DEVILS AND GOALIE VANECEK VOID ARB — 3 YEARS, $10.2M
By Jenny Masters
Vitek Vanecek and the Devils have avoided arbitration and agreed on a $10.2 million, three-year contract that counts $3.4 million against the salary cap through 2025.
Vanecek will make $3.55 million next season, slightly less than incumbent starter Mackenzie Blackwood, who is going into the final year of his contract.
“There is an opportunity for me to play lots of games,” Vanecek said Tuesday from his home in Czechia. “I am really happy for that. I will battle with Mackenzie, and that’s what I need.”
General manager Tom Fitzgerald said last week he expects Blackwood to have a bounce-back year and he is excited about the 25-year-old’s upside.
“It was important to go out and find someone who was as hungry to be a No. 1 goalie and go out and push each other,” Fitzgerald said.
