While the Washington Capitals top goalie job certainly isn’t set in stone, it seems like the smart money is on Semyon Varlamov as the “1a” in the rotation. At least to start the season.
#Caps goalie Semyon Varlamov is expected to be back and playing next week.
It’s an interesting goalie situation in Washington, as Neuvirth recently signed a two-year, $2.3 million extension this off-season while Varlamov enters the final year of his entry-level deal with plenty of monetary incentive to have a knock-out 2010-11 season. Varlamov and electric winger Alex Semin are the only “major” players in D.C. whose contract situations aren’t settled, so the team’s success (or lack thereof) should make an enormous impact on both players’ bargaining power.
Both need to be healthy, though, something that neither have been able to count on in their young careers.