Oilers Activate Tristan Jarry, Jake Walman
The Edmonton Oilers are nearly back to full force. According to a team announcement, the Oilers have activated goaltender Tristan Jarry and defenseman Jake Walman from their long-term injured reserve.
The moving parts don’t end there either. In the same announcement, Edmonton shared that they’ve moved veteran forward Adam Henrique to the long-term injured reserve, and have converted netminder Connor Ingram‘s emergency recall into standard one.
Despite being acquired a month ago, the Oilers have seen very little of Jarry. In only his third game with the team, Jarry left the contest with a lower-body injury and hasn’t played since.
Throughout his brief intro to the team, he played relatively well, being credited for three wins in his three starts. However, much of that had to do with the performance of the team in front of him, as Jarry only managed an .887 SV%, 3.08 GAA, and -0.7 Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA).
It is still too small a sample size to accurately predict his future performance in Edmonton. Before the trade, Jarry had managed a 9-3-1 record in 14 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins with a .909 SV%, 2.66 GAA, and 4.8 GSAA.
Meanwhile, the Oilers will get a major boost to their defensive core with the return of Walman. The 29-year-old blueliner hasn’t played since late November due to a lower-body injury, missing the team’s last 23 games.
Before the injury, Walman was his typically steady self, scoring three goals and 10 points in 17 games while averaging more than 20 minutes per game. Still, Edmonton will want more stability from him on the defensive side of the puck, as he’s only managed an 85.4% on-ice SV% at even strength this season.
On the other side of the transaction, the Oilers have expectedly moved Henrique to the LTIR. The 16-year veteran suffered an undisclosed injury on January 6th and isn’t expected to return until after the Olympics.
Lastly, Edmonton will surprisingly move forward with three netminders on the active roster. Despite having a disastrous performance with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, Ingram has provided some stability in net for the Oilers of late. In his first year with the organization, he has managed a 4-2-1 record in seven games with a .904 SV% and 2.70 GAA. If he continues his success, fellow netminder Calvin Pickard‘s days with the team could be numbered.
Oilers Recall Connor Ingram, Place Tristan Jarry On IR
12:30 p.m.: The Oilers made all three roster moves official, recalling Ingram and placing Jarry on IR while shifting Roslovic to LTIR.
12:10 p.m.: The Oilers are expected to recall goaltender Connor Ingram from AHL Bakersfield before tomorrow’s game against the Wild, Mark Spector of Sportsnet reports. Starter Tristan Jarry is leaving the road trip and returning to Edmonton to undergo evaluation on the lower-body injury that knocked him out of last night’s win over the Bruins.
Jarry will likely be placed on injured reserve to open the roster spot for Ingram’s recall, but that’s not the only roster move Edmonton will need to make. Adding Ingram to the roster will incur a $1.15MM cap charge, but the Oilers have already dipped significantly into their LTIR pool and have just $59K in cap space, per PuckPedia.
Edmonton can add $1.44MM to its LTIR pool by transferring forward Jack Roslovic from standard IR to LTIR. He’s already missed 10 games and 24 days with an undisclosed injury, satisfying LTIR minimums. He was initially set to return around Christmas but has yet to resume skating. Doing so would create enough flexibility to add Ingram to the roster.
Ingram, 28, is two years removed from posting a league-leading six shutouts and a 23-21-8 record in 48 starts for the Coyotes in their final season. After moving to Utah, Ingram only managed a .882 SV% and 3.27 GAA in 22 games, limited by an upper-body injury, until his season ended in March as a result of entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.
The 2016 third-round pick by the Lightning entered training camp as the Mammoth’s No. 3 option behind Karel Vejmelka and free agent pickup Vítek Vaněček, but he didn’t report as he and Utah mutually agreed to part ways with a year remaining on his contract. After clearing waivers in September, he was traded to the Oilers with salary retained to serve as a high-ceiling third-stringer behind their questionable NHL tandem of the since-traded Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard.
Ingram likely hoped the Oilers’ questions between the pipes and a starting role in AHL Bakersfield would help provide him with a long-term path back to the NHL. So far, that hasn’t been the case. His .856 SV% in 11 games is the worst in the league by 15 percentage points among netminders with at least 10 games, and he’s the only one of the group with a GAA above four (4.04).
He’s actually recorded fewer starts than fellow veteran Matt Tomkins in Bakersfield as a result. While Tomkins has a far superior .893 SV% and 3.30 GAA in 15 showings, it’ll be the theoretically higher-ceiling and more experienced Ingram getting the call to serve as Pickard’s backup for the time being while Jarry works toward a return.
Image courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images.
