Earlier in the week, Henrik Lundqvist was bought out of the final year of his contract by the New York Rangers. Lundqvist spent 15 years in The Big Apple, winning the sixth-most games in NHL history.
It was unclear what Lundqvist, 38, wanted to do next – retire or continue playing – but Sunday night he made it obvious that we have not seen the last of him between the pipes.
“I still love to compete. I still love the game and I still want to WIN!” Lundqvist wrote.
I still love to compete. I still love the game and I still want to WIN!
— Henrik Lundqvist (@HLundqvist30) October 4, 2020
Hank is open for business, y’all. And he wants that elusive Stanley Cup.
He added this adorable photo with the same message on his Instagram page.
The Capitals are believed to have interest in signing Lundqvist to be Ilya Samsonov’s backup next season per Elliotte Friedman. The Capitals are expected to lose Braden Holtby to free agency and are in the market for a veteran backup.
The NHL Network also named Washington as one of the most logical landing spots for Hank, even photoshopping him into a Capitals jersey.
After Lundqvist made it public that he wasn’t going to retire on Sunday, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun tweeted that he sees “the Caps as a reasonable proposition” for Hank to land.
Washington and Carolina would be interesting options. I see the Caps as a reasonable proposition. We shall see. https://t.co/scS1rBeMgI
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 5, 2020
There’s reason to believe that Lundqvist still has gas in the tank and his recent decline hasn’t been as bad as his dashboard stats might indicate (for instance, the Rangers had the second-worst defense in the NHL last season).
So in conclusion:
Hank call me
— Peter Hassett (@peterhassett) October 4, 2020
Headline photo: @hank30nyr/Twitter screenshot
