Report: Capitals looking to bring back former goaltender

According to a report from NHL insider Frank Seravalli, the Washington Capitals are in the market for a veteran goaltender to help shore up the position after Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek have both stumbled in recent weeks. The Capitals are obviously a team that can't afford to miss the playoffs and GM Brian MacLellan will be tasked with bringing in a veteran goaltender between now and the NHL's March 21st trade deadline.

Just last week Seravalli reported that Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Marc Andre Fleury is believed to have turned down a trade to the Capitals, and I'm assuming that's just due to years of playing against the Capitals as his arch rival from his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now, it looks like MacLellan and the Caps are continuing to get nostalgic with their trade targets and have moved off of Fleury and on to New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov.

Yep... the same Varlamov who started his NHL career with the Capitals back in 2008.

From Seravalli:

Varlamov, however, could be available if the Islanders fail to gain ground in the Eastern Conference standings, provided he’ll waive his 16-team no-trade clause to return to the team where he began his NHL career. The Capitals, however, only have just over $1.9 million in deadline cap space. They might have to move some salary to accommodate the remainder of Varlamov’s $5 million cap hit for this season or convince Isles GM Lou Lamoriello to retain some salary in the deal.

- Frank Seravalli

The 33 year old Varlamov was traded by the Capitals to the Colorado Avalanche back in 2011 after a couple inconsistent seasons early in his career and after being essentially pushed out of the starter's role by a young Braden Holtby. In Colorado Varlamov bloomed into a legitimate #1 goaltender and has continued that since 2019 when he signed as a free agent with the Islanders. Of course, with the Islanders currently way, way, waaaay out of the playoff picture this season and with a $5 million price tag for next season, Varlamov is featuring in trade rumors prominently. 

Personally, I'd love to see Varly get another shot with the Caps. Obviously, he wasn't around when his former teammates like Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom lifted the Stanley Cup in 2018 and it'd be cool to see Varlamov get one last chance to lift the Cup.