määttä came in and exceeded all expectations. He is graded as one of the best puck-moving defensemen in the NHL this season, and in doing so, he turned an opportunity into a contract extension.
Related: Olli Määttä Turned Opportunity With Utah Into an Extension
Määttä is averaging the second-most minutes per game that he has played since his second season in the NHL. In those minutes, he averages the fourth-most puck retrievals per 60 minutes among defensemen in the NHL. He also ranks among the top defenders in the league in defensive zone retrievals leading to exits per 60 minutes (via All Three Zones). Määttä has provided nothing but stability for Utah. With him, Mikhail Sergachev, Sean Durzi, and John Marino locked up through 2026-27, Utah’s top four defensemen are locked in for the next two seasons.
Utah’s Next Priority Should Be Signing Karel Vejmelka
Utah is one of the best-structured organizations in the NHL. Sure, they are not competing for Stanley Cups. However, they have a talented and developing young core in Clayton Keller, Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley, and Josh Doan, among others. Their blue line can compete with any other defensive core in the NHL when healthy. They have plenty of picks and top prospects looking to fill out the bottom of their roster over the next few seasons.
The only question you could have about the future teams in Utah is their goaltending. Karel Vejmelka‘s contract expires in Utah at the end of this season, and Connor Ingram is only signed one more year after that. With Utah showing that they are interested in giving out extensions midseason after signing Määttä, their next priority should be extending Vejmelka.
While Määttä provided a stabilizing presence to the blue line, Vejmelka did the same in the goal crease after Ingram struggled mightily to start the season before getting injured. Vejmelka has arguably been Utah’s most valuable player this season, with a .2.40 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage, and 8.9 goals above expected. He has stolen four wins in Utah games where they scored two goals or fewer, and those wins are proving to be huge ones with Utah knocking on the door of a playoff spot.
Vejmelka has certainly played well enough this season to show he deserves to be a starting goalie in the NHL. The scary part is his numbers from his first three seasons in the league, where he allowed 30.8 goals to be scored above expected. It is hard to tell how much of this is due to the Arizona Coyotes’ poor defensive play in those season and how much of this is due to Vejmelka’s struggles.
Regardless of past struggles, when you look at the pending free-agent goaltenders with contracts expiring at the end of the season, there are not many left better than Vejmelka, and you’re always better off gambling on someone you know rather than someone you don’t. Vejmelka is Utah’s best goaltender option for next season and should be resigned to a multi-year deal. With only one quality season under his belt, a Vejmelka extension would not break the bank, but having him for a few more seasons would be an excellent buffer until Utah can find its true goaltender of the future.
- Micro stats via:
- (Player Cards, All Three Zones, March 4th, 2025).
- (Puck Retrievals, All Three Zones, March 4th, 2025).
