Strong Starts To Season For Backups: Thompson, Vejmelka, Lankinen And More

Welcome fantasy managers to another week of the Monday Ramblings. This week we are going to take a look at some pleasant surprises as it pertains to NHL goaltenders after just having passed the quarter mark of the 2024-2025 NHL season. Let’s get to it!

Vejmelka’s Value Soaring

It may not be the strongest start to the season for the Utah HC but it could be much worse if not for the play of Karel Vejmelka. An injury to fellow netminder Connor Ingram has opened the door for Vejmelka to run with the starter’s role and he is making the most of his opportunity going 3-6-1 with a solid 2.41 goals against and very respectable .918 save percentage. The win totals are certainly lacking but the Czechia native is providing fantasy managers with some strong peripheral numbers as it pertains to goals against / save percentage / saves.

Vejmelka is playing at his highest level since entering the league back in 2021-2022 as he has never had a goals against below 3.29 (2023-2024) or a save percentage above .900 (2022-2023). So to say the 6’4” 224 lbs goaltender has found another gear would be a serious understatement as Vejmelka is doing this while the team itself is ranked 17th defensively, giving up 3.04 goals against per game.

Utah has not given their masked men much offensive support either as the club ranks 20th in terms of offense at 2.88 goals per game, which of course does not leave much room for error. All that being said, Vejmelka has this team treading water at the moment but will need this club to find its offensive spark in order to help alleviate some of the burden defensively.

As it relates to a fantasy perspective, Vejmelka has been pretty reliable in small spurts and will more than likely settle into a timeshare upon Ingram’s return from injury but in the meantime enjoy Vejmelka’s level of play, even if the win totals may leave you wanting a bit more.

Korpisalo Keeps Bruins Afloat

It was not a very quiet off-season when it comes to the Boston Bruins goaltending situation. Problem is, the volume only seems to have turned up as the club continues to wait on what has been a team strength for the last number of years. Having struck a deal to send former Vezina winner Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators, the team received Joonas Korpisalo in return which in hindsight has been a godsend.

Korpisalo may not strike fear in many opponents eyes seeing as the Finnish netminder has a 3.04 goals against and .901 save percentage during his 10-year career. However, with team brass completely mismanaging the Ullmark/Swayman situation, all Korpisao has done is come in and provide the B’s with some solid play to start the year with a record of 5-2-1 accompanied by a respectable 2.45 goals against and .907 save percentage to go along with a 55.6% of quality starts.

With Korpisalo currently on a four-game win streak, it has allowed Swayman (who did not have a training camp - contract dispute) to get back up to speed and find his footing. Having said that, it has taken Swayman a bit longer than expected as he is sporting a rather pedestrian 6-9-2 record to go along with an inflated 3.09 goals against and .893 save percentage.

Suffice to say, as Swayman continues to work his way back to form, Korpisalo’s current level has been a boon to the Bruins so far this year in what has been a less than ideal start to the 2024-2025 NHL season.

Lankinen Loving Life In Vancouver

As one of the most unheralded signings of the off-season, Kevin Lankinen sure is making the most of his situation. The Vancouver Canucks brought in the veteran netminder to help stabilize the teams crease as it became apparent that incumbent Thatcher Demko would be out a little longer than expected to start the year.

After an impressive showing in last year's Stanley Cup playoffs, Arturs Silovs was expected to run with the starters role but once the dust settled it was the Finnish netminder who rose to the top of the Canucks crease. Lankinen has fashioned quite an impressive run of play as he hit the quarter mark of the 2024-2025 NHL season with a phenomenal 11-3-2 record accompanied by a 2.57 goals against and .909 save percentage, while owning quality starts in 62.5% of his games played.

Lankinen's play has been so impressive that he has penned his name in the record books by becoming the first goalie in NHL history to start a season with a 10-0-0 record on the road. How’s that for a late off-season pickup?

Thatcher Demko’s return may be imminent, however, the last thing the team will want to do is overplay their number one netminder especially with Lankinen playing at such a high level. From a fantasy perspective, Demko should get the majority of starts upon his return from injury provided he can remain healthy but with Lankinen demonstrating such a consistently high level of play, I could see it settling into something closer to a timeshare as Demko works his way back from such a long term absence.

Thompson The Talk Of The Town

I’m going to be fully transparent here, I did not see this coming from the Washington Capitals this season in any way, shape or form. Heck, I didn’t even have them coming close to a playoff spot if I’m being honest. So to see the Capitals leading the Metro division to start the month of December is an absolute shock to me, the question is, how are they doing it?

Well, a big reason for the Capitals surge up the NHL standings would have to lie at the feet of goaltender Logan Thompson. Acquired in the off-season from the Vegas Golden Knights, Thompson has acclimated himself seamlessly as evidenced by his stellar 10-1-1 record combined with a 2.56 goals against and .911 save percentage while putting together a quality start percentage of 58.3%.

Team defense is certainly benefitting Thompson as well with Wasington ranking ninth defensively at 2.88 goals against per games played while simultaneously giving their goaltenders plenty of run support with the leagues top ranked offence at 4.21 goals per games played. Which is to say the team as a collective unit are playing quite well in front of either of the teams' goaltenders.

The team has gone with a literal timeshare up to this point in the season but with the way Thompson has played to start the season I would expect the coaching staff to lean a little more towards him as the season progresses, provided he can keep up his exceptional level of play. There is no reason to think otherwise as long as the team can maintain its current compete level and continue to insulate their masked men as well as they have this year.

There you are folks, I hope you enjoyed my look into some surprising starts to the season as it relates to goaltenders across the NHL. If any of you are lucky enough to have one of these four goaltenders on your roster, enjoy the benefits of a solid return on your investment.

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See you all again next Monday!