Goaltender Vitek Vanecek is returning to the Washington Capitals for a 2023 second-round draft pick. Kevin Weekes of NHL.com was the first to report the trade. The Capitals made the official announcement shortly afterwards.
The Seattle Kraken poached Vanecek from the Capitals last week in the expansion draft. Washington chose to protect restricted free agent goalie Ilya Samsonov instead Vanecek.
However, Vanecek became available after the Kraken signed former Washington Capitals and Colorado Avalanche goalie Philipp Grubauer to a six-year, $35.4 million deal on Wednesday.
The draft pick Washington is sending to the Kraken is one of two second-round picks they acquired from the Winnipeg Jets for defenseman Brenden Dillon.
Dillon was traded to clear much-needed salary cap space to re-sign captain Alex Ovechkin to a five-year, $47.5 million deal on Tuesday.
Vitek Vanecek was ushered into the primary starting goalie role for Washington last season as a rookie. Henrik Lundqvist opted out of the 2021 season to undergo open-heart surgery. Then Samsonov contracted COVID-19 twice during the season.
Vanecek started 36 of 56 games for the Capitals in 2021. He posted a 2.69 goals against average with a .908 save percentage. He had a record of 21-10-4 and started Game 1 of the Capitals first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins.
Unfortunately, Vanecek suffered a leg injury trying to stop a goal. He did not return for the series in which Washington lost in five games. Vanecek, 25, will not get the opportunity to build momentum on his first NHL season and become the netminder of the future for the Capitals.
