The Crowded Crease

First and foremost a big welcome back to the NHL to Semyon Varlamov even though it was far from a picture perfect return. (And boy did Coach B let the press know it.)

With Varlamov’s return the crease is suddenly a little crowded in Washington but it won’t be for long as I don’t see Boudreau holding onto 3 goalies for too much longer. I expect Neuvirth to go back to the starting goaltending duties in Hershey as soon as the Olympic break begins.
Neuvirth will continue to collect wins in Hershey and build his confidence knowing that he did a great job backing up Jose Theodore during Varlamov’s injuries.

Varlamov is rusty and a looked a bit shaky during the 6-5 loss to the Senators. Honestly I expected him to look a little out of sync but I think the organization made a terrible decision bringing him back so soon. Don’t get me wrong, I think Varlamov is an amazing up-and-coming goalie, I just think he should have been given more time in Hershey to play and return to form in order to avoid exactly what happened against the Senators. Now is the true test: how he responds.

Jose Theodore had a tremendous run during the Caps’ amazing winning streak. He looked at the top of his game and he pulled off some beautiful saves. But his cap hit is high, and while the Capitals can afford him, I’m not sure that they should want to.

Do the Capitals sink their cap space into goaltending or defense? I feel that they should go with procuring a shutdown defenseman. Tightening up the back end won’t leave everything hanging on the goalies and I honestly think the Caps have a good young core in Varlamov and Neuvirth. Sure they are young and need more confidence and experience, but if you bolster the defense in front of them the confidence will come quicker.

So the crease will temporarily disperse by returning Neuvirth to Hershey, but as the summer approaches it looks crowded again. Is the tandem of Varlamov and Neuvirth ready to handle a full NHL season? I believe they are. If the Capitals organization thinks the same, you can expect them to go after defensemen instead of resigning Theodore with his bigger price tag.