Early 2022 predictions for Charlie Lindgren

Next up on our Washington Capitals player predictions is the new backup goalie Charlie Lindgren. If you missed our prediction on Darcy Kuemper you can check that out here.

There isn’t a big enough sample size from last season when it comes to the NHL for Lindgren. But in his five starts he won all five of his games. So that’s pretty darn good.

Lindgren had a 1.22 goals against average and a .958 save percentage. Those are both career bests in his one and only season with the St. Louis Blues. He previously spent five seasons with the Montreal Canadiens.

In those five seasons with the Canadiens, Lindgren started in 24 games. He went 10-12-2 with a 3.00 goals against average and a .907 save percentage. He didn’t play in much games but the most he played with the Habs came in 2017-18 when he played in 14 games going 4-802 with a 3.03 goals against average and a .908 save percentage.

Still those numbers are better than Vitek Vanecek or Ilya Samsonov backing up Kuemper.

So based on these numbers how do we think Lindgren will do this season?

I think Lindgren will have his work cut out for him this season and it’ll be a big test in a competitive Eastern Conference. It’ll also be a big test for Kuemper.

In our Kuemper prediction we said he’d get 40 games. Lindgren will probably get 20 starts. In those 20 starts he will go 12-6-2 with a 2.50 goals against average and a .950 save percentage.

That’s still a pretty decent season for a backup goalie if you ask me.

Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said this about his new backup goalie:

“We liked his performance last year. I know it wasn’t a lot of games, but we think there is some upside there in goal, so we gave them the three-year term because it was competitive for him, and I think there was a lot of teams that were looking at him, and he was coming in at a good number, and he had good performance last year but limited games. We think he can continue to play well.”

Lindgren was signed to a three year, $3.3 million deal. The Caps not only get two better goaltenders but more experienced net minders.