Which NHLer Is Most Likely To Seek A Contract Termination?
The NHL has recently experienced an unusual trend: an increase in players choosing to forgo guaranteed contracts that still owe them millions to find a playing situation that better suits them. This process involves the player clearing standard waivers with the team anticipating they’ll refuse to report to their AHL affiliate, creating a breach of contract that allows the team to place the player on unconditional waivers, before ultimately finalizing the contract termination.
Last year, Brandon Saad did this by walking away from the remaining year and a half of his deal and over $3MM in salary. This summer, forward Conor Sheary followed suit, foregoing the final year of his contract and saving the Lightning $1.5MM. Just a few weeks ago, Maple Leafs forward David Kämpf also stepped back, forfeiting over $2MM in salary. More recently, Alexandre Texier left the Blues and signed with the Canadiens for roughly half his previous salary. In effect, all these players essentially halved their earnings to find situations better suited to them, raising the question: who might be the next player to break their current contract?
Dozens, if not hundreds, of players under NHL contracts could be described as unhappy with their playing time. However, most, if not all, would be satisfied with the current NHL paychecks they receive. Players such as Ryan Graves, Tristan Jarry, and Ville Husso will not be included for purposes of this article. While they are veterans who have earned good money in their NHL careers, they are still early in their lucrative new deals, and they have spent time in the AHL over the last calendar year. This piece will focus on players in a unique position regarding their contracts who might be willing to walk away from guaranteed money if they can’t be moved via trade or waivers.
Penguins forward Philip Tomasino is the top name on the list and has already been made available to every NHL team this month after he was placed on waivers by the Penguins and eventually assigned to the minors after passing through. Signed to a one-year, $1.75MM deal last offseason, many fans were surprised when the Penguins non-tendered him in the summer, only to re-sign him to that one-year pact.
The move kept his salary lower, but Tomasino has still failed to provide any value to Pittsburgh this season, with just one assist in nine NHL games. Tomasino also started slowly last year with Nashville, posting a single assist in his first 11 games before a midseason trade to Pittsburgh sparked a turnaround. Hence, a comeback isn’t out of the question.
Clearly, passing on waivers showed a complete lack of interest in Tomasino at his current price, but at league minimum, teams might be more willing to take a shot. However, the chances of that happening seem low, as the Penguins likely aren’t keen to use up a salary retention slot on him, and Tomasino likely doesn’t want to leave the highest salary he’s earned in his NHL career. There’s always a possibility that the Mississauga, Ontario native stays in the AHL for the rest of the season, but given his six points in three AHL games, he might find a way to work his way back to the NHL, just like teammates Graves and Jarry did over the past year.
Next up is a player who is nearly 10 years older than Tomasino: defenseman Erik Gustafsson of the Red Wings. Like Tomasino, Gustafsson is in the final year of his contract and trying to maintain his NHL career, but that is where many similarities end. Gustafsson is a ten-year NHL veteran nearing the end of his playing career, whereas Tomasino is just beginning his.
Not so long ago, Gustafsson was regarded as a capable third-pairing defenseman. Many praised the Red Wings for signing him to a two-year, $4MM contract in July 2024. That deal proved to be ill-fated. Gustafsson’s play declined last season, especially on the offensive side. His puck handling was sloppy, and he wasn’t the same contributor as in previous years.
This poor performance led to a demotion this season, with the 33-year-old playing most of his games in the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Credit to Gustafsson for stepping up and performing well in the AHL, but it does raise questions about whether he will finish the year in Detroit. The Wings might consider trading him or putting him on waivers (again), but given his recent play and salary, that seems unlikely.
Another factor in Gustafsson’s situation is the fact that he’s made $2MM or more in just three NHL seasons. One of these was the shortened 2020-21 season, which had a 56-game schedule, meaning Gustafsson’s $3MM AAV effectively amounted to a $2MM salary that year. This income would have been subject to deferrals, escrow, agent fees, and taxes, so Gustafsson actually received less than half of it. Aside from that, Gustafsson is nearing the end of his career and has earned somewhere in the range of $10MM-$12MM (gross income), so he probably isn’t willing to walk away from $1.5MM without at least the promise of another contract elsewhere.
Another Detroit defenseman who might seem like a contender is Justin Holl, who is also 33 years old and in the final year of his contract. Holl signed a three-year, $10.4MM deal with the Red Wings in July 2023, but that contract has proven to be poor value for Detroit. Like Gustafsson, Holl was a turnover machine last season and has ended up in the AHL this year. The signing never made much sense from the start, as Holl has always been a fairly average defenseman, and not the type you rush to overpay on July 1, which is precisely what Detroit did.
