Following the goaltending performances (or lack thereof) from Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek in 2021-22, namely in the postseason, it seemed likely they would shake up their goaltending. They did exactly that, as they traded Vanecek to the New Jersey Devils. This is how it broke down:

TRADE: The Capitals have traded goaltender Vitek Vanecek and the 46th pick to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for the 37th pick and the 70th pick in this year's draft.
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) July 8, 2022

Let's get to it.

What New Jersey Gets

To put it simply: Washington just traded their best goalie. Over the past three seasons for Samsonov, and two for Vanecek, the goalie that was traded has a better overall save percentage, high-danger save percentage, and Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx). There was no reliable measure by which Samsonov out-performed Vanecek. Both are restricted free agents, so there was a choice to be made here. We'll see if it's the right one, but it doesn't look like it so far.

New Jersey had to shore up their goaltending. Injuries buried this team in 2021-22 as MacKenzie Blackwood and Jonathan Bernier combined for just 32 starts. Leaving most of the goaltending work to AHL goalies had predictable results, as the team's save percentage was 31^st out of 32 teams, just ahead of the expansion Seattle Kraken. Were Blackwood to get injured again, they couldn't leave their fate up to the AHL goalies one more time. This gives them a bit of security in a franchise that is looking to push for the playoffs.

How good Vanecek really is is an open question. He's posted back-to-back seasons of .908 goaltending, which is just fine for a backup. They may run into issues if Blackwood can't assert himself as good starter again. Colorado can get away with below-average goaltending; New Jersey cannot.

This does hurt Blackwood's value, if only a bit. They could have gone with a prospect or a veteran backup and given Blackwood 60 starts. That doesn't seem to be in the cards now, as even a 50-start season should be seen as a healthy workload for the incumbent.

As for Washington, this opens things up. They still have to re-sign Samsonov and don't have much cap space. They do, however, have most of the roster under contract so they could devote a healthy chunk of the remaining space to a starter like Jack Campbell or Darcy Kuemper. For now, Samsonov is the starter, but that's unlikely to be the case a week from now.

Who this helps

📢 advertisement:

Ilya Samsonov

Vitek Vanecek

Who this hurts

MacKenzie Blackwood