Vejmelka was the first goalie off the ice during Thursday's morning skate, indicating that he'll defend the home crease in Utah's Opening Night matchup against Chicago, per Cole Bagley of KSL Sports.
Vejmelka will lead the Mammoth onto the ice in Thursday's home opener fresh off his breakout season in 2025-26. Across 64 regular-season appearances, the 30-year-old backstop posted a 38-20-3 record, a 2.75 GAA, an .896 save percentage and two shutouts. He trailed only Andrei Vasilevskiy in regular-season wins a year ago, giving Vejmelka a high ceiling in fantasy once again in the 2026-27 campaign. While Utah added Sebastian Cossa to hopefully provide stability as the team's backup netminder, Vejmelka will likely be called upon over 50 times once again in the 2026-27 campaign, making him a low-end No. 1 goalie option in all fantasy formats to begin the season.