Holl is probably still an NHL defenseman and could likely find a role if he didn’t have a $3.4MM price tag attached. However, to move him, Detroit would probably need to include an asset and retain salary. Since he’s a pending UFA, they won’t go through the trouble. Considering he has earned over $15MM in his career, you would think Holl might be inclined to leave his contract early if given the chance. Still, it seems unlikely because this is probably his last big NHL payday, and he can wait until summer to sign a two-way deal for league minimum.
Another player to consider is Oilers winger Max Jones. Jones was acquired last season from the Bruins and played 19 games down the stretch, but didn’t contribute much with just a goal and an assist. Jones can skate and hit; beyond that, his abilities are pretty limited. He is in the second year of a two-year, $2MM deal, and since he’s earning one-way money, it’s unlikely he would walk away from it to pursue another job. Jones has spent the entire season in the AHL after passing through waivers in October, and he’s probably best served to ride out his current contract and hope for a promotion to the NHL. The 27-year-old is lucky to have time on his side and can look for a two-way contract in the off-season, but if he chooses to opt out, he’ll likely find a two-way league minimum deal that puts him in the same position he’s in now, just wearing a different jersey.
Other players who might consider terminating their contracts soon include Jets forward Tanner Pearson. Pearson has been receiving fourth-line minutes in Winnipeg and has faced challenging assignments in that role. He’s got just three goals and an assist in 23 games this season. However, with a $1MM salary, he might choose to stay the course and play the hand he’s been dealt. It’s unlikely that Pearson would find a team willing to give him a top-nine role at this stage of his career, so he’s probably best advised to stay in Winnipeg under contract.
Another possibility could be Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram, but his play in the AHL this season has been atrocious, with a 3-3-2 record and a .873 SV%. Ingram is making $1.95MM in the final year of his deal and is probably best served continuing to cash his cheques and trying to improve his game to get back to the NHL. Ingram is also in a position with the Oilers where it might be his best route back to an NHL lineup, given the issues Edmonton’s goaltending has faced this year.
A few final names of players who could be contenders to terminate their current contracts mutually include defensemen Daniil Miromanov of the Flames and Kyle Burroughs of the Kings, as well as forward Carl Grundström of the Flyers. These three players are in the final years of their deals, earning over $1MM this season, and are currently playing in the AHL.
Edmonton Oilers Acquire Connor Ingram
After clearing waivers last week, netminder Connor Ingram is headed north. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Utah Mammoth are trading Ingram to the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers subsequently announced the trade, confirming they are acquiring Ingram for future considerations and that the Mammoth will retain $800K of his $1.95MM salary.
Given that Ingram was exposed on the waiver wire a few days ago, it was surprising that the Oilers waited until now to make a trade. However, with Utah lowering Edmonton’s financial burden to $1.15MM for the 2025-26 season, the trade becomes more understandable. The Oilers can now send Ingram to their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, while being able to bury his full salary until they may need him during the regular season.
Still, there are some question marks on exactly what version of Ingram the Oilers are getting. From the 2022-23 season to 2023-24, Ingram was excellent for the Arizona Coyotes as a backup and the starter, managing a 29-34-11 record in 77 games with a .907 SV% and 3.08 GAA, with a respectable 8.1 Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA).
Unfortunately, after the Coyotes closed their doors and Ingram joined the new Utah Hockey Club, his production cratered. Last season, he earned a 9-8-4 record in 22 games with a .882 SV% and 3.27 GAA, including a dismal -10.1 GSAA. He decided to leave the team in early March to enter the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, and he was not cleared until late August.
Shortly before training camp, the Mammoth shared their intentions of placing Ingram on waivers, allowing him a fresh start to his career. He’ll now get that opportunity in AHL Bakersfield, and potentially the Oilers at some point during the regular season.
For better or for worse, Edmonton appears adamant on leaving Stuart Skinner in the starter’s crease for the 2025-26 campaign, with Calvin Pickard as his backup. Still, should Ingram regain his form with the Condors, the Oilers shouldn’t have any hesitation giving him a look at the NHL level. Last year, Skinner and Pickard combined for a .897 SV% throughout the regular season, and a .888 SV% in the postseason, despite the Oilers reaching the Stanley Cup Final for a second consecutive year.
Connor Ingram Clears Waivers
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.
Mammoth’s Connor Ingram Cleared By NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program
August 20th: Goaltender Connor Ingram has been cleared by the NHLPA to return to the NHL per Belle Fraser of the Salt Lake Tribune. He will return to the Utah roster looking to earn the advantage back from Karel Vejmelka, who posted a 9-6-3 record and .889 save percentage in 18 games after Ingram stepped away. Both goaltenders have years of NHL experience behind them, and strong cases for manning Utah’s starting role next season.
