Capitals general manager George McPhee said from the start he would not have felt comfortable entering the 2010-11 season with just one promising young goaltender. Too much can go wrong as a player transitions to a full-time role in the NHL to pin the whole season on a 22-year-old’s shoulders.
McPhee’s club had a different sort of problem, though: Two 22-year-old prospects who each had shown flashes of becoming fine NHL players. Semyon Varlamov had already been the primary goalie in three Stanley Cup playoff series. Michal Neuvirth, despite almost no national profile, had played in 22 NHL games, started 19 of them and led the AHL’s Hershey Bears to back-to-back Calder Cups.
No veteran mentor needed here, apparently. Washington decided to let Jose Theodore leave as a free agent over the summer and allow their young goalies to fight for the No. 1 job. Varlamov’s injury woes – nothing new early in his career – gave Neuvirth the chance to grab the early lead. On Tuesday he was named the NHL’s rookie of the month for October and took an early lead in the race for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the league’s best rookie.
Neuvirth was 7-3 with a 2.15 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage. He also posted a shutout on the road against the Carolina Hurricanes last week. Neuvirth became the second-youngest goalie to start on Opening Night for the Caps. Only Jim Carey was younger when he began the 1996-97 season. Neuvirth shares the NHL lead with seven wins and enters Tuesday ranked eighth in save percentage and goals-against average. Among others, he beat out fellow Caps rookie John Carlson (one goal, five assists) for rookie-of-the-month honors.
Not bad for a kid chosen in the second round, 34th overall. This is exactly what McPhee and his staff were hoping for when they chose Neuvirth, a native of the Czech Republic, 11 picks after they nabbed Varlamov in the first round of the 2006 NHL draft. That’s not exactly a common draft strategy. But it’s worked out. Now they just need to get Varlamov healthy and see where this competition goes.
Follow me on Twitter @bmcnally14
