The Washington Capitals knew they were taking a risk when they waived goaltender Clay Stevenson in their final-round training camp cuts. On Monday, that risk became reality when the Winnipeg Jets claimed him for their NHL roster.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery addressed the loss of the club’s third-string netminder after Wednesday’s practice and admitted that he feels “conflicted” about the situation.
“I’m obviously very happy for Clay because he gets an opportunity,” Carbery said. “Now, you never know what happens, but he’s going to be on, for all intents and purposes, an NHL roster for at least 30 days unless Winnipeg decides to waive him. But he’s earned that opportunity to play in the NHL, so I’m happy for him.
“He’s worked extremely hard inside of our organization; he’s played well in Hershey; he showed at the end of last year that he’s right there, and losing him on waivers – those are difficult decisions. It’s hard. There’s no perfect science to whether you know someone’s going to get claimed or keeping someone.”
The Dartmouth product jumped on the ice for the Jets on Wednesday and already had a new mask painted.
Clay Stevenson practices with Jets for first time (via @KMooreCJOB/X)
“It means the world just to have this opportunity and be able to showcase myself at this level a little bit more,” Stevenson said after the skate. “And coming up to Canada means a lot, back in God’s country. I’m from Alberta, and it’s a blessing to be here, that’s for sure.”
Stevenson, 27, had spent his entire professional career in the Capitals organization after signing with Washington as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He eventually became the number-one goalie with the AHL’s Hershey Bears and appeared to be pushing for more NHL opportunity after a strong finish to last season.
As Hershey’s starter in 2025-26, Stevenson went 18-13-3 with a 2.62 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage. He also played four games for the Capitals, going 3-1-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.
While Stevenson’s play in his brief top-level appearances for the Capitals was encouraging, the club ultimately decided that Charlie Lindgren’s backup role and relationship with starter Logan Thompson were too valuable to lose, even as Lindgren’s play has declined.
In 60 games since the beginning of the 2024-25 campaign, Lindgren is just 29-22-6 with a 3.01 goals-against average, a .890 save percentage, and two shutouts. According to MoneyPuck, he has also allowed 6.3 more goals than expected in those games.
“What we did as an organization, Chuckie has been here,” Carbery said. “He’s had success. Was last year an off year for him? No doubt. Do we need him to be better this year? Absolutely. Do we believe he can be? Yes, we do.
“And we have confidence that the goaltender that I’ve seen, our organization, our fans have seen, if you remember two years ago when I first got here, he outplayed Darcy Kuemper and essentially took the starter’s net and ran with it and was arguably the reason why we got into the playoffs on the last day of the season. So we’re confident that Charlie Lindgren, that version, is still there.”
The Capitals will get an early glimpse of how Lindgren looks this season as they open their schedule with a road back-to-back against the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning. With Thompson likely slated to start against the defending champions, Lindgren could end up in net against the Lightning at Benchmark International Arena on Saturday.