March 9th: Utah goaltender Connor Ingram entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program today and will be out indefinitely, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports. In a corresponding move, the club recalled netminder Jaxson Stauber from AHL Tucson earlier Sunday.
Ingram, now 27, missed most of the 2020-21 season after entering the program while a member of the Predators organization. He later told NHL.com’s Amalie Benjamin that he sought help after dealing with undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder throughout his career. After moving to the Coyotes in the 2022 offseason, he emerged as their starter for the 2023-24 campaign and won the Masterton Trophy for the “player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey” after a 23-win, six-shutout campaign.
Now the No. 2 option to Karel Vejmelka in Utah, Ingram missed over a month with the team initially termed an upper-body injury earlier in the season. Upon his return, he informed reporters his mother had passed away and, understandably, took extended time off (via Belle Fraser of the Salt Lake Tribune).
In 22 starts for the Club this season, Ingram has a 9-8-4 record, .882 SV%, and a 3.27 GAA. The 25-year-old Stauber has done quite well when called upon to elevate from his minor-league starting role, posting a .925 SV% and 2.23 GAA in four appearances earlier this season.
All of us at Pro Hockey Rumors wish Ingram the best as he takes time away from the lineup. He’ll be eligible to return to play upon the determination of program administrators.
Utah Hockey Club Notes: Cooley, But, Simashev, Maccelli, Ingram
After managing a 38-31-13 record in their first season in franchise history, the Utah Hockey Club will be an exciting team to follow this upcoming offseason. They have abundant financial flexibility, and some of those dollars will undoubtedly go to a player they’ll look to build around for the long haul.
Brogan Houston of Deseret News shared a note from Utah General Manager Bill Armstrong earlier, indicating the team will look to begin extension negotiations with center Logan Cooley this summer. Cooley becomes eligible for an extension on July 1st, as he enters the last season of his three-year entry-level contract signed in 2023.
There’s no questioning the desire for an extension from Utah’s perspective. Cooley has been flat-out electric since jumping from collegiate to professional, scoring 45 goals and 109 points through his first 157 contests, with a 19-point improvement year-on-year. All four of Utah’s top-scoring forwards are signed to contracts at or below $7.15MM per year, so they may be ready to make Cooley their highest-paid player as well.
Other updates out of Utah:
- Just over two weeks ago, Armstrong suggested that Utah’s two 2023 first-round selections, Daniil But and Dmitri Simashev, might debut for the team next season. In a follow-up, Cole Bagley of KSL Sports received confirmation from Armstrong today that the team would begin contract negotiations with the pair once their KHL season had concluded. Those negotiations could start relatively soon, given that their current team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, will play Avangard Omsk in Game 7 of Round Two of the Gagarin Cup playoffs on Wednesday.
- After notching 78 assists in his last 146 games, much was expected from Matias Maccelli this season. Unfortunately, the 2024-25 season became one to forget, as Maccelli finished with eight goals and 18 points in 55 contests, becoming a frequent healthy scratch. The diminished production sparked trade rumors regarding Maccelli around the deadline, and that doesn’t appear likely to fade this offseason. Concerning Maccelli’s future with the organization, Belle Fraser of The Salt Lake Tribune quoted Armstrong saying, “We’ve got some evaluation to do. Your team becomes better every year. There are certain things that happen — sometimes your players have to keep up, sometimes roles change.“
- Fraser also received a quote from Armstrong about netminder Connor Ingram‘s status, who entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on March 9th. Armstrong said, “A lot of it is unknown. When players go into the program, we don’t have any contact with him so it’s hard for us to speculate. The good news for us as we sit here in this room is we know he is in a good place at the program. We wish him the best.” Ingram’s starting status for Utah’s 2025-26 season is uncertain, but he is signed through next season with a cap hit of $1.95MM.
Utah Hockey Club Assign Jaxson Stauber To AHL
Saturday: Stauber has been returned to the Roadrunners, per a team announcement. That means Ingram will be available to dress tonight versus Los Angeles.
Tuesday: According to the AHL transactions site, the Utah Hockey Club has recalled third-string netminder Jaxson Stauber from their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. The recall likely means that goaltender Connor Ingram hasn’t fully recovered from the upper-body injury suffered in the team’s last game before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
After taking a high shot from Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin, Ingram left the game after 12:38 of ice time. Utah’s head coach, André Tourigny didn’t provide any recovery timeline for Ingram other than saying, “No, I don’t know what his status is at this point. He will be evaluated, but we’ll see.”
