Logan Thompson came out of nowhere (Las Vegas) to win the title of starting goalie for the Washington Capitals.
By the Numbers
.910
Save percentage
43
Games played
130
Opponent xG
105
Opponent goals
+25
GSAx
Saving Diagram by HockeyViz
About this visualization: This image by Micah Blake McCurdy of hockeyviz.com show how likely to become a goal shots against this goalie are, based on their locations on the ice. If the hexagon dot is red, then the goalie is weaker against those shots compared to league average. If the hexagon dot is blue, then the goalie is better against those shots. Blue is good; red is bad.
Goalie Metrics by Evolving Hockey
About this player card: This image from Josh and Luke of Evolving Hockey shows how the goalie compares to league averages in various statistics. At left is even-strength play; at right is shorthanded play. If the bar is blue and goes up, then the player is better than league average; orange and down means worse. The first bar is expected shooting percentage, the second is actual shooting percentage, then the difference between the two, then – effectively – shot danger faced.
Fan Happiness Survey
About this visualization: At three times during the season, RMNB conducted an open survey with readers, asking the following question for each player: “On a scale from 1 to 5, how HAPPY are you to have this player on the team?” The numbers above show the average score for the player in each survey period.
Slavoj Žižek on Thompson
If I split starts among my goalies, do I have two non-starting goalies, neither owning the role, trapped in an endless cycle of symbolic exchange?
Peter’s Take
By the best measurement, goals saved above expected, as calculated by Moneypuck, Logan Thompson was the NHL’s third best goalie this season, saving 26 goals more than an average goalie would have if he faced the same shots. Considering the Caps got Thompson in exchange for a third-round pick, and the goalie he replaced was himself traded for Pierre-Luc Dubois, LT’s arrival in Washington brought an abundance of value. He played so well, and the Caps liked him so much, they extended him for six more seasons.
This was a breakout season for Thompson. He had strong and steady .910-ish save percentages in prior years, but they didn’t come close to 2024-25 when measured by expected goals. If what we saw this season is what we’ll get from Thompson for the duration, then he will more than earn his contract, which will place him just outside the top-10 highest paid goalies.
But asking a goalie for consistency is like asking a Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare gamer to do a communard run in Disco Elysium. They’re not capable. It doesn’t compute.
But here we are, with Thompson the clear number-one goalie in town. He earned that title last year by putting lots of space between him and Lindgren, who was just fine.
Just fine is also how I’d typify Thompson’s seasons in Vegas. Over three years he accumulated 1.6 goals saved better than expected, using Natural Stat Trick’s reckoning. Is that Thompson’s baseline, and is he destined to return there? When I was going over Lindgren’s year, I was really worried about his save percentage against high-danger shots, lowest among the 61 goalies with at least two games played last season. That stat can sometimes correlate better with future seasons’ all-situation save percentage. That’d be bad in Charlie’s case, but for Thompson, who ranked 14th, it feels a little closer to right.
It’d be unfair to expect another Vezina-level performance from LT. I mean, I’ll take it if he’s got one, but if he’s at least up for a top-15 showing, then I think we’re seeing the start of a new goalie institution in DC.
LT on RMNB
- Not great. Didn’t last long.
- His Flaming Skulls and Screaming Eagle mask whips though.
- The Nic Cage mask too.
- From early on, the plan was to split starts.
- Carbery on the split: “If they’re both playing well, they’re both going to play.”
- Snubbed by Protas.
- Snubbed by Team Canada, despite early buzz. We might know why it happened.
- The first Caps goaltender ever to win his first seven games.
- In November, he was the first goalie to play two starts in a row.
- The ig pfp mystery.
Logan Thompson steals game for Capitals in 5-2 win over Toronto Maple Leafs: ‘This guy was unreal’
Logan Thompson named NHL’s First Star of the Week after notching back-to-back shutouts
- By which point he was starting a lot of games.
- He got an assist against the Oilers. Somehow.
Logan Thompson signs six-year, $35.1 million contract extension with Capitals
- Logan Thompson on six-year contract extension: ‘Couldn’t be more happy that I ended up with this organization’.
- On his new approach to playing: “I think I’m just having a lot of fun and not thinking and just going out there and playing. It’s kind of been my new mindset this year, and it’s just been a lot of fun and I’m enjoying every minute of it.”
- On the org: “It’s just credit to management and the coaching staff and, also the leaders that we have in this dressing room. They did a tremendous job just accepting us and welcoming us and just I think that’s why we thrived. We’re all really happy and we just love playing for each other.”
- Until a late-season stumble, he was chasing Connor Hellebuyck for the Vezina Trophy.
- By the middle of March, Thompson was the established starting goalie.
- JK, he got hurt. Upper-body injury. Missed the rest of the rego szn.
- He returned miraculously for the Habs series.
- And he was good.
- There was an injury scare, it was Strome’s fault, but he was fine. Just a very mild traumatic brain injury.
- Snubbed by Georges Vezina.
- He got the game puck when the Caps eliminated the Habs.
Your Turn
Thompson for Vezina in 2026: what are the chances?
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