The Capitals announced Tuesday that they’ve recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from the AHL’s Hershey Bears and returned netminder Clay Stevenson to Hershey in a corresponding transaction.
This amounts to a backup swap behind starter Darcy Kuemper while normal backup Charlie Lindgren remains on IR. He is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury and has not played since starting the team’s season opener while Kuemper was away on paternal leave.
Shepard, who guided Hershey to a Calder Cup championship last season, would have been Washington’s first recall choice knowing Lindgren would be out for a while. However, Shepard himself was sidelined with an illness – now that he’s healthy, he finds himself on Washington’s roster, likely until Lindgren can return. The 27-year-old was named MVP of the Calder Cup Playoffs last season after posting a .914 SV%, 2.27 GAA and three shutouts in 20 contests. All that came in his first season as a full-time AHL netminder, spending the majority of the two previous seasons with Washington’s ECHL affiliate in South Carolina. The two-time national champion with the University of Minnesota-Duluth is undefeated with Hershey this season, going 2-0-0 with a 2.88 GAA and.885 SV%. If he makes an appearance for the Caps on this recall, it will be his NHL debut.
Stevenson, 24, made back-to-back starts in Hershey’s first two contests of the season while Shepard was on the shelf. He, too, has yet to make an NHL appearance, with Kuemper starting all three games in Lindgren’s absence. He will serve as the Bears’ starter while Shepard is up on the NHL roster.