Washington Capitals: Top 5 Goaltender Prospects

The Stars and Sticks prospect slideshow series rounds out with a look at the top five goalies in the Washington Capitals system.

The Washington Capitals have done well when it comes to drafting goaltenders. This was shown right from the summer of 2008 when the team drafted Braden Holtby in the fourth round at 93rd overall. Nobody knew at the time what he was capable of but 10 years later, it came full circle.

That summer saw the Capitals lose both their trade deadline acquisition Cristobal Huet as well as goaltending legend Olaf Kolzig to unrestricted free agency.

Jose Theodore was signed by the Capitals in response. That following spring saw the emergence of 2006 first rounder (23rd overall) Semyon Varlamov, who replaced a struggling Theodore and helped backstop the Capitals to a rally to defeat the New York Rangers, overcoming a 3-1 deficit.

Varlamov also helped the Capitals come nearly close to beating a Pittsburgh Penguins team that, well, no need to say it. Also this type of save against Sidney Crosby was pretty good.

Michal Neuvrith, also taken in 2006 in the second round at (34th overall) didn’t pan out either. Then came Philipp Grubauer, who was taken in the fourth round (112th overall) in 2010.

Grubauer, a main backup to Holtby for four seasons, led the charge in the homestretch of the 2017-18 regular season and earned a home in Colorado, but this also made things tough for the future of goaltending in Washington with a tight salary cap.

The Holtbeast, as we all know, won back-to-back Vezina Trophies in 2016 and 17, and helped lead the Capitals to the ultimate prize after he regained his spot in the starting lineup in that spring for the ages.

With the Seattle expansion draft coming next summer, backup goaltender Pheonix Copley earning a three-year extension last season, and Holtby entering the last year of his contract, nobody knows what the future will hold.

Rest assured these players mentioned on the following slides might have a home in Washington in the next few seasons. Here are the top five prospect goaltenders.

Logan Thompson

Logan Thompson is back at Development Camp for the second year in a row and fresh off signing an AHL contract with the Hershey Bears on May 21. You might even remember him from the 2018 rookie showcase, an annual tradition a lot of Capitals prospects take part in.

Thompson spent four seasons with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL and had his best season in the fourth year (2017-18) with a 29-22-2 mark despite a high goals-against average of 3.41. His save percentage was .908, identical to the previous year.

Last season Thompson had a strong year in net Brock University in the Ontario University Athletics, Thompson finished with an 18-6-0 record in 24 games (per the Capitals Development Camp guide) along with a 2.22 GAA and a .934 save  percentage. This included three shutouts and three games where Thompson made over 40 saves.

Thompson was named a OUA First-Team All-Star, Rookie of the Year and Goalie of the Year and following the season he signed with the New Jersey Devils East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) affiliate Adirondack Thunder. Thompson made 44 saves in his debut which came on March 2, the same day he signed the contract and appeared in eight games.

Thompson also has an AHL game under his belt after he signed a professional tryout with the Devils’ affiliate in Binghamton, making 22 saves in a 5-2 defeat on Apr. 14 at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Now he’s back in Washington, or Arlington for that matter, honing his craft to get ready for the season ahead.

Mitchell Gibson

Mitchell Gibson was drafted by the Capitals in the fourth round at 124th overall in 2018. He was the first American-born goalie taken on that draft weekend in Dallas, Texas and has appeared in Development Camp both last season and this week.

Gibson, 20, is a native of Phoenixville, PA and had grew up playing for the Philadelphia Junior Flyers U18 and 18U hockey clubs. A graduate of Owen J. Roberts High School, Gibson joined the Lone Star Brahmas of the North American Hockey League and had a successful 2017-18 season.

He took home honors as as the NAHL Goaltender and Rookie of the year with an overall recored of 31-10-9 including 11 shutouts. In the regular season, Gibson had a 1.59 GAA and 93.5% save percentage. The 11 blank sheets tied a NAHL record and he was the first goalie to receive such honors since current Winnipeg Jets star Connor Hellebuyck in the 2011-12 season.

Last season, Gibson suited up for the Central Illinois Flying Aces of the United States Hockey League (USHL). This week, Gibson is back in Arlington at Development Camp. Via the Capitals Development Camp guide, Gibson suited up for 43 games with a 13-21-4 mark with a 3.50 GAA and an .890 save percentage.

Gibson’s best stretch came in March with a 4-1 record and was named USHL goalie of the week on March 11 thanks to  a two-game stretch where he made 37 saves both games, one of those a shutout. Following the season, Gibson committed to Harvard University this upcoming season.

Parker Milner

Parker Milner went undrafted with each club passing on the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native in 2013. He signed a one-year AHL contract with the New York Islanders affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers but would get reassigned to their ECHL affiliate Stockton Thunder.

Milner comes from Boston College, a NCAA program he helped lead to a Frozen Four championship in 2012, his junior year, going 29-5-0 with a 1.66 GAA and .937 save percentage.

He bounced within the ECHL the next two years, first to the Quad City Mallards then back to Bridgeport, before he signed a one-year deal with the Hershey Bears on July 7, 2016.

Milner played in six Bears games but only won one of those but regained his footing down in the ECHL. Milner won 28 of the 38 games he played while only dropping seven games in regulation and three in overtime. His GAA was 1.86 while his save percentage was .929.

Milner played in 40 games last season going 19-17-2-0-1 with a 2.95 GAA and .912 save percentage while appearing in three games in Hershey. He’ll be back in South Carolina and will most likely be called up to Hershey should their be an injury to their main two goalies or if one of them gets an NHL callup.

Vitek Vanecek

Vitek Vanecek was taken in the second round at 39th overall by the Capitals in 2014. A native of the Czech Republic, Vanecek remained overseas for a season and played for Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Czech Extraliga- the highest professional rank in his homeland. Vanecek won 10 of his 20 games with a 2.24 GAA and .943 save percentage.

In the 2015-16 season, Vanecek made the jump to the ECHL. In 32 games with the South Carolina Stingrays (Washington’s affiliate), he went 18-7-5-1 with a 2.03 GAA and .917 save percentage. He also helped backstop the Stingrays to the conference finals before faltering in a seven-game series to the Wheeling Nailers.

In 11 games that spring, Vanecek went 6-2-2 with a 2.31 GAA and a .914 save percentage. While he did play in one AHL game that season with the goaltending tandem set with Dan Ellis and Justin Peters, Vanecek moved up to the Hershey Bears the next season.

Vanecek played in 39 games in 2016-17 finished with an 18-10-7 record with a 2.54 GAA and .909 save percentage in his rookie season with the Bears. He struggled the next season in what was a tough situation with inexperienced defensemen trying to fill a void left with Christian Djoos and Madison Bowey making a jump to the NHL.

Vanecek finished that season with a 12-13-2 mark in 32 games with a 3.04 GAA and .888 save percentage. Vanecek also saw some action in South Carolina, winning at least one of the two games with a 2.01 GAA and .935 save percentage.

He responded with a much better season in Hershey in 2018-19, splitting the goaltending duties with Ilya Samsonov. Vanecek went 21-10-6 with a 2.62 GAA and .907 save percentage to help get the Bears back to the Calder Cup playoffs.

Although Vanecek is a restricted free agent currently, the Capitals did extend him a qualifying offer which means he’ll more likely than not be back next season. If so, he’ll spend the next season in Hershey and will look to get even better.