The Washington Capitals’ first major move of the offseason involved sending goaltender Darcy Kuemper to the Los Angeles Kings for Pierre-Luc Dubois. With Kuemper gone, the backup position in Washington is wide open heading into the 2024-25 campaign.
Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan says the team plans to go with Charlie Lindgren as the starter next season and possibly give its two AHL stars, Hunter Shepard and Clay Stevenson, the opportunity to take the backup role.
While Shepard has led the Hershey Bears to two straight Calder Cups, won playoff MVP in 2023, and was anointed the AHL’s best goaltender during the 2023-24 regular season, MacLellan would not publicly say the minor-league standout has earned the backup role outright.
“I think we like the progression of what’s happening in Hershey,” MacLellan said. “Both our goalies have played really well. Maybe they would have a little inexperience, but anticipate both playing NHL games at some point.
“Really like the year Charlie had last year. Would like to give him an opportunity to run with it at the beginning of the year, and then we’ll go from there.”
Shepard made four appearances with Washington last year, posting a 2-1-1 record with a 3.19 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage. With the Bears during the regular season he went 27-4-3 with a 1.76 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.
Stevenson was Shepard’s understudy for much of the year but took the regular starting reins multiple times when Shepard was up and down from DC. The 25-year-old AHL rookie finished the season 24-10-2 with a 2.06 goals-against average, a .922 save percentage, and a league-leading seven shutouts.
The duo combined to take home the Harry “Haps” Memorial Award, given annually to the goaltending battery in the AHL that allows the fewest goals per game during the regular season. They also broke the Bears’ single-season shutout record in late March, combining for 12 total shutouts.
Despite the impressive season from both players, MacLellan did not rule out exploring external options for the Capitals’ crease, too.
“I think we’re also going to look at if there’s an improvement we can do through trade or free agency too,” MacLellan said. “All avenues are open for us on that.”
