Tomas Vokoun: '100 percent committed to playing in the NHL next season,' says agent
Octagon-Hockey sports agent Allan Walsh, who represents a number of Czech NHL players including Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tomas Vokoun, made a major announcement on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon:
I spoke with Tomas Vokoun earlier today and he is 100% committed to playing in the NHL next season.
— Allan Walsh (@walsha) June 10, 2014
Vokoun missed the entirety of the 2013-14 season after undergoing a procedure to dissolve a blood clot in his pelvis. The ailment that Vokoun was afflicted with was life-threatening.
The 37-year-old veteran has appeared in 700 NHL games over a long, extremely successful NHL career. He's consistently posted an above average save percentage, and played some excellent hockey as recently as the 2012-13 postseason.
On the open market, Vokoun is likely to come with a good deal of risk and there's no way he'll be able to get term on a 35-plus contract considering his health last year. Signing Vokoun carries significant upside though, and he's a solid low-risk gamble for a club with a solid third-string option.
It seems unlikely that Vokoun could remain with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have both Marc-Andre Fleury and Jeff Zatoff on the books and signed to one-way NHL standard player contracts for next season. Presuming he hits the open market, Vokoun will likely slot in behind impending unrestricted free-agents Ryan Miller and Jonas Hiller as the third most desirable free-agent goaltender.