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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 2025-26. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Charlie Lindgren WSH · 21 GP, 0.879 Nikita Tolopilo VAN · 21 GP, 0.881 Dennis Hildeby TOR · 20 GP, 0.914 Leevi Meriläinen OTT · 20 GP, 0.860 Thatcher Demko VAN · 20 GP, 0.897

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 Shots against Saves Goals against Save % Cap hit
2020-21 WSH 37 1031 936 95 0.908 $717K
2021-22 WSH 42 1117 1014 103 0.908 $717K
2022-23 NJD 52 1333 1214 119 0.911 $3.4M
2023-24 NJD 32 862 767 95 0.890 $3.4M
2024-25 SJS 18 533 470 63 0.882 $3.4M
2024-25 FLA 7 191 170 21 0.890
2025-26 UTA 22 506 447 59 0.883 $1.5M
6 seasons Career 210 5573 5018 555 0.900

Playoffs

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

Season Team GP Shots against Saves Goals against Save %
2020-21 WSH 1 4 3 1 0.750
2021-22 WSH 2 51 44 7 0.863
2022-23 NJD 7 120 99 21 0.825
3 seasons Playoffs 10 175 146 29 0.834

2025-26 season totals

GP Shots against Saves Goals against Save % Goals against per game
22 506 447 59 0.883 2.68

Contract

$1.5MCap hitends in 2026
$588KWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$912KValueworth 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. He rated at or below a spare-part player, so there is no cost per goal to show. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 66 ranked goalies whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Utah Mammoth on Jul 1, 2025, as a new contract: 1 year and $1.5M, beginning in 2025-26. It runs through 2025-26, so this is its last season.

Season Cap hit
2025-26 $1.5M

Each season left on the contract. Only its cap hit and its end are known: how the pay is split by season, and any signing bonus, are not.

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 2025-26 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.

2025-26 analytics

Rating

-0.7Goals above replacement55th of 66 goalies
-0.1Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-6.1Goals above averagehis goals saved above expected

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 66 ranked goalies: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. Goals above average is coloured as it is under Shots faced below, where it is taken per 60 minutes.

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. Provisional: under 40 games it is more chance than player.

-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. What these numbers mean

-6.1Goals saved above expectedexpected goals minus goals against
52.9Expected goals againstfrom 755 unblocked attempts
59Goals againstwhile he was in net
0.883Save %0.895 expected from his shots

Goals saved above expected, taken per 60 minutes, and save % are coloured by where they rank among the 68 goalies who played enough to be ranked: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. The two goals against tiles are left plain, since they follow how much he played.

Goals saved -0.30 above expected per 60 minutes18th
Shot difficulty 7.0% chance per attempt faced71stA higher bar means his team gives up more dangerous shots.

Each bar shows the share of goalies he is ahead of, among the 68 who played at least a quarter as much as the busiest this season.

02040Game 10Game 20Allowed 59Expected 52.9

The goals he was expected to let in and the goals he did, as the season went on. When the allowed line runs below the expected line, he is saving more than his shots were worth.

Where he was shot at

Every unblocked attempt he faced this season, with his net on the right. Darker red means more attempts from that spot, and each dot is a goal. "Show every shot" switches to a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result Shots against Saves Goals against Save % TOI
Apr 16, 2026 vs STL L 3-5 10 9 1 0.900 18:31
Apr 12, 2026 @ CGY L 1-4 23 19 4 0.826 59:46
Mar 26, 2026 vs WSH L 4-7 23 17 6 0.739 49:54
Mar 24, 2026 vs EDM L 2-5 10 10 0 1.000 17:28
Mar 20, 2026 vs ANA L 1-4 22 20 2 0.909 59:06
Mar 16, 2026 @ DAL W 6-3 30 27 3 0.900 59:32
Mar 9, 2026 @ CHI L 2-3 (OT) 26 23 3 0.885 62:36
Mar 5, 2026 @ PHI W 3-0 16 16 0 1.000 60:00
Jan 27, 2026 @ FLA W 4-3 30 27 3 0.900 59:58
Jan 11, 2026 vs CBJ L 2-3 (OT) 36 33 3 0.917 61:01
Dec 29, 2025 vs NSH L 3-4 26 22 4 0.846 58:15
Dec 23, 2025 @ COL L 0-1 26 25 1 0.962 57:42
Dec 16, 2025 @ BOS L 1-4 23 19 4 0.826 60:00
Dec 6, 2025 @ CGY L 0-2 22 21 1 0.955 59:10
Dec 1, 2025 @ SJS L 3-6 21 18 3 0.857 46:51
Nov 28, 2025 @ DAL L 3-4 28 24 4 0.857 58:25
Nov 18, 2025 @ SJS L 2-3 (OT) 22 19 3 0.864 62:52
Nov 9, 2025 @ OTT L 2-4 25 21 4 0.840 57:14
Nov 5, 2025 @ TOR L 3-5 18 14 4 0.778 58:19
Oct 26, 2025 @ WPG W 3-2 30 28 2 0.933 60:00
Oct 19, 2025 vs BOS W 3-2 26 24 2 0.923 59:55
Oct 13, 2025 @ CHI L 1-3 13 11 2 0.846 59:40