Lundqvist not ruled out from playing for Capitals this season
GM has seen goalie skate, says recovery from January open-heart surgery 'is impressive'
Lundqvist posted video on Twitter and Instagram of him skating at a private rink in Alpine, New Jersey, on Feb. 23. It was his first time on the ice since having surgery to replace an aortic valve. Lundqvist has been in communication with the Capitals training staff, but general manager Brian MacLellan said Friday he is unsure if the 39-year-old can make it back this season.
"I think it's impressive what he's doing," MacLellan said. "I see the videos like you guys see the video. I don't know how likely or unlikely it is. I mean, he had valve replacement surgery. It would be pretty incredible if he was able to come back. I guess we'll see where he is at the end here.
"Probably unlikely, but I wouldn't rule it out."
Lundqvist tweeted Feb. 25 that he had a long recovery ahead of him and didn't know if he would be able to resume his NHL career. But he also made it clear he hopes to play again if he receives medical clearance.
"My health is obviously my No.1 priority," Lundqvist tweeted. "It will be months before I can make any decisions regarding my future after more tests/convos with doctors. The one thing I do know with 100% certainty is that I still love the game."
Lundqvist signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Capitals on Oct. 9 after he had the final season of his contract bought out by the New York Rangers on Sept. 30. The sixth-winningest goalie in NHL history (459-310-96) was expected to compete for Washington's starting job in training camp before he announced Dec. 17 that he could not play this season because of a heart condition.
That left to the Capitals to rely on rookie Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov at goalie. Neither has played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, so the Capitals are considering whether they need to add a veteran goalie before the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline on April 12.
Vanecek emerged as Washington's No. 1 after Samsonov entered NHL COVID-19 protocol Jan. 20 and is 11-5-3 with a 2.88 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage in 20 games. Samsonov is 4-0-1 with 2.55 GAA and a .907 save percentage in six games, including 3-0-0 with a 2.06 GAA and a .929 save percentage since returning to the lineup Feb. 28.
"I think we need a bigger sample size on Samsonov to see where he's at, how much of the load can he carry," MacLellan said. "I think we've got a good sense of where Vitek's at and I would think Vitek's going to continue to get better too. We'll monitor here over the next month and see where we're at."
The Capitals also have Craig Anderson, who signed a one-year, $700,000 contract Jan. 14. The 39-year-old is 1-1-0 with a 3.63 GAA and an .853 save percentage in two games (one start) and has spent most of the season on the taxi squad.
Vanecek, who was selected in the second-round (No. 39) of the 2014 NHL Draft, has been a bit of a surprise. The 25-year-old was third on the Capitals depth chart before Lundqvist announced he would be unable to play and essentially saved their season when Samsonov was unavailable. He was named NHL Rookie of the Month for January after he was 5-0-2 with a 2.78 GAA and a .918 save percentage in seven games.
"Vitek's done a great job for us here," MacLellan said. "He's really seized the opportunity that he's been given. Nothing we would have predicted coming into the year. He's been solid. I think he's improving. He's been given a lot of responsibility and he's handled it. It's impressive, what he's done, for where he's at. From going from not getting the opportunity that he deserved to taking advantage of a situation and running, I think it's been impressive.
Samsonov, the No. 22 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, was expected to take over the No. 1 job after going 16-6-2 with a 2.55 GAA, a .913 save percentage and one shutout in 26 games as rookie last season backing up Braden Holtby, who signed with the Vancouver Canucks as an unrestricted free agent. But the 24-year-old missed the playoffs last season with an upper-body injury and then took some time to regain his conditioning after testing positive for COVID-19.
So the Capitals want to see more from him before determining whether they need to acquire a goalie.
"I think Samsonov, he has had a couple good games here," MacLellan said. "I think it's been a struggle a little bit for him to find his footing and get up to speed and get into game conditioning and get some games under his belt. The last few games I think he's been solid. So we'll see where he goes from here too. I would only anticipate that he's going to improve and get better and get more comfortable."
