Capitals kick not one but both goaltenders to the curb!

It can be said that the Washington Capitals were undone this season by their inconsistent goaltending duo of Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek, the latter of whom has already been traded to the New Jersey Devils. 

And now, the Capitals have made the decision to part with the Russian-born Samsonov, who like Vanecek, showed flashes of being starting goalie material but wasn't able to string together enough consistency to justify being brought back. According to Capitals beat writer Tarik El-Bashir, the team is bidding goodbye to Samsonov, a pending restricted free agent. 

According to El-Bashir, the move was "financial". 

"The decision not to qualify Samsonov was a financial decision," he writes on Twitter. "As an RFA (with arbitration rights), the #Caps projected that he'd come in at $3-$3.5 million per, which, in their view, was too much for a backup and not justified based on his performance to date."

Originally selected by the Capitals with the 22nd overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, Samsonov slowly but surely worked his way up the ranks, eventually signing a three-year entry level contract in 2018 following the departure of former backup Phillipp Grubauer to the Colorado Avalanche. 

Despite a positive win-loss record in the regular season for the Capitals (23-12-5 in 2021-22), his postseason record at 1-6 left plenty to be desired. 

It looks as though it will be another NHL rink that will have to be chanting his name in appreciation next season. Following their 6-1 victory in Game 3 of their Round 1 postseason series against the Florida Panthers, the Capitals faithful at Capital One Arena chanted "Sammy! Sammy!", which he admitted nearly had him in tears of joy. 

“It was important, too," he said afterward. "Thank you, team. A lot of blocks today. It's more important we play together, and we got [a] great result."