(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club goaltender Connor Ingram (39) during an NHL hockey game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024.
Connor Ingram’s role with Utah Hockey Club is unclear as the team heads into the offseason.
Ingram stepped away from the team and entered the NHL’s player assistance program on March 9. He has been unavailable to Utah since that day as he receives care.
General manager Bill Armstrong provided an update on Ingram during Monday’s exit interviews with the front office.
“A lot of it is unknown. When players go into the program, we don’t have any contact with him so it’s hard for us to speculate,” Armstrong said. “The good news for us as we sit here in this room is we know he is in a good place at the program. We wish him the best.”
The 28-year-old wrote a message on X before entering the program to let fans know why he was taking the time to prioritize his mental health.
“For those of you that don’t know, earlier this season I lost my mother to breast cancer. After trying to make a return to playing, I have come to realize that I am not myself,” Ingram wrote. “At this point in my life I need to put my health first, and take the time I need away to come back at 100%.”
It is Ingram’s second time in the player assistance program; he also leaned on the system in 2021 when he was part of the Nashville Predators’ organization.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club goaltender Connor Ingram (39) as Utah Hockey Club hosts the Los Angeles Kings, NHL pre-season hockey in Salt Lake City on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024.
Ingram played 22 games for Utah and posted a 3.27 goals against average and .882 save percentage. His eventual absence led to Karel Vejmelka taking over as the No. 1 starter for the Club — including a 23-game streak that beat all recent NHL records.
While Utah recalled both Jaxson Stauber and Matt Villalta from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners throughout the season to be Vejmelka’s backup, it did not have a true second goaltender it could rely on down the stretch.
The organization’s most promising goaltender prospect is Michael Hrabal, who will more than likely return for his junior campaign at UMass Amherst and is years away from being NHL-ready. So, if Ingram is not ready to come back next season, the netminding position is one Armstrong will have to look at this summer if Utah wants to turn a corner.
“We haven’t got too far into that,” Armstrong said. “We have our hockey meetings coming up for the next two days and after that we’ll go back into building the team. In any situation that you’re building, you always look to provide depth in that. It will be no different.”
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