3 players that won’t be back next season for Washington Capitals

#1 Vitek Vanecek

It’s going to come down to Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek as far as who stays and who goes and both are restricted free agents as soon as free agency begins. It’s been exhausting breaking down the last two seasons worth of these goalies and STILL not being able to figure out who the guy could be for the future.

But if we’re looking at recent success, Ilya Samsonov had it by backstopping the Capitals for the remainder of the playoffs. And even though the Caps were bounced in the first round, Samsonov wasn’t one to blame.

Vitek Vanecek went 20-12-6 with a 2.67 goals against average and a .908 save percentage in the regular season. In the playoffs he went 1-1 with a 4.21 goals against average and a .863 save percentage.

Samsonov went 23-12-5 with a 3.02 goals against average and a .896 save percentage in the regular season. In the playoffs he seemed to had come around with a 2.97 goals against average and a .912 save percentage.

I think the team ultimately chooses Samsonov going forward and then tries to go for a veteran goalie via a trade or the free agent market. Unlike the previous years, the Caps have a little bit more to spend.