The Washington Capitals loaned goaltender Zach Fucale to their ECHL-affiliated South Carolina Stingrays on Thursday.

With logjams in net at both the NHL (Ilya Samsonov, Henrik Lundqvist) and AHL levels (Vitek Vanecek, Pheonix Copley), Fucale will get reps and compete with Hunter Shepard and Alex Dubeau for playing time.

Fucale, a second-round pick from the 2013 NHL Draft, signed to a one-year, two-way deal with the Capitals in August which will net him $700k at the NHL level and $75k in the AHL.

In the fall, Fucale debuted his new gear for the team, which includes a beautiful Capitals-themed mask painted by Sylabrush.

The Stingrays start their regular season on Friday night against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. It’ll be the Stingrays’ first regular-season game since the ECHL canceled the remainder of its season in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have loaned goaltender Zach Fucale to the South Carolina Stingrays of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.

Fucale, 25, posted a record of 10-8-4 with a 2.36 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage in 24 games with the Orlando Solar Bears in the ECHL in 2019-20. The 6’2″, 187-pound goaltender also appeared in one game with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, stopping 12 of the 15 shots he faced.

The Laval, Quebec, native won gold with Team Canada at the 2019 Spengler Cup after going 3-0 with a 0.33 goals-against average and a .986 save percentage. Fucale posted back-to-back shutouts, including one in the gold medal game, and he was named the tournament’s all-star goaltender.

Fucale played in five games with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves in 2018-19, posting a 1-3-0 record with a 2.51 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.

In 69 career AHL games with the St. John’s Icecaps, Laval Rocket, Chicago and Syracuse, Fucale is 28-32-6 with two shutouts, a 3.09 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage. Additionally, in 111 career games in the ECHL with the Brampton Beast, the Fort Wayne Komets and Orlando, Fucale has posted a 57-32-11 record with eight shutouts, a 2.97 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage.

Headline photo courtesy of @zach_fucale