Hockey Terminal
Be a GM

← All players

Photo of Vitek Vanecek

Vitek Vanecek

#41 · Goalie · New York Islanders

Born Jan 9, 1996 in Havlickuv Brod, CZE (age 30) · 6'2", 188 lb · Catches left · Drafted 39th overall in 2014 by WSH (round 2)

Trophy case

Stanley Cup NHL Champion 2024-25

Compare with a similar player

The goalies closest to him in games played in 2020-21. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Kevin Lankinen CHI · 37 GP, 0.909 Juuse Saros NSH · 36 GP, 0.927 Marc-Andre Fleury VGK · 36 GP, 0.928 Semyon Varlamov NYI · 36 GP, 0.929 Tristan Jarry PIT · 39 GP, 0.909

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

020402020-21: 37 games3720-212021-22: 42 games4221-222022-23: 52 games5222-232023-24: 32 games3223-242024-25: 25 games2524-252025-26: 22 games2225-26

Games played by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP WLOTLSO Shots against Saves Goals against GAA Save % Cap hit
2020-21 WSH 37 211042 1031 936 95 2.69 0.908 $717K
2021-22 WSH 42 201264 1117 1014 103 2.67 0.908 $717K
2022-23 NJD 52 331143 1333 1214 119 2.45 0.911 $3.4M
2023-24 NJD 32 17930 862 767 95 3.18 0.890 $3.4M
2024-25 SJS 18 31030 533 470 63 3.88 0.882 $3.4M
2024-25 FLA 7 2411 191 170 21 3.00 0.890
2025-26 UTA 22 51331 506 447 59 2.93 0.883 $1.5M
6 seasons Career 210 101692411 5573 5018 555 2.84 0.900

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP WLOTLSO Shots against Saves Goals against GAA Save %
2020-21 WSH 1 0000 4 3 1 4.56 0.750
2021-22 WSH 2 1100 51 44 7 4.21 0.863
2022-23 NJD 7 1300 120 99 21 4.64 0.825
3 seasons Playoffs 10 2400 175 146 29 4.52 0.834

2020-21 season totals

GP Starts WLOTLSO Shots against Saves Goals against GAA Save %
37 36 211042 1031 936 95 2.69 0.908

Contract

$717KCap hitends in 2022
$151KCap dollars per goal above replacement4.8 goals above replacement
$2.1MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
+$1.4MValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 45 ranked goalies whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Washington Capitals on Jul 1, 2019, as a new contract: 3 years and $2.15M, beginning in 2019-20. It runs through 2021-22, with 1 season left after this one.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2019-20 $717K $700K $0 $700K
2020-21 $717K $700K $0 $700K
2021-22 $717K $750K $0 $750K

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Jul 1, 2026 New York Islanders New contract 2026-27 to 2026-27 1 $1M $1M
Jul 1, 2025 Utah Mammoth New contract 2025-26 to 2025-26 1 $1.5M $1.5M
Jul 19, 2022 New Jersey Devils New contract 2022-23 to 2024-25 3 $10.2M $3.4M
Jul 1, 2019 Washington Capitals New contract 2019-20 to 2021-22 3 $2.15M $717K
Jul 15, 2014 Washington Capitals Entry-level 2016-17 to 2018-19 signed for 2014-15, slid 3 $2.775M $714K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2020-21 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2020-21 playoff analytics

Regular season Playoffs

Rating

-0.5Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
-0.1Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-0.6Goals above averagehis goals saved above expected

The goals he saved for his team, compared with a spare-part goalie facing the same shots. A goalie's season is about one-third the goalie and two-thirds chance, so read one year lightly. A playoff run is too short to rank anyone on. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

-1001020302020-212021-222022-232023-242024-252025-26Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

Shots faced

Expected goals adds up how likely each shot he faced was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. A goalie who lets in fewer than that has saved goals above expected. Only shots taken while he was in net count, and the league's goalies as a whole come out at zero. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones. What these numbers mean

-0.6Goals saved above expectedexpected goals minus goals against
0.4Expected goals againstfrom 9 unblocked attempts
1Goals againstwhile he was in net
0.750Save %0.890 expected from his shots
Goals saved -2.56 above expected per 60 minutes1st
Shot difficulty 4.9% chance per attempt faced1stA higher bar means his team gives up more dangerous shots.

