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Capitals re-sign Jonas Siegenthaler to a one-year, $800,000 contract

By Ian Oland

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October 21, 2020 8:31 pm

The Washington Capitals announced they re-signed Jonas Siegenthaler to a one-year, $800,000 deal on Wednesday.

Siegenthaler, 23, was a restricted free agent and remained under team control after the Capitals extended a qualifying offer to the Swiss native on October 7.

Siegenthaler registered nine points (2g, 7a) in a career-high 63 games last season. The left-handed shooting defenseman played huge minutes on the penalty kill; he led the Capitals in PK minutes per game (3:11) and placed 11th overall in the NHL. He also blocked a lot of shots (105) – second-most on the team.

Siegenthaler is regarded by @JFreshHockey as the best third-pairing defenseman in the league.

It’s unclear where Siegenthaler will fit in on the roster after the Capitals signed four different defensemen during free agency: Justin Schultz, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Paul LaDue (likely AHL), and Cam Schilling (likely AHL). The team also re-signed trade-deadline acquisition Brenden Dillon to a four-year contract.

The Capitals have seven healthy defensemen on the roster currently. This does not include Martin Fehervary who is NHL ready.

The signing also technically puts the Capitals a little over a million over the salary cap ($81.5 million) without Michal Kempny ($2.5 million AAV) placed on LTIR and off the books, per CapFriendly. That means Brian MacLellan still has about $1.5 million left to spend if Kempny misses the entire season.

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Capitals Re-sign Jonas Siegenthaler

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have re-signed defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler to a one-year, $800,000 contract, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.

Siegenthaler, 23, recorded nine points (2g, 7a) in a career-high 63 games last season. The 6’3”, 210-pound defenseman scored his first career NHL goal on Nov. 9, 2019 versus the Vegas Golden Knights. The Zurich, Switzerland, native led the Capitals and was tied for 11th in the NHL in penalty kill minutes per game (3:11) and ranked second on the team in blocked shots (105). Additionally, Siegenthaler’s 6.25 blocked shots per 60 minutes of play ranked 13th in the NHL.

Siegenthaler made his NHL debut on Nov. 9, 2018, against the Columbus Blue Jackets and appeared in 26 games for the Capitals in 2018-19, registering four points (4a) and 10 penalty minutes. In 90 career games with Washington, Siegenthaler has recorded 13 points (2g, 11a).

Siegenthaler registered six points (2g, 4a) in 34 games with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL) during the 2018-19 season. In 122 career games with the Bears, Siegenthaler has recorded 19 points (8g, 11a) and 101 penalty minutes.

Prior to joining Hershey, Siegenthaler played for the ZSC Lions in the National League in Switzerland from 2014 to 2017. In 115 career games in the National League, Siegenthaler recorded 18 points (4g, 14a) and 85 penalty minutes.

The Capitals selected Siegenthaler in the second round, 57th overall, in the 2015 NHL Draft.

Headline photo: Cara Bahniuk/RMNB

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