The Washington Capitals have re-signed restricted free agent goalie Vitek Vanecek to a three-year, $2.15MM contract that should set the young keeper up to emerge as an NHL candidate sooner rather than later. The team announced the long-term deal with their third-string goalie and noted that it becomes a one-way deal after year one and the salary jumps from $700K to $750K after year two. The 2014 second-round pick, who’s still searching for his first NHL appearance, at least adds some certainty to his future with this extension.
Vanecek, 23, was selected 39th overall in 2014 and has spent the last several seasons in the Capitals minor league system. Though obviously still young enough to take big steps forward, he has been passed over by Ilya Samsonov in terms of prospect ranking for Washington and will have to fight for playing time. The pair of young goaltenders will likely make up the AHL tandem this season, hopefully pushing each other to even greater performances.
It will be interesting to see where the Capitals go with their goaltending over the next several seasons, as current NHL starter Braden Holtby is on the final year of his current deal. After Sergei Bobrovsky likely set the market for any extension with his seven-year, $70MM deal with the Florida Panthers today, Washington may decide to try and hand off the duties to someone else while Samsonov and Vanecek mature in the minor leagues. A three-year deal for the latter will give him the time to do so, though he will not be waiver exempt starting in the 2020-21 season.