Vítek Vaněček

Vítek Vaněček (born 9 January 1996) is a Czech professional ice hockey player who is a goaltender for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). He won the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers in 2025.

Playing career Vaněček originally played as a youth with HC Havlíčkův Brod through to the under-18 level before joining the ranks of HC Bílí Tygři Liberec in 2013.

Vaněček was picked 39th overall in the 2014 NHL entry draft by the Washington Capitals. On 15 July 2014, he was signed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Capitals.

In the 2014–15 season, he played two games with the HC Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Czech Extraliga and spent much of the rest of the season with HC Benátky nad Jizerou of the 1st Czech Republic Hockey League.

Washington Capitals

Vaněček continued his career the following season in North America, splitting time between playing for the South Carolina Stingrays and the Hershey Bears, affiliates to the Capitals. Following a successful 2015–16 season with the Stingrays, he was selected to the ECHL All-Rookie Team.

In 2019, Vaněček was selected to his first AHL All-Star classic roster. Later in 2020, Vaněček would replace Michael Sgarbossa on the 2020 AHL All-Star classic roster. He would go on to be named MVP of the event after leading the Atlantic Division to a championship, only allowing two goals in four games.

Vaněček was named as the Capitals' backup goaltender shortly before the 2020–21 season, backing up Ilya Samsonov. However, Samsonov was placed on the COVID-19 protocol list in mid-January after only two appearances, and Vaněček was subsequently thrust into the spotlight for the Capitals. Vaněček started in his first NHL game on 15 January 2021, saving 30 of 31 shots and earning his first victory as the Capitals defeated the Buffalo Sabres 2–1. Vaněček won NHL's Rookie of the Month for January 2021. He recorded his first NHL shutout on 15 March, in a 6–0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. When Samsonov landed in protocol again, Vaněček started game one for Washington in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs. However, he was injured early in the game and had to be replaced by Craig Anderson.

On 21 July 2021, Vaněček was selected from the Capitals at the 2021 NHL expansion draft by the Seattle Kraken. The Kraken traded him back to the Capitals a week later for a second-round pick in 2023. Vaněček's highest save shutout came on 3 March 2022, when the Capitals beat the Hurricanes 4–0. Vanecek made 36 saves.

New Jersey Devils For the second consecutive off-season, Vaněček left the Capitals organization after he was traded at the 2022 NHL entry draft to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a swap of second-round draft picks and a third-round pick on 8 July 2022. As a restricted free agent, Vaněček was later signed to a three-year, $10.2 million contract extension with the Devils on 19 July.

San Jose Sharks On 8 March 2024, Vaněček along with a 2025 seventh-round pick was traded to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Kaapo Kähkönen. In the season, Vaněček was hampered by injury through his tenure with the rebuilding Sharks, limited to just 18 games in posting just 3 wins.

Florida Panthers On 5 March 2025, Vaněček was traded by the Sharks to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Patrick Giles. Assuming backup duties to Sergei Bobrovsky, Vaněček posted 2 wins in 7 regular season appearances. He did not feature in the post-season, as the Panthers claimed their second successive Stanley Cup.

Utah Mammoth As a free agent from the Panthers, Vaněček was signed to a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Utah Mammoth for the season on 1 July 2025. Serving as the Mammoth backup to Karel Vejmelka, Vaněček featured in 22 games, posting a 5-13-3 record and 1 shutout.

New York Islanders At the conclusion of his contract with the Mammoth, Vaněček joined his sixth NHL club after signing a one-year, $1 million contract with the New York Islanders on 1 July 2026.

International play Vaněček played three games at the 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships for the Czech Republic men's national junior ice hockey team.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2013–14 HC Bílí Tygři Liberec Czech.20 38 21 17 0 2,156 95 2 2.64 .921 4 1 3 213 15 0 4.23 .899 2014–15 HC Benátky nad Jizerou Czech.1 20 10 10 0 1,178 44 0 2.24 .925 5 2 3 282 13 0 2.77 .902 2014–15 HC Bílí Tygři Liberec Czech.20 4 3 1 0 240 12 1 3.00 .919 — — — — — — — — 2014–15 HC Bílí Tygři Liberec ELH 2 0 2 0 120 3 0 1.50 .943 — — — — — — — — 2015–16 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 32 18 7 6 1,867 63 4 2.03 .917 11 6 2 624 24 1 2.31 .914 2015–16 Hershey Bears AHL 1 1 0 0 65 1 0 0.92 .962 — — — — — — — — 2016–17 Hershey Bears AHL 39 18 10 7 2,147 91 5 2.54 .909 4 1 2 196 9 0 2.75 .910 2017–18 Hershey Bears AHL 32 12 13 2 1,685 86 2 3.04 .888 — — — — — — — — 2017–18 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 2 1 1 0 119 4 0 2.01 .935 — — — — — — — — 2018–19 Hershey Bears AHL 38 21 10 6 2,220 97 2 2.62 .907 4 1 3 241 9 1 2.25 .935 2019–20 Hershey Bears AHL 31 19 10 1 1,832 69 2 2.26 .917 — — — — — — — — 2020–21 Washington Capitals NHL 37 21 10 4 2,115 95 2 2.69 .908 1 0 0 13 1 0 4.56 .750 2021–22 Washington Capitals NHL 42 20 12 6 2,317 103 4 2.67 .908 2 1 1 99 7 0 4.20 .863 2022–23 New Jersey Devils NHL 52 33 11 4 2,916 119 3 2.45 .911 7 1 3 272 21 0 4.64 .825 2023–24 New Jersey Devils NHL 32 17 9 3 1,792 95 0 3.18 .890 — — — — — — — — 2024–25 San Jose Sharks NHL 18 3 10 3 973 63 0 3.88 .882 — — — — — — — — 2024–25 San Jose Barracuda AHL 1 1 0 0 60 2 0 2.00 .917 — — — — — — — — 2024–25 Florida Panthers NHL 7 2 4 1 421 21 1 3.00 .890 — — — — — — — — 2025–26 Utah Mammoth NHL 22 5 13 3 1,206 59 1 2.93 .883 — — — — — — — —NHL totals 210 101 69 24 11,740 565 11 2.84 .900 10 2 4 385 29 0 4.52 .834

International Year Team Event Result GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2013 Czech Republic IH18 4 — — — — — — 2.89 .921 2014 Czech Republic U18 7 5 2 0 437 20 0 2.74 .897 2015 Czech Republic WJC 6th 3 1 2 0 181 13 0 4.31 .828 2016 Czech Republic WJC 5th 5 2 3 0 264 12 1 2.73 .881Junior totals 19 8 7 0 882 45 1 3.06 .889

Awards and honours Award Year RefNHL Stanley Cup champion 2025