The Washington Capitals have lost one of their two star young goalies. According to hockey insider Frank Seravalli, the Seattle Kraken have selected Vitek Vanacek in the expansion draft.
The Kraken is set to select one player from 30 of the other 31 NHL franchises. The selections will be made official Wednesday night starting at 8. However, the names of those selections are starting to leak.
Each team had to expose one goalie under contract. The Capitals had the tough decision of picking between Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov. Both have emerged over the past two seasons as the potential goaltender of the future for the Capitals.
But, the Kraken has made the decision for Washington, taking the 25-year old Vanecek. With a cap hit of $716,667 for next season, the selection was perfect value for the Kraken.
Last season Vanecek was set to be Washington’s third goalie, splitting his time between AHL affiliate Hershey and the Capitals. Yet, Henrik Lundqvist had to opt out of the season due to a heart condition that required surgery. Then Samsonov, who was tabbed the starter going into the season, had two stints in COVID-19 protocols.
Thus, Vanecek started 36 of the Capitals 56 games. He was 21-10-4 as a starter. He had a 2.69 goals against average with a .908 save percentage.
Vanecek got the nod over Samsonov for the playoffs. However, he was injured in Game 1 and did not return to the series in which the Capitals lost and were eliminated from the postseason.
It’s a worst-case scenario for the Capitals. Vanecek’s selection leaves Washington with 11 forwards and seven defensemen under contract with just $8.9 million in salary cap space.
Alex Ovechkin is set to be an unrestricted free agent. Plus, Samsonov, the goalie they chose to protect, is a restricted free agent. So it will take some maneuvering from GM Brian MacLellan to get both signed.
