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Matt Villalta

#31 · Goalie · Buffalo Sabres

Born Jun 3, 1999 in Kingston, Ontario, CAN (age 27) · 6'3", 190 lb · Catches left · Drafted 72nd overall in 2017 by LAK (round 3)

Compare with a similar player

The goalies closest to him in games played in 2023-24. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Chris Driedger SEA · 2 GP, 0.917 Georgii Romanov SJS · 2 GP, 0.967 Yaroslav Askarov NSH · 2 GP, 0.943 Ivan Fedotov PHI · 3 GP, 0.811 Jesper Wallstedt MIN · 3 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.

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

2023-24 season totals

Contract

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.

The contract

Signed by the Arizona Coyotes on Jul 1, 2023, as a new contract: 1 year and $775K, beginning in 2023-24. It runs through 2023-24, so this is its last season, and his extension takes over. His next contract is already signed: an extension with the Utah Hockey Club on Jun 19, 2024, 2 years and $1.55M at $775K a season, beginning in 2024-25.

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

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 2023-24 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.

2023-24 analytics

Rating

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. He has played fewer than 20 games, too few to be ranked.

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

Each bar shows the share of goalies he is ahead of, among the 70 who played at least a quarter as much as the busiest this season.

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. 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