Caps Goaltending...

[Brewin Flames]

 

 

 

For the past two seasons, the Washington Capitals have relied on the goaltending tandem of Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek. But will that change next year?

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For the past two seasons, the Washington Capitals have relied on the goaltending tandem of Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek. Neither one has stood out as a reliable starter, generating speculation that one of them could be playing elsewhere next season.

 

Samsonov, 25, was supposed to be the heir apparent to former starter Braden Holtby. He's appeared in 39 games with a 22-9-4 record but sports a less-than-impressive 2.93 goals-against average and .899 save percentage. The 26-year-old Vanecek's stats are better (2.58 GAA, .912 SP) with a decent 18-115 record but nothing in his performance this season suggested he's poised to establish himself as their starting goalie.

 

Cap Friendly indicates Samsonov and Vanecek are slated to become restricted free agents this summer with arbitration rights. In a recent mailbag segment, The Athletic's Tarik El-Bashir didn't see how the Capitals enter next season with both goalies still on the roster.

 

El-Bashir considered Vanecek the better of the two despite his inconsistent play. He suggested the Capitals settle on him, acquire an experienced starter to mentor him and trade Samsonov.

 

Despite Samsonov's struggles, El-Bashir believes the 6-foot-3, 208-pounder's size and pedigree as a former first-round pick could make him an enticing reclamation project. He noted an unconfirmed rumor before the trade deadline linked Samsonov to the Montreal Canadiens.

 

If the Canadiens were interested and intend to pursue Samsonov this summer, the Capitals would have to take back a player already under contract to make the dollars fit for the cap-strapped Habs. Perhaps Jake Allen would be a trade candidate. He carries a $2.875-million cap hit for next season and lacks no-trade protection.

[SaucyJack]

15 hours ago, Brewin Flames said:

Neither one has stood out as a reliable starter

I suppose.  I’ve developed no firm opinion on who to bet on for the future.  Just flip a coin (except for back-to-back nights when ya have Samsecek and Vanonov each start one of the games.)  

[SaucyJack]

The Schedule Maker has given Capitals coaches the opportunity to hand the job for keeps to one of these two.
 

The “Caps Late Season Northeast / Southwest International Tour” kicks off tonight.  Unusual for a 5-game trip, there are zero back-to-back nights; just a very regular play-every-other-day regimen until it ends next Friday night.  (Toronto & Montreal, then Denver & Las Vegas & Phoenix.)

 

The coaches could start the same goalie every game and see if they can earn the full-time gig before the playoffs begin.  Let’s see whether the coaches do this and if so whether the Chosen One can keep earning the starts.

[SaucyJack]

One day shy of half-a-year between the two Avs/Caps tilts this season.  I fell off the couch as the Caps held on tonight to win in Denver and sweep the league leaders.

 

Coaches aren’t reading this thread, as they’ve been alternating the starts this road trip.  Will this big win with Sammy in net result in two straight starts, leaving Vanny bench-side? 
 

Tune in Wednesday night in Sin City.

[Wild Thing]

I have been in the Capitals viewing market for a few years now due to my husbands work and even though I don't watch many of their games, I do believe that in the off season they will end up keeping Vanacek over Samsonov. I feel the Capitals will get a very good return on the young goalie and I think most teams probably feel that Samsonov has more of an upside to his game than Vanacek. 

 

The problem with trading a young goalie is there are only a handful of teams that have that need for a starting young goalie so the trading is pretty limited. 

Edited April 20, 2022 by Wild Thing

[OccamsRazor]

1 hour ago, Wild Thing said:

I feel the Capitals will get a very good return on the young goalie and I think most teams probably feel that Samsonov has more of an upside to his game than Vanacek. 

 

Sure but selling now on a Russian prospect you won't be getting top dollar in return.

 

You're basically trading for his rights. Very risky. And with matters abroad complicates things even further.

 

Might be better just signing him to another one year deal.

[Wild Thing]

13 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

Sure but selling now on a Russian prospect you won't be getting top dollar in return.

 

You're basically trading for his rights. Very risky. And with matters abroad complicates things even further.

 

Might be better just signing him to another one year deal.

I didn't even think of that. 

[SaucyJack]

Samsonov got the consecutive starts (COL, VEG) but Vanacek finished the trip with a shutout (ARI who to my eye didn’t play like a last place team.)

 

We still know nothing about the goalie choice for playoffs.

 

Caps are, however, playing better than any other time this season, to my eye.  Back checking is good, and they’re showing more confidence offensively, not so tentative.  They need to bury chances better.

 

Of course it can all change in the final week.  (I mean, it wasn’t that long ago that Ethics demanded the club management refund tickets for the Minnesota Wild game.  They failed to do so. )