Gibson – an early play. But that’s it.

Year after year he does this (other than last season, which is another story). John Gibson comes flying out of the gates with some huge numbers. The emails from readers criticizing his low rankings were like clockwork (again – other than last season). Then in November or possibly December, Gibson would get injured and upon returning, to put it bluntly, he’s crap. Strangely enough, the emails and criticism stopped, only to be picked up again the following fall.
You can set your watch to this!

So does Detroit change things? No. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t draft him. If he’s there at the end of the draft I’ll grab him. Because he’s going to do well in that first month. I’ll be trying like hell to trade him and turn him into something (perhaps a better goalie off to a slow start). But will not, under any circumstances, consider him my key goalie and rest my hopes on him.

Circling back to the “other than last season” point – last year was different. Gibson was still amazing, posting a 0.925 GAA and going undefeated in five games. But Lukas Dostal was clearly ‘the next one’, so I didn’t get hit with all the usual emails. Just to clarify that point.

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Vejmelka – goalie to covet

Karel Vejmelka caught fantasy owners off guard in 2021 when he arrived and took over the starting spot immediately. I even missed him when I put together the Fantasy Guide that year – but I immediately knew he was going to be their guy early in camp and had him in an update very quickly (I projected him to play 35 games, get 13 wins and a 2.90 GAA – I nailed the wins, but it took 17 more games to get there as it was a very poor team). He was impressive that year as a rookie, when SV% and GAA were far worse than what we see today. He was even better in his second year. In Year 3 he slipped because Connor Ingram cannibalized a lot of starts. Vejmelka is a “rhythm goalie” and needs regular playing time.
Last year, with Ingram sidelined for personal reasons, Vejmelka really came into his own. And he was better the more he played. He posted 26 wins and a 2.58 GAA, alongside a 0.904 SV% in a league were above 0.902 SV% these days is considered top tier. He had eight Steals (games that the team should have lost based on expected goals) and only four Preventable Losses (the opposite of that).

Vejmelka is in his prime at 29. Peaking. And the team around him is young and skilled – and they just added JJ Peterka and Caleb Desnoyers. And Sean Durzi is healthy. And their young stud prospect defensemen are either playing this year or next. And what's more - Ingram is back and healthy, and rather than rock the boat and mess with Vejmelka's mojo, Utah has elected to try to trade Ingram.

Vejmelka right now should be one of the most coveted goalies to own, especially in keeper leagues. He’s going to be very underrated in drafts. This year in the 20th Annual DobberHockey Fantasy Guide (buy it now at https://dobbersports.com) I project 30 wins for Vejmelka.

By the way, you can find out stats like Steals and Preventable Losses on our player page for Vejmelka found at Frozen Tools at https://frozenpool.dobbersports.com/players/karel-vejmelka

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As you can see, Goalie Post is surging in visits and app downloads, but we’re only posting a couple of articles per week. I would like to add to that. Interested? Reach out to [email protected] and let me know! We’re looking for someone to chip in with something weekly. You'll get tons of reads - you're reading this right now, aren't you?