The Washington Capitals face several difficult decisions in the coming days. What to do with Clay Stevenson, the team’s de facto third goaltender, will be one of the chief questions for the team’s brass, especially after rumors emerged last week that multiple NHL teams are circling him in expectation that the Capitals will place him on waivers.
Hockey insider Elliotte Friedman elaborated on Stevenson’s situation during the latest episode of the “32 Thoughts” podcast and mentioned some specific teams that may have interest in him.
“I think this week is going to be one of the more interesting weeks on the waiver wire to see which goalies get there and when,” Friedman said. “There’s at least two goalies who may go on waivers this week that I’m really curious to see: do they pass through, do they get traded beforehand, do their teams try to keep three goalies? And those goalies are Michael DiPietro and Clay Stevenson.”
This season will mark the first time Stevenson is eligible for waivers. After signing his first contract at age 23, he was waivers-exempt for his first three seasons before his status expired this summer.
The 26-year-old netminder is set to be the Hershey Bears’ starter in the AHL this season after Hunter Shepard departed the Capitals’ organization for the Ottawa Senators this past summer. Stevenson signed his current contract with the Capitals, a three-year, $2.33 million deal, in December of 2023.
Friedman pointed to the New York Rangers as a possible suitor should the Capitals waive Stevenson.
“Of course, the Capitals have Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren, who were excellent for them last year, but Clay Stevenson is a really interesting player,” Friedman said. “Last year, his minors salary was two ways; the next two years, it’s $775k, and I bet you the Capitals are kinda hoping that maybe that may scare some teams off, but I’m not convinced it will. I’ll say this: when Clay Stevenson signed with Washington out of college, another team that really liked him was the Rangers. The Rangers were disappointed that he didn’t sign there.
“So, I think Washington knows that it’s going to be hard to sneak him through. I could see the Bruins and the Capitals, in particular, being a little nervous about these two guys and trying to figure out how do we protect them, do we do something, are we going to carry three , or are we just going to be resigned to the fact that we have to take our chances? DiPietro and Stevenson, I have no doubt teams are going to be looking hard at those two guys.”
Outside of the Rangers, Friedman also mentioned the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers as teams that could consider adding to their goaltending stable. The Maple Leafs saw goalie Joseph Woll depart their training camp last week on an indefinite leave of absence for a personal family matter, with no timeline for return. They then signed veteran James Reimer, who played the first six seasons of his NHL career in Toronto, to a tryout contract.
The Oilers have long been rumored to want a shakeup in net. The club has experienced multiple years of uncertainty with goaltenders Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard, ultimately losing back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances against the Florida Panthers.
Stevenson made his NHL debut in the Capitals’ final 2024-25 regular-season game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, impressing head coach Spencer Carbery despite taking a 5-2 loss. During the regular season for the Bears, Stevenson had an 18-8-4 record along with a 2.94 goals-against average, an .888 save percentage, and two shutouts in 33 appearances.
The Capitals had hoped to finally give Stevenson the reins in Hershey this season after he spent two years as a backup, despite becoming an AHL All-Star in 2024.
“Clay needs a chance here,” Capitals GM Chris Patrick said in July. “He’s kinda been behind Shep (Hunter Shepard) for most of his pro career, so he needs a chance to really be the guy and show that he can do it and carry the heavy workload. So I think he’s in the right spot in his development plan for that.”
As Friedman indicates, the Capitals have three likely courses of action that they could take with Stevenson. The first, keeping three goalies on their roster to start the year, would further complicate already crowded competitions for forward and defense spots. Doing so would also merely delay the inevitable, as it’s unlikely they’d want to maintain that roster configuration for the entire season.
Patrick could try to trade Stevenson and recoup any possible value, but that would also leave the team with no clear third goalie in the organization and no experienced AHL option for the Bears. Any trade return will also likely be dampened by teams knowing that the Capitals don’t hold a ton of leverage over negotiations.
The final option is just to hope and pray that Stevenson’s one-way contract will be enough to stave off a claim from any of the NHL’s other teams. Should another team claim Stevenson and then opt to waive him again, the Capitals could also have a chance to re-acquire him. If the Capitals were the only team to make a claim in that scenario, they would then be able to send him straight to the AHL without forcing him through waivers again, as they did in 2023 with Matthew Phillips.
