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Tomas Vomacka’s UConn career is over. On Thursday, the Nashville Predators announced that the goaltender signed a two-year entry-level contract with the club, ending his college career.
A fifth round pick (No. 154 overall) of the Predators in 2017, Vomacka spent three seasons with the Huskies and posted a 2.88 goals against average and .906 save percentage with a 32-33-5 record.
As a freshman, Vomacka took over the starting job from Adam Huska midway through the season and earned a spot on the Hockey East All-Rookie Team with a 2.32 GAA — the second-best mark in program history — and .922 save percentage in 15 games.
During his junior year, Vomacka played every possible minute between the pipes and finished the year with a 2.84 GAA and .909 save percentage despite facing the most shots in the conference. He was named a Hockey East Third Team All-Star and made the Mike Richter Award watch list, which goes to the best goaltender in the nation.
Vomacka will finish his collegiate career as one of the best goaltenders in UConn’s history. His 32 wins are third-most in the Huskies’ Division I Era (2000-present) while his 2.88 GAA is fourth-best across all eras.
UConn is well-prepared for Vomacka’s departure. The Huskies will add Darion Hansen, a grad transfer from Union who had a 2.55 goals against average and .913 save percentage in in 78 career games, along with incoming freshman Logan Terness, one of the top goaltending prospects in Canada. UConn also has rising sophomore Matt Pasquale on the roster, who missed the entire 2020-21 season due to injury.
Vomacka is the second Husky to turn pro this offseason, joining defenseman Yan Kuznetsov, who signed an entry-level deal with the Calgary Flames. UConn also lost graduating seniors Adam Karashik (transferred to Notre Dame) and Brian Rigali (transferred to AIC) while senior goaltender Bradley Stone, junior defenseman Ryan Wheeler, sophomore goalie Ryan Keane and sophomore forward Eric Linell are all in the transfer portal.