The Washington Capitals announced on Saturday that goaltender Clay Stevenson will be out 4-6 weeks following surgery.
Goaltender Clay Stevenson underwent a successful surgical procedure to address an injury to his right hand. Stevenson is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 1, 2022
The Capitals inked the undrafted free agent to a two-year entry-level deal for $855,000 average annual value on March 28, 2022. His NHL deal starts this season.
Before signing with the Capitals, Stevenson met with both the Capitals and New York Rangers, while also drawing interest from the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken. Stevenson signed an amateur tryout agreement (ATO) to join the Hershey Bears for the end of the season, but did not see any game action.
Stevenson’s frame (6’-4”), his relatively late development and excellent play the last two seasons are extremely encouraging. It will be interesting to see how his first year in the organization shakes out.
Stevenson will likely battle Zach Fucale and Hunter Shepard for one of the two regular spots on the Bears roster to begin the season. If he is unsuccessful in securing one of the two spots, it’s likely he begins the season in South Carolina.
By Jon Sorensen
More on Stevenson:
5 “Other” Prospects To Keep An Eye On As We Enter Preseason Camps
Prospect Forecast: Projecting Where Each Of The Capitals Prospects Will Play This Season
Assessing The Washington Capitals Organizational Depth At Goaltender
Clay Stevenson Debuts New Capitals Bucket
Clay Stevenson: 2022 Annual Review And Forecast
Capitals Current Goaltender Depth Chart And Projected Assignments For 2022-23 Season
Capitals Officially Announce Signing Of Goaltender Clay Stevenson
Yeah, I think it depends on whether Shepherd gets claimed on waivers today but i don’t think he will. Clearly Caps have Fucale higher than Shepherd on depth chart. So Stevenson likely in SC to start the season and see if he can move up since Shepherd and Fucale are both UFA’s at seasons end. I suspect we will only re-sign one of them.
On a separate note, Charlie Sideburns has looked amazing!
With surgery I would think an automatic Rays assignment unless Fucale or Shepard bombs. Of if there is an issue with Kuemper or Lindgren and Zach or Hunter get called up to the Caps opening a spot in Hershey.
Shame we didn’t get to see him. I really wanted to see that helmet. Oh well, might wear it in North Charleston — right colors.