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A year ago he was a third goalkeeper. Then a backup. Then a starter in the playoffs. Now, Vitek Vanecek is one of the Caps’ most valuable players at the start of the season. And he does so with the lowest salary on the active list, at $ 716,667 per year.
Every goalkeeper has a hiccup during a series of outstanding performances. Vanecek had his yesterday against the Flames, but there is no cause for concern.
“It’s not like you can blame him on any of the goals,” the head coach said Pierre Laviolette, like the objectives Vanecek cleared was on a deflected rebound, breakaway and shot with two bodies protecting him.
Before the Flames game, the 25-year-old Czech goaltender was 2-0-1 with the overtime loss to defending Stanley Cup champions the Lightning. Even more impressive, he had posted an average of 1.30, a save percentage of .946 and registered 6.4 more goals than expected before last night. All these numbers, top 10 in the league.
Caps goaltender coach Scott Murray praised the second-year goaltender’s start to the season earlier this week, saying, “His game on the ice is consistent, and he’s a constant human being … and it was nice.
Star defenders John carlson admitted the team were giving up quality chances, but Vanecek has “held up big and played really well†since opening night against Rangers.
To start the season, we didn’t know whether Vanecek or Ilya Samsonov would get the starting job. At this point, Vanecek has shown he clearly deserves the green light almost every night.
Even though Vanecek makes the least money of any player in the active roster, he just might be the most valuable player on the ice every night.
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