Sammi’s Daily Mix: Capitals Reunion In Seattle, Lundqvist Hangs Up Skates

Friday proved to be a busy day for current and former Washington Capitals netminders. Henrik Lundqvist announced his retirement, Philipp Grubauer checked out the Seattle Kraken’s new digs and questions still surround the Capitals’ current tandem.

Let’s check out the latest news and notes from across the league.

Capitals Links

• Lundqvist announced his retirement Friday after 15 legendary years with the Rangers and one year under contract with the Capitals (missed 2020-21 due to a heart condition). Here’s more on The King’s decision and the Blueshirts’ plan to retire No. 30. (Washington Hockey Now)
• Speaking of Washington netminders, what can we expect to see from the Capitals tandem of Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek in 2021-22? J.J. Regan and Andrew Gillis debate which goaltender will emerge as the No. 1 this season. (NBC Sports Washington)
• NHL commissioner Gary Bettman spoke about George Parros and the Tom Wilson incident in New York on WFAN Sports Radio on Thursday. Here’s what he had to say about what transpired and how it was handled. (WHN)
• Not long after Campbell Oshie’s first skate at MedStar Capitals Iceplex, Louie Dowd took the ice with his father, Nic, at the team’s practice facility. (Russian Machine Never Breaks)

NHL Links

• Per reports, Lundqvist will require surgery again in the future and also opened up about having his number retired and setbacks as he tried to return for this coming season. Here’s more on what he had to say. (Forever Blueshirts)
• The City of Glendale stunned the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday, taking to Twitter to announce that it will not renew its operating agreement with the Coyotes for their home venue, Gila River Arena. James O’Brien provides more insight on the unfolding situation. (Pro Hockey Talk)
• After shutting down Montreal to win the Stanley Cup with the Bolts last season, David Savard is ready to get to work for the other side. Savard shares more on his quest to win a championship in his native Quebec. (NHL)
• The King isn’t the only one having his number retired. The St. Louis Blues will raise Chris Pronger’s No. 44 to the rafters of Enterprise Center on Jan. 17 prior to their game against the Nashville Predators. (St. Louis Today)

Sammi’s Top Shelf Takes

• Good on the Rangers for immediately committing to retiring No. 30. It’s a great way to honor him and do right by him, especially after everything that happened with the buyout last season. Lundqvist is the team’s all-time leader in save percentage, wins, games played, shots and saves. He’s more than earned his place as the team’s top goalie of all time, in my opinion, and one of the best to play between the pipes in the NHL. Best of luck to him in retirement — and read his amazing letter to his younger self on The Players’ Tribune.
• The IIHF Women’s Worlds start today, and the Czech Republic is putting on a show to start. Canada will play Finland today, and the United States is set to take on Switzerland. Keep track of the action here.
• Two former Capitals reunited in Seattle, with newest Kraken goaltender Grubauer posting a photo of him and with video coach Tim Ohashi in the locker room as part of his Instagram story. Grubauer posted another video apparently showing the team’s training facility/weight room.

Former Caps goaltender Philipp Grubauer and video coach Tim Ohashi reunite in Seattle.

(📸:philippgrubauer31/Instagram) pic.twitter.com/YDo5VwP3o5

— Sammi Silber (@sammisilber) August 20, 2021

• I’m making a couple of bold — and very speific — predictions for the Capitals this coming season. I’m going to predict that Evgeny Kuznetsov has a 62-point season, and that Samsonov finishes in the top-15 in save percentage among all goaltenders.