Photo: Dartmouth Athletics
As we first reported last week, the Washington Capitals officially announced on Monday the signing of Dartmouth College goaltender Clay Stevenson. He inked a two-year entry-level deal for $855,000 average annual value.
Stevenson, 23, had an excellent second season this year with the Green Wave, posting a .922 save percentage and a 2.70 goals against average on an otherwise underwhelming Dartmouth team.
Congratulations to Clay Stevenson on signing his first professional contract with the @Capitals!
📰: https://t.co/cZvAgdzrQe pic.twitter.com/pBX78wnFMg
— Dartmouth Men’s Hockey (@Dartmouth_MIH) March 28, 2022
Stevenson’s NHL deal starts next season, but he could potentially join Bears on an amateur tryout agreement (ATO) before AHL season ends.
For more background on the signing of Stevenson, please check out our initial report.
FROM THE CAPITALS
The Washington Capitals have signed goaltender Clay Stevenson to a two-year entry-level contract beginning next season, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today. Stevenson’s contract will carry an average annual value of $855,000.
Stevenson, 23, posted a record of 6-14-2, with two shutouts, a 2.70 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage in his sophomore season at Dartmouth College of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). The 6’4″, 195-pound goaltender posted a save percentage above .900 in all 23 games this season and his .922 save percentage was tied for second in the ECAC. The Chilliwack, British Columbia, native was named to the ECAC All-Rookie Team and the ECAC Third All-Star Team. Stevenson did not play for Dartmouth during his freshman season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to joining Dartmouth College, Stevenson played in three seasons with the Coquitlam Express in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). In his third and final season in 2019-20 with Coquitlam, Stevenson finished with a 30-2-2 record with four shutouts, a 1.77 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage and led the team to the Ron Boileau Memorial Trophy, presented to the BCHL’s regular season champion. Stevenson was named a BCHL First Team All-Star, was honored as the BCHL’s Top Goaltender after finishing with the BCHL’s top goals-against average and top save percentage and was given the Wally Forslund Trophy, presented to the BCHL’s top goaltending duo.
In 85 games with Coquitlam, Stevenson finished with a 48-29-3 record with six shutouts, a 2.82 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage.
Love it. More depth. Will be very interesting to see what the Caps do next year regarding goalies. I can think of way worse situations than having an incredibly athletic young goalie (Samsonov) as your back up and let him and VV continue to battle. But could also see them making VV the 1 and a commitment to him and trade Sami when they can still get something for him. Elevating Fucale to DC and let Stephenson start developing further.
Yep. With Mitchell Gibson confirming he will finish his degree at Harvard, this fills a small gap in the chain of prospects.
It’s interesting that they went after this kid vs. Dryden McKay. Stevenson is a big guy, fitting the modern preferences, while McKay is <6' tall, but seems to stop everything shot toward his net. Of course he's got a great team in front of him, vs. Stevenson having a lousy team, but McKay's had a ridiculously high save % every year and tons of shutouts.
Likely that there's more competition for McKay, but if I were the Caps I'd be making him a nice offer as well. Copley is going to be gone after this year, and having a 2nd kid entering the pipeline would allow Samsonov to be shopped more aggressively vs. paid over $2M.
Is McKay still unsigned? Need to research him a bit.
I see McKay is a year older. He’s still involved in the Frozen Four, so that may have something to do with it. I’d imagine he gets signed as soon as Minnesota States run comes to an end.
As both the goalies this year are UFA and signing both may be hard, what is the projected time for Stevenson to be in Wash? This situation reminds me a lot of the Varly and Nuvie and Holtby juggle. Who do you think will be his biggest competition….Clark or Bjorklund?
I’d think Stevenson is at least 2-3 years out. If he gets out to a good start in Hershey, maybe a bit sooner before he’s in the mix in Washington.
Bjorklund had a tough season in Medicine Hat. Bad team, so it’s been a challenge getting a good grasp of his game. He may be a candidate for South Carolina in the fall.
Clark was traded mid season in hopes of getting more playing time with the Lumberjacks. So far, so good. He’s committed to Quinnipiac this fall.
Both goalies are RFA’s, not quite the same as UFA.