We conducted our last review and assessment of the Washington Capitals organizational depth at the goaltending position back in November (here) and prior to that, last July (here), so it’s about time for an update. This post will provide a full depth chart for the position and a brief player summary for each goaltender in the Capitals organization, and conclude with a brief one-year forecast for the position.
The Washington Capitals organizational goaltending assessment includes: Darcy Kuemper, Charlie Lindgren, Zach Fucale, Hunter Shepard, Clay Stevenson, Garin Bjorklund, Mitchell Gibson and Chase Clark:
2022-23 GOALTENDING DEPTH CHART
Here is the Capitals current organizational depth chart for the goaltending position: [Click to enlarge]
[Note: It has been reported that Mitchell Gibson has signed with the Capitals and will sign an ATO with the Hershey Bears. However, no official announcement from the Capitals has been made at the time of this writing.]
CAPITALS
Darcy Kuemper – Kuemper has played fairly well this season. He’s had stretches of poor play, like any goaltender, but also stood tall when the players in front of him were giving up a lot of shots and chances. Kuemper is 21-23-05 with a 2.76 GAA and a .911 save percentage for the season. He’s been under siege at times this season, but still maintains a positive goals differential of 3.70, which is above the league average of 1.547.
Charlie Lindgren – Lindgren got off to a hot start and kept the Capitals in the playoff hunt last fall when Kuemper was struggling. However, things have turned south for Lindgren in the last couple of months. He is 13-9-0-3 with a 3.02 GAA and a .898 save percentage for the season. While the defense has let him down this season, Lindgren has been unable to match Kuemper’s positive goals differential.
HERSHEY BEARS
Hunter Shepard – Shepard started the season as the number two netminder in Hershey, but his level of play, particularly in the first half of the season, saw him take over the number one spot before the holidays. Fucale has been getting the number one starts as of late, but if the playoffs began today, there is little doubt Shepard would get the start. Shepard is 17-6-5-1 with a 2.09 GAA and a .918 save percentage for the season. Shepard’s GAA is the best in the AHL. His save percentage is 5th-best in the league.
Zach Fucale – As noted, Fucale started the season as the number one netminder in Herhsey but Shepard took over the spot early in the season. Fucale struggled at times this season, but got the hot hand when Shepard went through a bit of a downturn of his own early in 2023. Fucale is 19-10-4-1 with a 2.58 GAA and a .899 save percentage for the season.
ECHL
Clay Stevenson – Stevenson spent the season with the South Carolina Stingrays and was the number one netminder for decent chunks of the season. Stevenson also played three games with the Bears this season and went 3-0-0 with a 1.96 GAA and a .924 save percentage. Stevenson is 17-11-3-0 with a 2.55 GAA and a .916 save percentage this season with the Stingrays.
Garin Bjorklund – Bjorklund spent time in the Bears training camp before being re-assigned to the South Carolina Stingrays on October 9. Since his arrival in Charleston, not much has happened on Bjorklund’s end, as he has yet to see any game time, as it was reported he was dealing with a back injury. He could be dealing with a minor (unreported) injury.
NCAA
Mitchell Gibson – The Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported on Tuesday that the Capitals had signed Gibson to a one-year deal and that Gibson is also expected to sign an amateur tryout agreement (ATO) with the Hershey Bears, which will allow him to join the team this season. The Capitals have yet to make any formal announcement at the time of this writing. On March 16, ECAC Hockey announced its year-end awards, with Mitchell Gibson, Matthew Coronato, and Alex Laferriere Second Team All-ECAC Hockey honorees, In addition, Gibson was one of nine semifinalists for the Mike Richter Award as the nation’s top goaltender (and one of two on that list from ECAC Hockey).
Chase Clark – Clark began the 2022-23 season dealing with undisclosed “injuries”, but finally made his first appearance mid-fall. He spent most of the season backing up Yanev Pareets, who was outstanding last season, posting a 1.17 goals against average, which broke the NCAA record of NHL All-Star Jimmy Howard (1.19). While Clark’s ice time was extremely limited in his Freshman season, he was backing up and learning from a pretty good goaltender, which has to be considered an overall win for his development.
ONE-YEAR FORECAST
In Washington, barring any drastic changes (trade, injury, etc.) the Capitals are pretty locked-in with Kuemper and possibly Lindgren for next season. That’s not to say a netminder further down the chart won’t be able to challenge Lindgren for the backup role next season, or a change is made at the #2 position via other means.
In Hershey, we will likely see one of the netminders go unsigned this off-season. Right now the edge clearly goes to Shepard. I see Shepard and Stevenson the tandem in chocolate town next season. The wild card last fall was Stevenson, who showed he can play in the AHL this season. Next years will be Gibson, who could also challenge for a spot in chocolate town at some point.
By Jon Sorensen