Stauber has largely played in the AHL in his first year outside the Chicago Blackhawks organization. Still, he was recalled to the NHL in late November due to another upper-body injury to Ingram. Many of the starts went to Karel Vejmelka over that stretch but Stauber still managed a 2-1-1 record in four starts with a .925 save percentage and 2.23 goals-against average.
That likely beat expectations that the Utah coaching staff had for Stauber considering his relatively modest production in AHL Tucson. Matt Villalta has been the primary starter for the Roadrunners this season but Stauber has still gotten involved in 14 contests. The Wayzata, Minnesota, native has secured an 8-5-2 record in those 14 games with a .901 SV% and 3.07 GAA.
Snapshots: Ullmark, Milano, Utah
While Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark was supposed to get the start in tonight’s 4 Nations Face-Off finale for Sweden, that’s no longer the case. Aftonbladet’s Hans Abrahamsson first reported that the netminder is sick and won’t suit up versus Team USA. With Filip Gustavsson leaving Saturday’s game early with an illness as well, it will be Samuel Ersson who gets the nod. Ullmark was widely expected to be Sweden’s starter for this event but will wind up playing in just two periods overall, taking the overtime loss versus Finland. The outcome of this game will have no bearing on Thursday’s final as that will be a matchup of Canada and Team USA after Canada won their game in regulation this afternoon over Finland.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Sammi Silber of The Hockey News relays that while Capitals winger Sonny Milano was skating in a non-contact jersey before the 4 Nations break, he’s still a ways away from returning to the lineup. The 28-year-old suffered an upper-body injury in his third game of the season and hasn’t played since. Assuming he’ll see some time with AHL Hershey on a conditioning assignment, it’s possible that Milano won’t be back until after the trade deadline when roster maximum sizes are no longer in effect.
- In an interview with Craig Morgan on Utah HC’s team site, GM Bill Armstrong indicated that there’s a chance that they could have all their injured players back coming out of the break. Center Logan Cooley suffered a lower-body injury at the end of January while blueliner Sean Durzi (shoulder) has been out since mid-October; getting both of them back would be a big boost for their attack. Meanwhile, defenseman Robert Bortuzzo (lower body) has missed more than a month while goalie Connor Ingram left the final game before the break with an upper-body issue so it appears they’re close to returning as well.
- From that same interview, Armstrong suggested that Utah has already done most of its team building already from the summer and early-season trade activity so the team is “already built to some degree”. They have six games left before the trade deadline and are six points out of the final Wild Card spot so being buyers would be a bit of a surprise. With that in mind, instead of team building, they could be doing some trimming with centers Alexander Kerfoot and Nick Bjugstad, blueliners Ian Cole and Olli Maatta, and goaltender Karel Vejmelka among the long list of pending unrestricted free agents this summer.
Utah Hockey Club Recalls Connor Ingram, Reassigns Jaxson Stauber
The Utah Hockey Club has recalled goaltender Connor Ingram from his conditioning stint in the minor leagues. Ingram was assigned to the minors in late December, after recovering from an upper-body injury suffered on November 18th. He has sat out of Utah’s last 22 games, and made his return to the lineup in the Tucson Roadrunners’ Wednesday win over the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Ingram saved 29 of 30 shots in that game, good for a .967 save percentage in his first AHL game since the 2021-22 campaign.
Ingram will return to a very different goaltending room. He served as Arizona’s starter last season, posting a 23-21-3 record and .907 save percentage across 50 appearances. That was enough for Ingram to hold onto the starting role through the franchise’s move to Utah, but he came out of the gates ice-cold in his new setting. Ingram posted a measly .871 save percentage and 6-4-3 record in 13 games prior to his injury. That poor performance put all the momentum behind Karel Vejmelka as he stepped into the starting role in Ingram’s absence and looked to reclaim stake of Utah’s starter’s crease. Vejmelka has seemed to do just that, posting a .915 record and 8-7-3 record since Ingram’s injury. Vejmelka has slowed down in his last handful of games – evident by a 1-4-1 record and .907 Sv% in his last six – but he’s nonetheless made a strong claim to hold onto the starting role. Both goaltenders have plenty of experience serving as an NHL starter, and how Utah decides between them could define the team’s push for a Western Conference wild card.
To make room for Ingram’s return, Utah has also assigned goaltender Jaxson Stauber back to the minor leagues. Stauber played in four games while filling in for Ingram. He recorded a 2-1-1 record and .925 save percentage, bringing his career totals up to a 7-2-1 record and .916 save percentage in 10 NHL games. Stauber has been just as productive in the minors, going 5-2-0 and setting a .930 in seven games with Tucson this season.