Sep. 26: Ingram cleared waivers and will be assigned to Tucson, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports. A trade can still be worked on – in fact, it might be easier for the Mammoth to swing a deal now that the acquiring team knows they won’t immediately lose him on the wire.
Sep. 25: No trade has materialized up until this point, which has led the Mammoth to officially place Ingram on waivers today, the team said. They’ll now wait for the next 24 hours to see if another club submits a claim or if they’ll need to reassign him to AHL Tucson.
Sep. 17: Goaltender Connor Ingram will not attend the Mammoth’s training camp as the team works to find him a new home, general manager Bill Armstrong told reporters today, including Cole Bagley of KSL Sports. If a trade doesn’t materialize, the team intends to place him on waivers later in the preseason.
Ingram, 28, entered last season as Utah’s No. 1 netminder. He’d broken through as a starter with the Coyotes the year prior, amassing a strong 23-21-3 record, .907 SV%, and 2.91 GAA behind a heavily understaffed defense that finished out of the playoff picture. He also tied for the league lead with six shutouts and saved 8.3 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck, although that didn’t land him any Vezina Trophy consideration.
That momentum did not carry through as the Coyotes’ hockey operations assets were transferred to the new Utah Mammoth (née Hockey Club) franchise. While Ingram played 12 of Utah’s first 15 games and had a 6-3-3 record, that was due to their offense giving him good goal support. He only managed a .879 SV% out of the gate, and the starting job was returned to Karel Vejmelka by mid-November. After being benched for more than a week, he sustained an upper-body injury in his first start back that ended up keeping him out of the lineup for nearly two months.
Initially, it looked like the break was a blessing in disguise for Ingram. He had a .967 SV% and only allowed one goal in a conditioning appearance for AHL Tucson and had a good run in his first few games back in Utah’s lineup. He made eight appearances between his return in January and the 4 Nations break, posting a 4-3-1 record with an improved .905 SV%. He then allowed four goals on 25 shots in his first game after the break, which would be his final game of the season and last for Utah. Two weeks later, he entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program after his mother passed due to breast cancer.
Ingram was cleared by the program last month, so he’s legally eligible to play and report to training camp. His lack of presence for the Mammoth isn’t due to his underwhelming on-ice performance last year; rather, he’s simply looking for a fresh start mentally. “Both sides are on the same page and will be working cohesively towards a positive outcome in order to provide Ingram with a fresh start on a new team that better suits his needs,” Bagley wrote.
Utah will still have two experienced NHL netminders on their roster to open the season. With Ingram’s status uncertain at the beginning of free agency, the team signed Vitek Vanecek to a one-year, $1.5MM deal. Today’s news means he’s essentially guaranteed to start the season as the backup to Vejmelka, who managed a .904 SV% and a 26-22-8 record in a career-high 55 starts and 58 appearances last year.
Ingram has one year left on his contract at a $1.95MM cap hit, although it’s worth noting his actual salary is higher than that at $2.15MM and could deter teams from submitting a claim for him on waivers. If he clears and agrees to accept an AHL assignment, Utah would still carry an $800K cap hit while he’s in the minors.
Welcome to SLC, Carter Hart!!!!
So you want to contend for a playoff berth, but Vitek Vanecek is your backup goalie? Good luck with that…
Quick, who won the Stanley Cup last year?
he didn’t play though, they just had to bring in someone cheap/league minimum goalie to stay cap compliant after trading Knight for Jones, given the lack of playing time did he meet the requirements to get his name on the cup or for backup goalies despite not playing but being on the bench still count?
He made 3.4M last year. That’s money down the drain for a backup with a .886 sv% at the time of acquisition. Since LTIR was used to fit him within the cap, they wouldn’t be able to make that trade this year.
Vanecek did get his name on the cup, he still dressed for the finals which is all a goaltender needs for his name to be on the cup, that’s how Tony Esposito got his name on the cup in 69
Thank You! didn’t know how it worked for backups given they play just as much as healthy scratches
Oilers need to grab every goalie they can get their mitts on and cross their fingers.
I’m not sure it matters this year. They sure didn’t improve their roster :/
Yeah, but…if Howard and/or Savoie play well, it deepens their lineup. They have the same basic D corps IIRC.
Just get a few more saves.
Go after Hart and/or Ingram and/or Samsonov and/or whoever you can get.
Maybe they pan out. Maybe they push Skinner enough that he takes another step.
Blue Jackets???
With Woll out I’m surprised the Leafs didn’t try to trade for him. A kampf or Jarnkrok deal for him? Maybe Robertson for Ingram and a 3rd?
Ingram should be headed to Pittsburgh, If possible, Blomquist isn’t ready yet, And Silovs is a minor league goaltender.
Silovs is young with room to grow, with some solid playoff performances, leaving the Cunucks 1 Win shy of a conference finals, still a gambe but he does have good playoff numbers even though Pittsburgh wont be pushing for a spot
Tampa should consider Connor Ingram. He’s a veteran with starting experience and could provide some cushion for game managing Andrei Vasilevskiy and keeping him fresh. Jonas Johansson is hot and cold goalie and Ingram could bring potentially better stability in the backup role. I guess we’ll see what happens.
Nah, Stevie wants to add Ingram and Stevenson to his goalie collection and the demand will be so great that he will sell a few for top 6 players!!!!!!!
So no one in the league wants a solid goalie? Hmm interesting.
They want him in the AHL for a solid spare. He will get traded now.
His cap hit is $1.95 million. Not a whole lot for a decent netminder.