The Washington Capitals have a Vezina Trophy candidate in Logan Thompson and he's more than earned this opportunity after the Caps traded for him over NHL Draft weekend from the Vegas Golden Knights.
Per Greg Whyshynski of ESPN.com in an article written about a week ago, the other two candidates for the award are Jacob Markstrom of the New Jersey Devils and Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets. He said this on the play of Thompson:
"There was another goalie that snagged a first place vote and it was Thompson, the Capitals net minder who came over from Vegas in the offseason. The Capitals have been one of the season's best teams and Thompson has been a big reason why. In 20 games, he's an incredible 16-2-2, with a .916 save percentage and a 2.39 goals against average. Compare those numbers to what Washington's other net minder Charlie Lindgren has posted (10-8-1, .900 and 2.70) and the contrast is stark. "Greg Whyshynski of ESPN.com
A person who voted for Thompson would say this, the folks who vote for said candidate are among NHL GMs:
"Thompson has been so incredibly efficient. Sixteen of his 20 appearances qualify as quality starts (80 percent). When the goals dried up for the Capitals following their hot start -- and Alex Ovechkin was injured -- Thompson kept them on track. "Logan Thompson voter
This would be a wild story if Thompson was able to lock down the Vezina Trophy later on considering he has the lowest average annual value (or AAV) on the team. Per Sportlogiq, Thompson has an .881 slot save percentage ranking second in the NHL as well as a 0.89 goals saved per 60 minutes which is fourth in the league. Thompson leads the NHL in points percentage at .848 with the second highest guy being Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets.
Logan Thompson is having quite the season. And the timing couldn’t be better for the team or the player; it’s a contract year for the 27yo goalie, who currently carries the #Caps’ lowest AAV. Per @Sportlogiq: pic.twitter.com/yglTm7JQDW
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) January 13, 2025
It'll be a contract year coming up for the 27 year old goaltender. If he wins the Vezina, obviously he's going to get some kind of significant raise. Even if he doesn't win that Vezina and the Caps are able to finish out the regular season strong and do something in the playoffs that isn't bad, Thompson could still get a good raise.
Gary Bettman recently said back in December that the salary cap is expected to jump up around at least $92.4 million for next season. He said this at the Board of Governors Meetings among all the general managers and owners across the league.