Rumor: Henrik Lundqvist is being linked to a Stanley Cup contender.

I have to be honest here, when the New York Rangers made the decision to buyout long time goaltender Henrik Lundqvist there was a part of me that thought we had seen Lundqvist play his final game in the National Hockey League. It's not so much that I doubt Lundqvist's ability to perform on the ice, although his recent decline in form is certainly a factor, I just never thought that at this stage of his career he would have a ton of interest in playing for another organization.

It may very well be that Lundqvist still does choose to retire from the NHL in the end, but according to comments made by NHL insider Elliotte Friedman over the weekend it sounds like there is at least one team willing to give King Henrik one last shot at capturing that which has eluded him throughout his career, a Stanley Cup Championship. Friedman made the comments during the weekly Headlines segment on Sportsnet and revealed that he had heard rumblings that the Washington Capitals were interested in the acquisition of Lundqvist.

"Don Meehan, Lundqvist agent, was on Hockey Central this week and he said he is definitely taking time to think about it and pursue it, but I think one of the team's that is interested is Washington," said Friedman during the segment.

I do think that Meehan chose his words carefully here and as I said I do think there is a real chance that Lundqvist could retire here. That being said the opportunity to play with a superstar like Alex Ovechkin has to be appealing to just about every player in the league, even at this stage of his career, and given that the Capitals are a perennial contender it would give Lundqvist a chance to play for a legitimate contender, something he hasn't been able to do over the last few years of his career with the Rangers.

I strongly suspect that if the Capitals do decide to bring in Lundqvist it will be to have him serve as a veteran backup goaltender, however with Braden Holtby potentially leaving as a free agent this season it's not clear who the Capitals intend to have as their number one starter. Given his struggles over the last 2 seasons, I think it would be a big gamble on the part of Washington to put Lundqvist in the starting role.