The Washington Capitals have re-signed 25-year old German goaltender Philipp Grubauer to a one-year deal worth $1.5 million. Grubauer has secured the back-up spot in Washington behind former Vezina Trophy-winning Braden Holtby.
#Caps re-sign goalie Philipp Grubauer to $1.5 million, 1-year deal.
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) July 6, 2017
Washington Capitals Re-Sign Philipp Grubauer
Grubauer has played in 65 games up this point in his NHL career, with 22 coming in 2015-16 and another 23 coming in 2016-17. Grubauer has impressed with his play when backing up Holtby. It was because of his high developmental ceiling and solid play that many thought the Vegas Golden Knights would take him in the expansion draft. They chose to go with Calvin Pickard instead.
In his first season as the full time back-up with the Capitals in 2015-16, Grubauer showed that he had serious upside. In 22 games backing up Holtby he had a record of 8-9-1, a 2.32 goals-against-average, and a .918 save percentage.
In his second season as the full time back-up, last season, he made even more strides in his development. Grubauer appeared in 23 games for the Capitals, going 13-6-2, having a 2.05 goals-against-average, and a .926 save percentage.
While the individual season numbers are a small sample size, the 65 career games is a good barometer of what Grubauer is capable of. In 65 career games in the NHL he has a 28-21-8 record, a 2.26 goals-against-average, and a .923 save percentage. All numbers that you would come to expect of a goalie capable of starting in the NHL for many teams.
Grubauer also played in the AHL, experiencing a decent amount of success with the Capitals AHL-affiliate, the Hershey Bears. In his first season with Hershey he played in 28 games, going 15-9-2 overall with a 2.25 goals-against-average and a .919 saver percentage.
While his save percentage took a slight dip the following season, he still had a solid season. Grubauer played in 28 games for Hershey in 2013-14 going 13-13-2 with a save percentage of .916 and a 2.60 goals-against-average.
Grubauer’s final full season in the AHL, in 2014-15, he played in 49 games. In these 49 games he had a 27-17-5 record, a 2.30 goals-against-average, and a .921 save percentage. This was plenty enough to seem him called up to the NHL, and he hasn’t looked back since.
Philipp Grubauer’s last contract was a two-year, $1.5 million contract he signed with the Capitals before the 2015-16 season.
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