The Capitals were robbed of Henrik Lundqvist before he even had a chance to take the throne. In a brutal twist of fate, the Capitals’ netminder-to-be announced he will be sitting out the 2020-21 season after being diagnosed with a heart condition.
Whether this spells the end for Lundqvist’s illustrious NHL career is a conversation to be had later, once he is able to sort out what’s best for him and his health. For now, the biggest concern is that this condition won’t affect his off-ice life negatively in any way, and if he must move on from hockey, he can do so without any issue.
With all of that in mind, this really stings from a hockey perspective. A tandem of Lundqvist and Ilya Samsonov was going to be one of the better goalie pairs in the league. Now, the Caps will have to rely on Samsonov as the clear-cut No. 1 despite the young Russian having just 26 NHL games under his belt.
For a team with aspirations of returning to the Stanley Cup Final, this is far from the ideal situation. Lundqvist was poised to be a strong veteran presence to help the team and mentor Samsonov as well. With a good season and the right amount of luck, the Caps could perhaps help Hank win a Stanley Cup to round off his terrific resume.
Now the Caps will have major issues if Samsonov cannot perform to the team’s standards. There was no guarantee Lundqvist would be a savior if Samsonov faltered, as he was coming off a season with career-worst numbers, but coming to a better team in Washington with a defensive-minded coach in Peter Laviolette, a rebound was expected.
While Samsonov’s inexperience is a valid concern, that happens to be the only worry with him when looking at his numbers last year. He finished 16-6-2 with a .913 save percentage and a 2.55 goals against average, outperforming longtime starter Braden Holtby. He was the fastest rookie in franchise history to reach 10 career wins, needing just 12 games to do so.
There is no doubting his ability and long term potential. However, the growing pains of jumping from 26 games as the secondary option to a full-time NHL starter in a full season is the biggest issue. It will help that this season won’t be a full 82 games, but in a league that continues to transition to goalie tandems rather than a single starter, the Caps are now officially behind the curve after it looked like they’d be getting ahead of it.
Replacing Lundqvist will be Vitek Vanecek, the 24-year-old former second-round pick that split the crease with Samsonov for the Hershey Bears in 2018-19 and went to the Toronto bubble as Holtby’s backup this past summer. He was named an AHL All-Star each of the past two seasons.
Vanecek appeared in a single period, the final frame against the Carolina Hurricanes in the squad’s tune-up game before the round-robin games. Otherwise, he has zero NHL experience.
The team could conceivably choose to bring up Pheonix Copley instead, or sign another free agent, but Vanecek has the highest upside, the lowest cap hit and appears to have the inside track. He was chosen over Copley as the backup in Toronto, meaning the Caps overlooked his inexperience and recognized him as the more talented netminder. That said, that was also with Holtby, a former Vezina Trophy winner with Stanley Cup experience, on top of the depth chart.
With the inexperienced Samsonov, the Copley may be the choice instead. The soon-to-be 29-year-old got the bulk of his NHL experience as Holtby’s backup in 2018-19. He posted a .905 save percentage and 2.90 GAA in 24 starts. Copley split time evenly with Vanecek in Hershey last season, and this is how the two performed:
| 2019-20 Hershey | Games Played | Minutes Played | W-L record | Save Percentage | GAA | Shutouts | Goals Against | Saves |
| Vitek Vanecek | 31 | 1,832 | 19-10-1 | .917 | 2.26 | 2 | 69 | 758 |
| Pheonix Copley | 31 | 1,868 | 17-8-6 | .905 | 2.47 | 2 | 77 | 733 |
Their numbers are fairly similar, but Vanecek performed slightly better, which was one reason why the team chose him over Copley to back up Holtby this summer. The club views Vanecek as a viable NHL backup in the future, but the tandem of Samsonov and Vanecek could be on display much sooner than the Caps assumed (or wanted).
An interesting wrinkle is that when Vanecek and Samsonov split time in Hershey the year prior in 2018-19, it was Vanecek who had the better numbers, if only slightly:
| 2018-19 Hershey | Games Played | Minutes Played | W-L Record | Save Percentage | GAA | Shutouts | Goals Against | Saves |
| Vitek Vanecek | 38 | 2,219 | 21-10-6 | .907 | 2.62 | 2 | 97 | 945 |
| Ilya Samsonov | 37 | 2,202 | 20-14-2 | .898 | 2.70 | 3 | 99 | 868 |
Samsonov had a slow start to begin his first season in North America, but got better as the year went along. That said, Vanecek was the more consistent player and ended with slightly better stats for 2018-19.
Another thing to consider is the NHL’s possible implementation of “taxi squads,” which would allow teams to hold a larger number of players on their roster to reduce the number of people moving between the parent club and minor league’s training site. The extra room would allow for the Caps to bring up both Vanecek and Copley to join Samsonov.
There are a handful of free agents still on the market, but none that would be worth using extra cap room for over Vanecek. It will be risky entering this season relying on two unproven goaltenders, but it seems they’ll be forced to roll the dice with a development that puts a dent in the team’s outlook for this upcoming season.
Another, less pressing question is if Lundqvist does play again, will it be in Washington? His deal was for just one season, and he will be in the free agent market again next year. Will he take another team friendly deal to play in Washington or decide to go elsewhere? Will he even be ready to come back for 2021-22?
Is this the last we’ve seen of Lundqvist on the ice? The man will be 39 in March and has a family that he may just want to settle down with after a Hall of Fame-worthy NHL career. I suppose those answers will come within the year.
Regardless, it’s a gut-punch of a development on all accounts, and a player like Lundqvist deserves to leave the game on his own terms. For now, the Caps need to sort out their goaltending situation yet again, and will have to hope Samsonov and Vanecek are up the task.
Cover Photo Credit: Johan Rylander/The Daily Goalhorn
The Wildcard 