The Washington Capitals announced on Thursday that they had re-signed 25 year-old German goaltender Philipp Grubauer to a one-year, $1.5 million deal that will ostensibly keep the backup goalie in Washington for another season.
The move is a good one in terms of pure hockey sense. Along with 2015-2016 Vezina Trophy winner Braden Holtby, Grubauer helped the Washington Capitals win the 2016-2017 William Jennings Trophy as the best goaltending tandem (in terms of goals against) in the NHL.
In 24 appearances (a significant amount for a non-starter), Grubauer was nothing short of astronomically stellar. In fact, he out-performed Vezina runner-up Holtby in save percentage (.