The Utah Mammoth announced that they’ve placed netminder Karel Vejmelka on the injured reserve with an upper-body injury, retroactive to December 23. In a corresponding roster move, the Mammoth have recalled Matt Villalta from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners.
Due to the holiday break last week, Vejmelka, 29, will only miss two games at a minimum. There’s no indication that the injury is severe, meaning he could be activated from the IR as early as tomorrow, and could return to the starting role as early as New Year’s Day against the New York Islanders.
The Mammoth have expectedly relied on Vejmelka for much of the regular season as the five-year netminder has started in approximately 75% of the team’s games up to this point. Still, Vejmelka has fallen short of the performance he achieved last season.
During the 2024-25 campaign, Vejmelka managed a 26-22-8 record in 58 games with a .904 SV% and 2.58 GAA. According to Moneypuck, at even strength, Vejmelka finished ninth among qualified goaltenders in Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx) with a 16.8 mark, earning a five-year, $23.75MM extension with Utah toward the end of the year.
Unfortunately, he has reverted to his previous form for the first half of the 2025-26 season. Vejmelka has earned a 16-10-2 record through 29 games this year with a .894 SV% and 2.70. Of netminders that have appeared in 10 or more games, Vejmelka is 48th in the league for GSAx, two spots behind backup netminder Vítek Vaněček. Hopefully, with the holiday break and the light schedule through the end of the week, Vejmelka can use this time to rest and recover in an effort to find last season’s form.
Meanwhile, Villalta joins the Mammoth for the first time this year. The 26-year-old netminder is in his third year with the organization, spending the majority of his time with AHL Tucson. In 15 games this season, Villalta owns a 9-5-1 record with a .903 SV% and 2.94 GAA. His most recent NHL appearance came on April 14th of last season, securing a win against the Nashville Predators after stopping 28 of 31 shots.