Karel The Thrill

The Goalie of Your Dreams

          The new addition to the Tampa Bay Lightnings is 26 year-old Czech goalie Karel Vejmelka! Vejmelka is a welcome addition to the Lightning locker room, at just 26 years-old he is viewed as the future in net for the Lightning after signed a 4 year 5.25 million dollar contract. When looking at the landscape of the goaltending free agent market, GM Levergneux spoke too the agents of several former all-star goaltenders in the twilight of their careers, but once Tampa met with Karel they knew he was the one for them.

In Karel’s 1^st season in the NHL, he played in a total of 52 games (17^th best in the league) for the Arizona Coyotes leading a young team with a diminished back-end. Karel faced above 32 shots per game coming in just short of 1,700 total shots against on the year. Arizona’s D-core was regarded as the worst in the league, highlighted by Jakub Chychrun & GhostBear Arizona defense was filled in with young draft picks & lifetime AHL talent. Considering the high shot volume and unspectacular d-core in front of him Karel finished with a 0.899 save percentage & a inflated 3.68 GAA. He followed up his rookie season by leading a Czech team filled with Czech league & young talent (excluding Pasta) to a bronze medal at the world championship!

After a overall successful first season in the NHL that saw Karel have his ups and downs GM Levergneux expects Karel too excel in year 2 of the NHL and too be in ROY conversation in his 1^st DCHL campaign.

NHL Predictions

Wins: 25 (doubling year 1 wins while playing in 60 GMs for the Coyotes)

SV%: .910

GAA: 2.90

SO: 4

DCHL Predictions

Wins: 18 (60+ games)

SV%: .901

GAA: 3.20

SO: 3