Courtesy: Washington Post
Coaches and general managers always prefer to have a plethora of solid players as they would rather make tough decisions on who to start and who to sit on a night-to-night basis.
The Washington Capitals find themselves in an interesting predicament where they have three goaltenders who are all more than capable of playing at the NHL level, but all three are experiencing varying degrees of what the organization is offering them at the midway point of the 2013-14 season.
As of right now, young Philipp Grubauer appears to be at the forefront of the three-headed monster that is the starting goalie rotation for the Capitals with Braden Holtby and Michal Neuvirth following behind.
Ever since Neuvirth suffered a freak injury making his way out of the tunnel Nov. 29, Washington has been using the twosome of Grubauer and Holtby to keep pucks from reaching the back of the net. Neuvirth has since recovered from injury and has been up with the club for a few weeks and has yet to see any game action whatsoever.
Holtby hasn’t exactly been a measure of consistency either as his last start Jan. 4 against the Minnesota Wild resulted in a six-save performance for the 24-year-old as he allowed five goals on just 11 shots in a 5-3 defeat on the road. Since Neuvirth’s injury, Holtby has played in eight games going 3-3-1, while Grubauer has seen game action in 11 contests and has marched to a 5-2-3 overall mark. Regardless of who’s been in the net, the Capitals have been one of the worst team in the Eastern Conference as they have gone a paltry 3-4-3 in their last ten games.
Grubauer will once again get the call tonight against the white hot Tampa Bay Lightning who have gone 7-2-1 over their last ten games and haven’t dropped off a bit since the season-ending knee injury to star forward Steven Stamkos. Tampa finds themselves third in the entire Eastern Conference (second in the Atlantic Division) while Washington sits ninth overall in the East and are now fourth in the Metropolitan Division as the Pittsburgh Penguins are pulling away, but the much maligned Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers have since supplanted the Capitals in terms of divisional position.
With all of the struggles for the Capitals as of late, goaltending and defense seem to be two of the biggest issues that still remain with the club. Not since the days of Olaf Kolzig has Washington had stability with their netminders and as good as the three they have with the big club now are, they all have flaws that have been magnified at times. Neuvirth has had numerous health issues, Holtby makes silly mistakes that allow for careless goals to light up the lamp and Grubauer isn’t the best at playing the puck. No one goalie is going to fix these issues by themselves and the Capitals have to find some sort of stopgap to help end this skid of losing.
Right now, Grubauer is the best option and is playing with the most confidence, but that doesn’t mean all is well. Grubauer has a similar skill set to that of Seymon Varlamov — the Colorado Avalanche goalie who used to play in D.C. Grubauer moves around the crease and has the ability to make the big, acrobatic saves when it counts. There’s still a lot of aspects of his game that are raw, but he has the best mindset out of the three goaltender options as of now so he’s been receiving the call to start.
Holtby is looking for confidence anywhere he can find it. And at this point, it can only come from stringing together solid performances. But, with Grubauer playing the best, head coach Adam Oates finds himself in a bind where he has to put out the most consistent netminder and right now it’s not No. 70.
Which brings the conversation to Neuvirth. A presumably healthy goalie who is just 25 years old, but isn’t seeing the ice… let alone dressing on a regular basis anymore for the Capitals. He is getting no game action and simply wants to lace up the skates. But with the opportunity in front of him, getting out of D.C. might be the only option he has.
“I don’t want to comment,” Neuvirth said Monday about trade rumors. “I just want to play hockey. I want to get better and if I don’t play, I don’t get better.”
And he’s right.
So what should the Capitals do?
Given their propensity to give up such a high volume of shots towards their goaltenders in the first place, making their jobs that much more difficult, Neuvirth should no longer rock the red. A package deal for a defenseman or two, coupled with a few prospects on the Capitals’ side and a draft pick[s] may get the job done. Or maybe it won’t . Keep in mind, forward Martin Erat has asked to be traded twice already this season and is seeing some increased minutes with the club despite the frustrations.
Don’t expect George McPhee to pull the trigger on any deal anytime soon even if it’s what the Capitals, Neuvirth and his agent Patrik Stefan need. Washington needs answers immediately before they dig themselves too deep a hole midway through 2013-14. A team can’t clinch a playoff berth mid-season, but they can find a way to lose control of their own destiny.
Courtesy: Capitals Hill
