We’ve been following ex-Caps goalie Pheonix Copley‘s unlikely rise from the ashes for some time now. Last summer, Copley was signed to be the backup-to-the-backup by the Los Angeles Kings, but he’s become the team’s best backstop of late.
The Kings evidently like what they see. On Friday night, they announced they’ve signed Copley to a one-year contract extension worth $1.5 million.
Copley, 31, has put up just a .897 all-situation save percentage this season, but he’s also sporting a 15-3-1 record. His new deal will see his salary nearly double .
The Kings’ star goalie, Jonathan Quick, will finally become an unrestricted free agent this summer after his ten-year deal expires. That means this tweet is almost a decade old.
To clarify, that's 10 years after next year — so 11 years in total of our goaltender being better than yours.
— LA Kings (@LAKings) June 28, 2012
Quick has saved nine (9) goals better than expected over the term of that contract. The Kings are 8-12-4 in his games this season.
Copley’s success this season is best understood in context of how the team in front of him is performing. Nonetheless, his win record is undeniable. Much to the delight of Kings fan Will Ferrell, the Kings sit fourth in the Pacific and have an 84 percent chance of making the playoffs according to HockeyViz.
From the Kings:
Through 20 games with the Kings this season, Copley, 31, has posted a 15-3-1 record with a 2.92 goals-against average (GAA) and a .897 save percentage (SV%). Since his Kings debut on Dec. 6 at Ottawa, no other NHL goaltender has more wins than Copley, who also sits one win, four starts and seven games played from tying his career marks in each category. The 6-4, 200-pound netminder also established career highs for saves and shots faced, stopping 45-of-48 shots in a 4-3 victory over the Florida Panthers on Jan. 24.
Signed as a free agent July 13, 2022, Copley is in his ninth professional season after spending the previous eight years with Washington and St. Louis Blues organizations. He has appeared in 51 career NHL games, owning a record of 31-12-4 with one shutout, a 2.96 GAA and a .899 SV%. His best NHL season came with the Capitals in 2018-19 when he established a 16-7-3 record, a 2.90 GAA and a .905 SV% in 1,528:56 minutes played.
He has also appeared in 237 career American Hockey League (AHL) games with the Ontario Reign, Hershey Bears and Chicago Wolves, earning a 124-76-38 record with 15 shutouts, a 2.52 GAA and .911 SV%. In 17 AHL postseason games, he owns a 9-7-0 record with a 2.09 GAA and .935 SV%. In 2020-21, he helped the Bears earn the Harry Holmes Memorial Award for AHL best goaltending duo.
The undrafted netminder was signed by the Capitals as a free agent in 2014 after spending two seasons with Michigan Tech in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). On July 2, 2015, he was acquired by the St. Louis Blues and made his NHL debut the following season on February 27, 2016, against the Nashville Predators. During the 2016-17 season, he was traded back to the Capitals and part of the Capitals 2018 Stanley Cup playoff run.
Photo: Cara Bahniuk
