Vitek Vanecek, 25, will make his NHL debut Friday against the Buffalo Sabres, realizing a dream that he has worked hard to achieve.
Vanecek, a Capitals’ second-round draft pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, has spent the last five seasons in the AHL with the Hershey Bears.
Vanecek will start for the #Caps tonight. It will be his NHL debut.
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) January 15, 2021
Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said “it’s a good opportunity for him to get in” with the Capitals’ back-to-back against the Sabres tonight.
Laviolette on Vanecek: "It's a good opportunity for him to get in. We've got two young goaltenders. I though Sammy did his job last night. It's a back-to-back situation. It's a great time to get everyone involved." #Caps
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) January 15, 2021
Vanecek was the Capitals’ backup goaltender during the 2020 playoffs after Ilya Samsonov could not join the team in the bubble due to injury. He played in the Caps’ exhibition game against the Carolina Hurricanes but did not see playing time during the actual postseason.
The Czech goalie is a two-time AHL All-Star and was the AHL’s 2020 All-Star MVP. He went 19-10-2 with a .912 save percentage with Hershey last season.
5 years and 3 months after he made his North American pro debut as an 18-year-old manning the nets for the @SCStingrays, Vitek Vanecek in an NHL'er. He's worked his tail off and has earned this. All @TheHersheyBears fans will be cheering loud tonight. Good luck, @vitacz15! https://t.co/EscO6P9CUd
— Zack Fisch (@zackfisch) January 15, 2021
Vanecek has a close relationship with Ilya Samsonov and Jakub Vrana from their time in Hershey together.
“I think we’ve always been kind of going down this road,” MacLellan said of Vanecek during training camp. “We want to see Vanecek play. We’re happy with his progress. We’re happy with his experience. The only thing for us is that he hasn’t played much in the NHL. Had a good showing in the bubble in the chance he got in. So I think all along we’ve been trying to get him games so this should be a good opportunity to get him some games and see where he’s at.”
Congratulations, Vitek!
Starting between the pipes for the first time in his career!
Congrats, @vitacz15! #ALLCAPS | @LeidosInc pic.twitter.com/EbRLFRuQxr
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 15, 2021
Lineys!!!#CapsSabres | @GEICO pic.twitter.com/Ok5naNgMHe
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 15, 2021
Tonight, Vitek Vanecek will make his NHL debut, becoming one of 15 goaltenders selected by the Capitals in the NHL Draft to play in the NHL. Vanecek will become the 49th goaltender in franchise history to appear in a game for Washington.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) January 15, 2021
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