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The Washington Capitals are on top of the Metropolitan Division heading into February. After they were swept out of the playoffs last year, they changed their goaltending and it has worked perfectly. They already signed Logan Thompson to a five-year extension and could sign another goalie soon. ESPN's Kevin Weekes reported that the Capitals are closing in on an extension for goalie Charlie Lindgren.
**Keep An Eye 👁️ On**
With G Thompson now re-signed, I’m told the @Capitals are exploring a potential contract extension for G Lindgren somewhere between 3.5M-4M AAV. #ALLCaps #HockeyX pic.twitter.com/LcjuWw8BeH— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) January 31, 2025
Lindgren and Thompson have been splitting starts all season long with incredible success. Thompson leads the league with a .927 save percentage and has a 2.05 goals-against average to boot. Lindgren burst on the scene last year and has followed up with a solid year this year, a .901 save percentage and a 2.61 goals-against average.
Lindgren needed to be a great goalie for the Capitals to make the playoffs last year. He took the starting job from Darcy Kuemper, led the league in shutouts, and dragged them to the playoffs. Rewarding him for that with a solid backup contract is a decent bit of business.
While the Capitals have their eyes on the Stanley Cup this year, the hockey world has their eyes on Alex Ovechkin. He scored again on Thursday night to reach 876 career tallies. He needs 19 more to pass Wayne Gretzky for the most of all time.
The Capitals must get great goaltending moving forward
The Capitals are in a great position for the 2024-25 season. They have goaltending, their offense is firing, and the defensive core is improving. But considering they had low expectations coming into the season, they may struggle in the playoffs against higher-quality opponents. Goaltending can help even out those scales and get Washington deep into the playoffs.
Thompson and Lindgren could be the goaltending duo of the future. While that is not a traditional way to find a great goaltending duo, it could work long-term for the team. But these goalies have not played in the biggest games and proven it in the playoffs yet. It is risky to put Ovechkin's final years on their shoulders but a rising salary cap will cut down on the risk.
Reports suggest that the NHL's salary cap could balloon up to $92.4 million next season. The $4.4 million increase will give the Capitals room to spend on other parts of their roster. That is the biggest concern when signing both goalies to long-term deals but that should not have them worried heading into the offseason.
