Neuvirth Stays In D.C.

The Washington Capitals have signed goaltender Michal Neuvirth to a two year contract extension worth $2.3mil that will see him make $1.15mil per season. The 2009-2010 season saw Neuvirth split time between the NHL (Washington) and AHL (Hershey). In 17 games with Washington he went 9-4-0 while posting a .914 save percentage and 2.75 goals against average. In 22 games with Hershey he went an impressive 15-6-0 with one shutout while putting up a .919 save percentage and 2.24 goals against average. He has always put up solid numbers wherever he plays but has rarely served as the go-to goaltender.

The Caps will probably go with a tandem system this season seeing Semyon Varlamov play 45-60 games and Neuvirth playing in 22-37 games. This season could see a large competition between the two to see who will take the reigns as the goaltender of the future in D.C. Due to the money offered this seems to paint Neuvirth the backup while keeping in mind that he could easily steal the main job if Varlamov struggles. Washington hopes these 22 year old kids can collectively man the fort as they have put all of their forwards in one money basket and need to save cash in net.

-Dustin Lundberg