The Washington Capitals’ young goalie tandem is no more.
The Capitals traded Vitek Vanecek and the 46th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft to Metropolitan Division foe, the New Jersey Devils, for the 37th overall pick and a third-round pick (70th overall). The deal came together shortly before the start of Day Two of the NHL Draft.
The Capitals were rumored to have interest acquiring Montreal Canadiens backup Jake Allen as of last night. It’s unclear if that’s their next move or something else.
**Keep an eye 👁 on** @CanadiensMTL veteran G Jake Allen still drawing significant interest in the market. @EdmontonOilers , @BuffaloSabres are among those said clubs. Does the @Capitals move of Vanecek opens the door for @AnaheimDucks Gibson to DC ? @espn @NHL #HockeyTwitter
— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) July 8, 2022
Capitals writer Mike Vogel reported that the Capitals have two players on their wish list they wanted to select in the second round and the team did not believe either would be available at pick number 46.
#Caps have a couple players on their list the really like, and they didn’t expect either of them to be available at 46. With the Vanecek deal, they move up nine slots and only need to sweat out four picks before their next selection. #ALLCAPS
— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) July 8, 2022
The Capitals ended up selecting defenseman Ryan Chesley from the United States National Development team with the 37th overall selection.
Vanecek went 41-22-10 and had a .908 save percentage during two full seasons with the Capitals after spending five years in the minors with the Hershey Bears. Vanecek was the Capitals ‘starter in the playoffs both seasons but each time surrendered the net to Ilya Samsonov – once due to injury and the other due to his play.
The Capitals signaled they were unwilling to turn to its young goalie tandem for a third consecutive season. When asked Wednesday before the Draft if the plan was to acquire a veteran in net, Capitals GM Brian MacLellan said yes.
“Like I said, we’ll explore trade opportunities there, we’ll look at the free-agent market, and then we’ll analyze the RFA contracts coming for both of them and make a decision based on all of that stuff,” he said.
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) July 8, 2022
Here’s the full press release from the Capitals:
Capitals Acquire Second-Round and Third-Round Pick in 2022 Draft from Devils for Vanecek and Second-Round Pick
MONTREAL – The Washington Capitals have acquired the second-round pick (37th overall) and third-round pick (70th overall) from the New Jersey Devils in the 2022 NHL Draft for goaltender Vitek Vanecek and Washington’s second-round pick (46th overall, originally from Winnipeg ), senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.
Washington now owns New Jersey’s second and third-round picks and their own third-round pick (85th overall), fifth-round (149th overall), sixth-round (181st overall) and seventh-round picks (213th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft.
Vanecek, 26, posted a 41-22-10 record with a 2.68 goals-against average and .908 save percentage in 79 career games with Washington. He was drafted by Washington with the Capitals’ second-round pick, 39th overall, in the 2014 NHL Draft.