Vitek Vanecek

The Capitals completely remade their goaltending room this offseason, dealing Vanecek to New Jersey and not qualifying Ilya Samsonov. Those two split time almost evenly in 2021-22, with Vanecek playing 42 games and finishing with a 20-12-6 record, a 2.67 GAA and a .908 save percentage. Those are virtually identical to the numbers he posted two seasons ago and a rough baseline of what to expect moving forward should the 26-year-old netminder be able to wrestle the Devils' No. 1 job away from the underwhelming Mackenzie Blackwood in 2022-23. New Jersey would likely prefer that Vanecek wins the competition considering the team handed him a fresh three-year, $10.2 million contract in July.

Vanecek saw action in 37 of Washington's 56 regular season games last year, which is amazing considering he was originally expected to be the club's No. 3 goaltender behind Ilya Samsonov and Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist ended up missing the season with a heart issue and Samosnov missed a ton of time due to COVID-19 protocols. Vanecek's numbers were solid (21-10-4, 2.69 GAA, .908 save percentage), if unspectacular. Following the year, the 25-year-old was exposed to Seattle and selected in the expansion draft before being dealt back to the Capitals for a draft pick just days later. Vanecek has exceeded expectations, but he's clearly behind Samsonov on the depth chart, who carried the load for Washington in the playoffs.

Vanecek took a big step forward with AHL Hershey last year, posting a 19-10-1 record with a 2.26 GAA and a .917 save percentage in 31 appearances. That's still not enough to trust him with a starting NHL job -- Vanecek will compete with Craig Anderson and Pheonix Copley for the right to be Ilya Samsonov's primary backup for the 2020-21 season. The 24-year-old Vanecek will likely ascend to the NHL on a more permanent basis in the next two years or so, but Samsonov will be the main man in Washington for the foreseeable future.