The one drawback to Vitek Vanecek's strong play originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
One of the early surprises of the 2021 season has been the play of goalie Vitek Vanecek. Vanecek likely would not even be playing If Henrik Lundqvist did not have a heart condition. Instead, the rookie netminder is 3-0-2 in five starts with a .918 save percentage and 2.70 GAA. With points in his first five games, he is only two games away from tying Jim Carey’s franchise record for the longest point streak by a rookie to start his career.
Vanecek’s play has been great news for the Capitals considering goaltending was a question mark heading into the season. The fact that Ilya Samsonov has missed three games while on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol-related absence list and the team has not missed a beat is an encouraging sign for the depth at the goaltending position.
All of this is good news for Washington…except in one respect.
The Seattle expansion draft will take place during the 2021 offseason. Every team will be allowed to protect one goalie and it was assumed that goalie for the Caps would be Samsonov. But has Vanecek played his way into the discussion?
A young goalie tandem of two dependable goalies is great. One of the most important positions in hockey is covered by two inexpensive players who are continuing to develop and should get better over the next few seasons. Normally, a team would just let them play it out for the next few years before either signing one as the No. 1 and potentially trading the other for value or even trying to convince both goalies to stay as a dynamic duo. This, however, is not a normal year and the threat of losing one of the young netminders will loom over the season, especially if both players are able to play at a high level.
Granted, it is not guaranteed that Seattle would take either Samsonov or Vanecek. It was assumed by many, that Philipp Grubauer would be taken by Vegas in the 2017 expansion draft and the Golden Knights instead went with Nate Schmidt. There are also things general manager Brian MacLellan can do to coerce Seattle to look at another player such as offering a trade if Seattle agrees to not select someone. After seeing how Vegas was able to rob teams for draft picks just to end up with better players anyway, general managers are going to be reluctant to do that this time around. And just because MacLellan may offer a trade does not mean Seattle will have to take it. If the Kraken have their sights set on whichever netminder the Caps leave exposed, there’s nothing really MacLellan can do to stop them from taking him.
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The bottom line is Washington is going to have to enter the offseason at least prepared to lose one of its goalies.
When it was believed Vanecek was, at best, an NHL backup, that wasn’t an issue. But what if he’s better than that?
It’s still very early in the season. Vanecek may regress or Samsonov could elevate his play when he returns to such a level that it becomes no contest. But if the expansion draft were to happen tomorrow, this would not be an easy decision.
Vanecek’s play has been a huge positive for Washington thus far into the early season, but if he continues at this level it is going to put the team in a difficult position in the offseason. Having to choose between two starting-caliber goalies is a good problem to have, but it is a problem nonetheless.
