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Farewell, Vitek Vanecek!

(Photos by Caps Outsider)

After more than a year of folks believing it was inevitable that T.J. Oshie, and later, Evgeny Kuznetsov, would be selected in Seattle’s expansion draft, the Capitals protected those players and dared them instead to take one of their high-priced defensemen. Then the Kraken selected goalie Vitek Vanecek, a player who took the long route through the Caps’ system and finally shined in the NHL while being paid peanuts.

This sucks.

The Capitals are in cap trouble, needing to free up money to pay Alex Ovechkin and maintain a competitive roster that’s aging badly. It’s players like Vanecek who they need to keep, not the $4-$5 million contracts of players who aren’t going above and beyond to advance this team to greener pastures.

All this said, it’s possible that General Manager Brian Maclellan makes the most of this by dealing some of these players instead of losing them for nothing. Plus, the Caps lost Nate Schmidt in the Vegas expansion draft for nothing, then went on to win the Stanley Cup.

All that said, it’s still a shame that the Caps lost Vanecek this way, and we wish him the best of luck.

Ben Sumner

Ben Sumner is the editor of Capitals Outsider. He also works for The Washington Post and contributes there when he gets a scoop.

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