Capitals best option in net for 2022

The Washington Capitals have had a goaltending dilemma since Braden Holtby left the team. This summer is critical. They have to sign the right veteran free agent or execute a brilliant trade. Then they have to decide between Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov.

I think the best route the Caps could go is have a Russian tandem. That means trade for Sergei Bobrovsky and have Ilya Samsonov as backup.

How is this even a possibility? Well Sportsnet 590 The Fan’s Nick Kypreos reported that the Florida Panthers are looking to trade their net minder who has a resume of two Vezina Trophies.

They gave Bobrovsky a massive payday in the summer of 2019 and in hopes of dealing their goaltender, they are looking to retain a good percentage of his salary. He has four seasons and $40 million left on his contract. He signed for seven years at $70 million three summers ago.

Bobrovsky went 39-7-3 with a 2.67 goals against average and a .913 save percentage with three shutouts in 54 games played in the regular season where he led the Panthers to the President’s Trophy with the best record in the league.

Kypreos mentioned on Real Kyper and Bourne:

"“Florida may be floating out that they’d be willing to [take on] 50 percent (of his salary) and hope that it doesn’t, that they can hold back less money. They’ve got cap issues as much as anyone out there in the league.”"

So that’s the first half of this story. You’re probably reading this thinking “finally this guy settled on which goalie he’d go for”. That’s right. While some guys like our contributor David are on Team Vitek, I am on Team Sammy.

Samsonov earned his chance to remain on the Caps based on his playoff performance. He kept the Caps in the series and they very well could’ve won it if they had some things go their way but didn’t.

If there’s one good thing about Samsonov is that he can be on when he’s on. He just needs to fix the inconsistencies. But if he came into this season knowing 100 percent what his role could be, a Bobrovsky-Samsonov tandem could work out well for the Caps next season.