Pheonix Copley Will Likely Back Up Braden Holtby
(via Cory Lyons)
Pheonix Copley, 26, will likely be the Capitals backup goalie next season now that Philipp Grubauer, who had been the Caps backup for the past three years, was traded to the Colorado Avalanche. Copley’s contract for next season carries a $650,000 cap hit, and is a one-way contract.
Copley, who was signed as a free agent by the Caps, was a key piece of the trade that brought T.J. Oshie to Washington. Copley was then re-acquired by the Caps in the Kevin Shattenkirk trade.
The North Pole, Alaska native has only one NHL game under his belt, but his AHL numbers show he is ready for the next step. Last season on a depleted Hershey team Copley went 15-17-4 with a 2.91 GAA and a .896 save percentage. In 2016-17 Copley almost single handedly put Hershey in the playoffs going 11-5-0 with a 2.15 GAA and a .931 save percentage.
As far as what this means for Hershey, the Caps have singed goalie prospect Ilya Samsonov to a three-year contract and he is expected to be in Hershey along with Vitek Vanecek.
MacLellan says he expects to start Samsonov in Hershey next season.
— JJ Regan (@JJRegan41) June 13, 2018
Just as it's important for the Caps to stock the Bears, it's important for the Bears to stock the @SCStingrays. Plan likely sees Milner providing depth for the Bears while being the go-to-guy in Charleston. Samsonov/Vanecek likely tandem in Hershey next year. https://t.co/W6NuTOIBxj
— Zack Fisch (@zackfisch) June 6, 2018