This 6-foot-7 goalie could be a big part of Utah Hockey Club’s future

Michael Hrabal made his way to the bench.

The UMass Amherst goaltender — and a top Utah Hockey Club prospect — was signaled over by head coach Greg Carvel. Hrabal’s night would end in the first period.

It was the second game of UMass’ series against the University of Vermont at Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington. Hrabal gave up three goals the evening before and, 14 minutes into the Nov. 9 matchup, two more had gotten by the 20-year-old netminder.

A conversation with Carvel followed the loss.

“I met with him and I just said, ‘Michael, this is not good enough,’” Carvel recalled. “I told him, ‘.920 is bare minimum. You need to be shooting for .930, .935 save percentages.’ Ever since that conversation, it’s been creeping up.”

Hrabal was held out for the following game against Providence College at UMass’ home rink, Mullins Center. However, the next night on the road in Providence, Hrabal returned and posted 34 saves in a 5-1 win over the Friars.

“The thing I really like about him is he actually likes to be challenged. If you’re not happy with him, he wants to know and he responds really well to it,” Carvel said. “We took him out of that game, we didn’t play him the next game and I think it was a really good reset. He acknowledged that was what he needed and he appreciated it. It’s great to have kids that appreciate coaching.”

Hrabal’s future in Utah

Hrabal — who was a second-round pick by the Arizona Coyotes, now Utah Hockey Club, in the 2023 NHL Draft — is coming into his own in his second season of NCAA hockey.

He has the option to play four years at the NCAA level at UMass. But players can become free agents from their draft teams after four seasons of college hockey. That means, if Hrabal stayed through his senior year, he could look to sign with a different NHL team than Utah.

That is why a lot of management — and likely, Utah’s — aim to sign prospects to their entry-level contracts after their junior season in college. Hrabal is a sophomore now, so he has at least another campaign at UMass before he makes the transition.

While Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, Connor Ingram has another year left on his deal. Utah also has the option to re-sign Jaxson Stauber — another Hockey East alum — who is currently playing in the AHL. There are options to both make room or fill the goaltender position for Utah as Hrabal continues to develop.

Hrabal said he talks weekly with Utah’s goalie development staff, which has been beneficial for him. They discuss his recent games, what to work on positionally and conditioning-wise to keep him on track for his ultimate dream.

As for the team moving from Arizona to Utah? It’s somewhat of a nonfactor for Hrabal. He has the same endpoint in mind.

“The NHL is the NHL and that’s my goal,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where you play it. Just want to reach the NHL ice and I’m going to work for that.”

Finding his footing

Right now, though, it’s all about finding consistency.

The Prague, Czechia, native has had some adjusting to do since coming over to play North American hockey. Hrabal made the jump in the 2022-23 season to join the United States Hockey League (USHL) after playing exclusively in his home country for his entire teenage career.

Omaha, Nebraska, was Hrabal’s new home as he earned the net for the Lancers.

“Since childhood, I always wanted to play college hockey so I knew that if I wanted to get there, I needed to leave. Luckily the USHL was one of the options,” Hrabal said. “It was a big change. Leaving home, living for the first time by myself without my parents. It was a big change but the league was great.”

In Hrabal’s first, and only, season with the Omaha Lancers, he had a .908 save percentage and 2.86 goals against average. The higher-level reps helped prepare him for his freshman campaign at UMass in 2023-24.

Hrabal had an up-and-down showing during his debut season in Hockey East — one of the most competitive conferences in college hockey. He finished the year with a .912 SV% and 2.59 GAA through 30 games.

“I think, like most kids that come here, the skill set is already there. They just need to mature. They need to find routines that help them be more consistent,” Carvel said. “I think that’s been the biggest thing for Michael — finding consistency in his game because he has such great assets with his size, mobility and compete.”

Since getting pulled in November’s series against Vermont, Hrabal has found another level to his game. He is more predictable, Carvel said, and his team knows what to expect from him on any given night — that is, timely saves and strong athleticism in his unique 6-foot-7 frame.

The thing with college, too, is there is roster turnover every season as players graduate, sign in the NHL and have the choice to transfer. Accordingly, the defense in front of Hrabal looks a bit different.

Four of UMass’ eight defensemen are freshmen this season learning the ropes of Hockey East in real-time. Last year, Hrabal had two All-American defensemen — Ryan Ufko and Scott Morrow — playing a big role down low to help him out. Both Ufko and Morrow are now with their NHL organizations.

UMass is now one of just nine teams in the nation with four or more freshman defensemen on its roster this season. What’s more, the team has dressed at least three freshmen in all but two games thus far.

“College might be a little bit easier system-wise because your team helps you way more. But you play any team in Hockey East — every team is good. It’s a very hard league. A lot of shots from the blueline, a lot of screens, tips,” Hrabal said. “It’s older players, it gets faster. You just adapt to the level and try to push yourself to get better every day.”

The World Juniors stage is another place Hrabal has strengthened his game. The goaltender has represented Czechia in international tournaments for the last four years and earned Bronze at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Hrabal started in six of Czechia’s seven games in the best-on-best tournament. His 29-save performance to beat Canada 4-3 in the quarterfinals was a highlight.

“It’s always great to put your national team jersey on. It just makes you feel proud,” Hrabal said. “It’s huge to play against other best players in the world. That pushes you forward. You see what you need to work on and I think that has really helped me in my career.”

Hrabal is facing some of the best players of his age group back in Hockey East, too. The Boston College Eagles — who Hrabal and No. 16-ranked UMass split a series with last weekend — are ranked No. 1 in the nation and have NHL-caliber talents like Ryan Leonard, James Hagens and Gabe Perrault firing shots at him all night.

Hrabal backstopped UMass to a 3-2 win in enemy territory at Conte Forum with 37 saves. Of the two goals allowed, one was on a Boston College power play and the other came as the Eagles skated 6-on-5. Hrabal stopped every 5-on-5 chance.

“For goaltenders, they have to play a lot. They have to get a lot of repetition. That’s the great thing about this level — the number of shots he gets in practice every week and then he plays just about every game for us,” Carvel said. “He’s in this conference where every night he’s playing a top-10 team in the country with outstanding players trying to score against him.”

While a challenge, the opponents Hrabal is taking on now will only make him better once he makes it over to Utah. It could be a few years, though.

“With Michael, he’s a starting goaltender in a very good situation. Goalies take longer to develop. So for him, I think he should be back here for another year,” Carvel said. “He’s got room for growth. I really like his trajectory. He just needs time. Time to mature, get stronger. Time to get more reps here before he’s ready for the next level.”