Washington Capitals get it right with Jonas Siegenthaler

Jonas Siegenthaler, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
Jonas Siegenthaler, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Capitals have re-signed Jonas Siegenthaler.

The Washington Capitals announced on Wednesday night that they have re-signed Jonas Siegenthaler to a bargain one year deal worth $800,000. The 23 year old recorded nine points with two goals and seven assists in a career high 63 games last season.

Siegenthaler, who’s six foot three and 210 pounds, scored his first career NHL goal on Nov. 9, 2019 against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Zurich, Switzerland native led the Caps in penalty kill minutes per game and was tied for 11th in the NHL with 3:11 minutes per game and ranked second on the team in blocked shots with 105. Siegenthaler averaged 6.25 blocked shots per 60 minutes of play which ranked 13th in the NHL.

Siegenthaler made his NHL debut on Nov. 9, 2018 against the Columbus Blue Jackets and appeared in 26 games for the Caps that season and had four assists and 10 penalty minutes. In 90 career games with the Caps, Siegenthaler has recorded 13 points with two goals and 11 assists. He got additional playing time that season when Michal Kempny went down with an injury.

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Siegenthaler also played in 34 games with the Hershey Bears in 2018-19 and registered six points with two goals and four assists. In 122 career games with the Bears, Siegenthaler has 19 points with eight goals, 11 assists and 101 penalty minutes.

Siegenthaler played for the ZSC Lions of the National League in Switzerland prior to joining Hershey from 2014-2017. In 115 career National League games, Siegenthaler recorded 18 points with four goals, 14 assists and 85 penalty minutes. Siegenthaler was selected by the Capitals in the second round at 57th overall in the 2015 NHL Draft.

Overall this was a good move by the Caps who wanted to re-sign Siegenthaler as a restricted free agent. Since he’s an RFA the team still controlled his rights and they were able to extend their quality young defenseman for a reasonable price.

The Caps defense will look different next season and with the defensemen they brought in, it looks to be a crowded blue line. Brenden Dillon, who was also re-signed for a four year deal worth $15.6 million, will likely pair with Norris Trophy runner up John Carlson up top. The second pair looks like Dmitry Orlov will be with Justin Schultz.

That brings us to the third pair which is wide open. It will likely boast a combination of Siegenthaler, Nick Jensen, or Trevor van Riemsdyk barring a trade. The Caps also signed Paul LaDue and Cameron Schilling for depth.