What’s the plan for Utah’s goaltending situation?

Utah Mammoth goaltender Sebastian Cossa (33) watches as a puck slips past him during an NHL game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Is there another position in sports as fickle as goaltending?One minute, you’re the solution to the problem. The next, you are the problem. One day, fans are chanting your name, and the next, they’re essentially calling for your head on a platter.Heck, it might be the most hot-and-cold job in the world.Karel Vejmelka has experienced both sides of the coin in the two-and-a-bit seasons he’s played for the Utah Mammoth.He saved the season in Year 1 when Connor Ingram stepped away from hockey for family and health reasons. In Year 2, he was the only goalie the team could consistently rely on. In both seasons, he earned “Veggie” chants on a near-nightly basis at the Delta Center, and his biggest fans started wearing broccoli hats to support him.Now, a little more than a month into Year 3, many of those same fans hope to see him traded.Vejmelka tries to stay positive.“I think so, yeah,” he said in response to the Deseret News’ question of whether he’s playing up to his standard. “I think, of course, I can be even better, but I just do my best every single day to get better every day. “So just need to keep working on it and just, you know, be positive and just keep playing and just be a key player on the ice. Just give us a chance to play and to win the game every single time.”League-wide, save percentages have been down the last few years. More goals equates to more fan excitement so that’s how the league wants it to be, but Vejmelka is on pace to record the lowest save percentage of his career by a wide margin, and he currently has the second-worst goals saved above expected in the NHL, according to MoneyPuck.Even so, the Mammoth are finding ways to win games.“We’re just kind of in the same spot where we (were) last year,” Vejmelka said. “So we have enough points to be in the in the (top) half in the standings, but we just need to keep going and just be even better.”Sebastian Cossa, the rookie goalie whom Utah acquired this summer in one of the biggest trades of the franchise’s brief history, has similar numbers to Vejmelka and a similar outlook on them.“We’re getting most of the results, which has been good. Like, 4-1-1 right now, so I mean, getting wins, which is good,” Cossa said in reference to the team’s record when he is in net. “I think we can clean up a couple areas of the game ... just continue to get experience here and just keep going uphill.”Rather than placing the blame solely on the goalies, the team sees it as a whole-team issue. This is consistent in conversations with players, coaches and management, whether on the record or off it. At least right now, they seem committed to making it work with the goalies they have.One member of the organization pointed to the Ottawa Senators’ game-winning goal on Saturday: Nick Cousins was left wide-open at the back door for an easy tap-in.This celly on replay all night long 🙌#GoSensGopic.twitter.com/h5OnvgXUMe— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) November 8, 2026“We put them in tough spots as of late. Those losing games, we’ve given up chances that are un-save-able, like backdoors, moving pucks, we don’t cover the checks,” said Mikhail Sergachev, the team’s top defenseman. “Shots from the blue line, too, we’ve got to be boxing out more.”The Mammoth skaters should get credit for suppressing shots as much as they do. They’ve allowed the fifth-fewest shots per game of any team in the NHL this year. The shots that do get through tend to be higher-danger, which impacts the goalies’ save percentage and other stats.Additionally, Cossa mentioned that he prefers to see lots of shots to be able to keep a feel for the game. Vejmelka said that aspect doesn’t matter to him as much.Head coach André Tourigny, who’s not afraid to tell it like it is, remains optimistic.“I think on that road trip, our goaltending was better,” he said after returning from Ottawa. “I think we had moments where we had key saves at key moments. In Pittsburgh and Toronto, even last game, we had a few good saves.“I think it’s trending in the right direction. There’s room for improvement. I think (Vejmelka and Cossa) are really into it and really focused on improving the situation, and as a team, we’re trying to do everything we can to eliminate the reads and the situations (that) can be a problem for them.” Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) deflects the puck as the Utah Mammoth and the Chicago Blackhawks play an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News