Lindgren Officially In D.C., Joins Capitals Informal Skates With New Mask

ARLINGTON, V.A. — The Washington Capitals are seeing one of their new goaltenders take the ice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex, as Charlie Lindgren joined the group on Thursday.

While Garnet Hathaway, Nic Dowd and more took part in skating work with coach Wendy Marco, Lindgren was working at the other end of the ice. He was in high spirits as he mingled with his new teammates.

Lindgren also debuted his new red, white and blue D.C. mask. He also had a red, white and blue blocker, though he is still in St. Louis Blues pad and switched back to his blue and yellow blocker for the second half of practice.

The 28-year-old signed a three-year, $3.3 million deal with the Capitals to open free agency. He will form the team’s new tandem with Darcy Kuemper as they move on from Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek. He is coming off a standout 2021-22 campaign that saw him go 5-0-0 with a .958 save percentage and 1.22 GAA with the Blues while also dominating with a .925 SV% — good for second in the AHL — with the Springfield Thunderbirds.

“We liked his performance last year. I know it wasn’t a lot of games, but we think there is some upside there in goalie, so we gave them the three-year term because it was competitive for him,” MacLellan said, adding, “He had a good performance last year, but limited games. We think he can continue to play well.”

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“A really great person, a great team guy, has had some good numbers as well,” Laviolette noted of No. 35. “Definitely a new look in net for us. And we’re really excited about it,” head coach Peter Laviolette said of the netminder.

Though he has just 29 NHL games under his belt, Lindgren has established himself as a beloved locker room presence. That reputation has stuck and caught the eye of his goaltending partner in Kuemper.

“I’ve heard he’s an awesome guy, great in the locker room, everybody loves him,” Kuemper said. “Super excited to get to know him and kind of start our partnership there.”