Each bar shows the share of goalies he is ahead of, among the 13 who played at least a quarter as much as the busiest in these playoffs.

Where he was shot at

Every unblocked attempt he faced in these playoffs, with his net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result Decision Shots against Saves Goals against Save % TOI
May 11, 2021 vs BOS W 2-1 W 25 24 1 0.960 60:00
May 7, 2021 vs PHI L 2-4 L 28 25 3 0.893 58:47
May 5, 2021 @ NYR W 4-2 W 21 19 2 0.905 59:57
May 3, 2021 @ NYR W 6-3 W 26 23 3 0.885 60:00
Apr 29, 2021 vs PIT L 4-5 (OT) OTL 35 30 5 0.857 60:45
Apr 27, 2021 vs NYI W 1-0 W, SO 18 18 0 1.000 59:47
Apr 18, 2021 @ BOS L 3-6 L 27 22 5 0.815 59:25
Apr 15, 2021 vs BUF L 2-5 L 21 17 4 0.810 32:54
Apr 11, 2021 @ BOS W 8-1 W 35 34 1 0.971 60:00
Apr 9, 2021 @ BUF W 4-3 W 33 30 3 0.909 60:00
Apr 6, 2021 @ NYI L 0-1 L 39 38 1 0.974 58:12
Apr 2, 2021 @ NJD W 2-1 (OT) W 23 22 1 0.957 64:39
Apr 1, 2021 @ NYI L 4-8 9 7 2 0.778 16:26
Mar 30, 2021 @ NYR L 2-5 L 26 22 4 0.846 58:32
Mar 25, 2021 vs NJD W 4-3 W 24 21 3 0.875 60:00
Mar 19, 2021 vs NYR W 2-1 W 33 32 1 0.970 60:00
Mar 15, 2021 @ BUF W 6-0 W, SO 23 23 0 1.000 60:00
Mar 9, 2021 vs NJD W 5-4 (OT) W 31 27 4 0.871 61:04
Mar 5, 2021 @ BOS L 1-5 L 18 14 4 0.778 35:43
Mar 3, 2021 @ BOS W 2-1 (SO) W 19 18 1 0.947 64:39
Feb 27, 2021 @ NJD W 5-2 W 24 22 2 0.917 60:00
Feb 25, 2021 vs PIT W 5-2 W 28 26 2 0.929 59:55
Feb 23, 2021 vs PIT L 2-3 (OT) OTL 37 34 3 0.919 61:43
Feb 20, 2021 vs NYR L 1-4 L 23 20 3 0.870 58:36
Feb 18, 2021 vs BUF W 3-1 W 23 22 1 0.957 59:28
Feb 16, 2021 @ PIT W 3-1 W 27 26 1 0.963 60:00
Feb 14, 2021 @ PIT L 3-6 L 36 32 4 0.889 59:19
Feb 7, 2021 vs PHI L 4-7 14 10 4 0.714 36:36
Feb 4, 2021 @ NYR L 2-4 L 30 27 3 0.900 58:50
Feb 1, 2021 vs BOS L 3-5 L 32 28 4 0.875 58:36
Jan 30, 2021 vs BOS W 4-3 (OT) W 43 40 3 0.930 60:28
Jan 28, 2021 vs NYI W 6-3 W 30 27 3 0.900 60:00
Jan 26, 2021 vs NYI W 3-2 W 34 32 2 0.941 60:00
Jan 24, 2021 vs BUF L 3-4 (SO) OTL 48 45 3 0.938 65:00
Jan 22, 2021 vs BUF W 4-3 (SO) W 27 24 3 0.889 64:57
Jan 19, 2021 @ PIT L 4-5 (OT) OTL 30 25 5 0.833 61:11
Jan 15, 2021 @ BUF W 2-1 W 31 30 1 0.968 60:00