Utah Mammoth goaltender Connor Ingram has been cleared to play, according to a memo jointly sent out by the NHL and NHLPA on Wednesday.
Ingram, 28, had been in the NHLPA player assistance program since March to focus on his health. He said in a social media post that he hadn’t been the same since his mother’s death, which occurred in late 2024.
It was Ingram’s second time participating in the player assistance program. The first, which began in 2021, was to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder. When he emerged, he soon found himself in a starting goaltender role for the first time in his NHL career.
He won the 2024 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy as the player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication” to hockey.
Where will Connor Ingram fit in the Utah Mammoth’s goalie rotation?
While Ingram was expected to be Utah’s starting goaltender in the inaugural season, things didn’t pan out that way — likely due, at least in part, to the other things going on in his life at the time.
The team finished the 2024-25 season with Karel Vejmelka playing the bulk of the games, with occasional relief from Tucson Roadrunners goaltenders Jaxson Stauber and Matt Villalta.
On July 1, at the opening of NHL free agency, the Mammoth signed Vítek Vaněček to back Vejmelka up. GM Bill Armstrong had expressed lack of certainty regarding Ingram’s status, and the Vaněček signing reflected that.
Armstrong has said on several occasions that he anticipates an abundance of healthy competition at training camp this year. Now that the Mammoth have three healthy NHL goalies, that statement will likely also apply to that position.
Some NHL teams have run with a three-goalie rotation in the past, but it almost always ends with at least one being moved due to lack of consistency.
Thankfully for everyone involved, there’s always a market for good goaltenders. If someone needs to get moved, the team can rest assured that it will get good value and the player will know he’s going to a situation where he’s needed.