Photo: Providence Bruins
Let’s face it, we love Charlie Lindgren, but he has struggled this season (.898 sv%, 3.05 GAA). In fact, I don’t think anyone would be completely shocked if the Washington Capitals take a look at other potential options for the backup role this summer. It can’t hurt to look.
Enter Hunter Shepard, who currently leads the American Hockey League (AHL) in goals against average (2.05) and is third in the AHL in save percentage (.920). He’s been at the top of the leaderboard in both categories all season. He certainly seems to be a candidate for consideration in Washington, right? Not so fast.
The Capitals recalled Shepard on December 5 after Darcy Kuemper pulled himself out of a game against Calgary on December 3. Shepard headed west and met the team in Edmonton, but as fate would have it, saw no ice time in the Oilers game. In fact, he saw no ice time for the entire two weeks he was with the Capitals before he was returned to Hershey on December 19. His NHL debut would have to wait. But what are we waiting for?
Shepard’s December callup and the inability to get a game is understandable. The Capitals were still in the postseason hunt, and trying to do what they can to win games. But the fact Shepard hasn’t got another look, in an actual game, is where things go of the rails for me.
It’s one of the many head-scratchers for me this season. A player primed for a look at the next level, only to be denied. I can only surmise that the Capitals saw something they didn’t like in the two weeks Shepard spent with the team in early December. That’s a huge leap in assumptions to make, a leap that makes me very uncomfortable, but what else could it be?
Like I said, I’m trying to make sense of it.
By Jon Sorensen