Washington Capitals: Philipp Grubauer provides luxury between the pipes

In the National Hockey League, there are several teams that have spent years looking, signing, and trading in search of a franchise goaltender. Some of those teams, despite all of their efforts, still find themselves unable to keep the puck out of their net several years later.

The Washington Capitals are one of the few teams in the entire league that have their hands on a true franchise netminder. He goes by Braden Holtby.

There are even fewer organizations that can say they have a starting-caliber backup, and the Capitals have one of those too. His name is Philipp Grubauer.

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Grubauer, a 24-year-old German goaltender, is in his first full season with the Washington Capitals, backing up quite possibly the best netminder in the entire league in Holtby. Though considered by some as undersized at six-foot and one-inch tall, his instincts and athleticism more than make up for any perceived lack of height.

“Gruby” has been a familiar face in the nation’s capital since the 2012-13 season where he appeared in two games with the big club. He then went on to play in 17 games the following season and at one point appeared to be ahead of Holtby in former coach Adam Oates‘ mind. He went 6-5-5 that season, posting a very impressive .925 save percentage and a 2.38 goals against average.

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After appearing in just one regular season game with the Capitals last year, he was forced into playoff action in game two of the 2015 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the New York Islanders after Holtby fell ill prior to the game. After a disappointing team loss in game one, Grubauer played a key role in evening up the series at one with an 18 save effort in a Caps victory.

Coming into the current campaign, it was all but certain that Grubauer would be backing up Braden Holtby after a sub-par (to say the least) showing by former backup goalie Justin Peters last season.

It was unclear how much time between the pipes Grubauer was going to get this season. This was highlighted by the fact that Braden Holtby played in an absurd 73 games last season, 72 of those being starts. Holtby has stated in the past that he likes the heavier workload, though it was all but certain that Grubauer would see more playing time than Peters did last season.

One of the hardest parts about being a backup goaltender is that “unknown” factor. With Holtby playing at an even higher level this year than last, there was still a chance that Grubauer’s looks would be few and far between, leaving him rusty and thus not on top of his game at all times.

Lo and behold, Philipp Grubauer has already appeared in more games (14) at the 55 game mark of the 2015-16 season than Peters did over the course of the entire 2014-15 campaign. That playing time has been justified by his .925 save percentage and stellar 2.13 goals against average.

The opinion of the Capitals coaching staff on Grubauer was fully on display when they chose to start him against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night. The Capitals were coming off of a full two days rest following a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Dallas Stars on Saturday. Gruby made a relief appearance in that one, saving all ten shots that came his way in the final period.

Even with that rest, Grubauer got the nod. This was not a slight towards Holtby nor a punishment in the least, it was just a testament to the fact that if the Caps decided they wanted to rest Holtby, they could. That is all because Grubauer is more than capable of holding down the fort whenever he is called on.