#2 Vitek Vanecek
You knew we were going to get the goaltenders eventually. Vitek Vanecek is a restricted free agent and was in a battle with Ilya Samsonov for the number one goaltending spot all season long. Vanecek went 20-12-6 with a 2.67 goals against average and a .908 save percentage.
Vanecek was good for stretches and good enough to get the nod in net for Game 1 of the first round against the Florida Panthers. But then there was a Game 2 debacle where he allowed five goals on 15 shots. The Caps would turn to Samsonov the rest of the series. Could that mean that Vanecek could be gone out of the two?
Vanecek had a cap hit of $716,667. That was essentially a steal for the Capitals and probably the reason why he was selected by the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft. But there was something about Vanecek that the Caps liked so they didn’t mind trading back for him.
If this is the end for Vanecek he had a good two seasons. And he would be a good number one goalie on any team. But then again the Caps might choose him over Samsonov. Who knows at this point in time. It’s still too early.