On Monday morning, the Washington Capitals announced an extension with goaltender Charlie Lindgren. It’s a three-year deal with a $3M AAV, which is a nice deal for both parties. Washington previously extended their other netminder, Logan Thompson, in January. He got a six-year deal with a cap hit of $5.85M.
The Capitals, who have the best record in the Eastern Conference, were looking at the potential of both of their goalies hitting the free agent market this summer. Now, they’re both re-signed and not available.
Which is a good thing for the Chicago Blackhawks.
When the Blackhawks acquired Spencer Knight from the Panthers over the weekend, they suddenly had some decisions staring them in the face sooner than anticipated at the position.
Arvid Söderblom has been marvelous for the Blackhawks this season after getting seemingly buried over the summer. He’s played much better than his $962,500 cap hit suggests, which led many to believe he would get an extension this summer.
Because the veteran free agent the Blackhawks added via free agency last summer after being underwhelmed by Söderblom’s play, Laurent Brossoit, has been a ghost. He injured his knee getting ready for training camp and hasn’t appeared in even a full team practice yet. The acquisition of Knight leads me to believe he may never do that; a buyout this summer would make sense there. He signed a two-year deal with a $3.3M cap hit.
Söderblom wound up becoming the 1b (1a?) with Petr Mrázek this season. Mrázek has one more year of term after this at a $4.25M cap hit.
I would think the Blackhawks would look to move one of their healthy NHL goalies before the trade deadline on Friday. And, though most point to Mrázek as the guy they would trade, I will note that Washington taking both of their netminders off the market might suddenly make Söderblom one of the more intriguing trade pieces in the league.
Söderblom has a .906 save percentage behind a team that has not been great defensively this season. At less than one million dollars against the cap? There may be a line around the block if he is available.
Why would the Blackhawks move Söderblom at the deadline? They would, in theory, stay on the plan they had last summer with Mrázek working with the younger goalie (now being Knight) until Drew Commesso is ready for NHL ice time. What’s changed now is Commesso is likely looking at being the backup in Chicago for a bit longer with a younger, better goalie in the mix.