Simeon Varlamov Establishes Himself as the Caps Starter

Over the past two seasons, goaltending has been a major concern for the Washington Capitals. The Capitals struggled in the playoffs last season, needing seven games to beat a New York Rangers team they were expected to dominate. Jose Theodore was pulled after his first start, yielding to young prospect Simeon Varlamov. After a dazzling playoff performance, Varlamov was pulled during game seven against the Pittsburgh Penguins after allowing five goals. While Varlamov was clearly the future of the program, he still had a long road ahead of him before he could take over the team. Now, after shaking off a rough start, he has really begun to establish himself as a starting goaltender.

Theodore began the season as the number one goalie, but he was expected to split time with Varlamov and other prospect Michal Neuvirth in order to help them develop. Whatever hopes the team had for Neuvirth heading into the season were sidelined when he suffered an early injury. To begin the season Theodore looked very solid and Varlamov struggled. It looked as if the Russian speaking Arturs Irbe as goalie coach and the offseason development of Varlamov had not yielded the results Caps' fans had been hoping for. Now 29 games into the season, Varlamov looks to be the number one man for the Caps with incredible play and very good stats.

The stats really show a marked difference between the two goalies. Theodore has 14 starts, 5 wins, a 3.24 GAA, and a save percentage of .893. Varlamov has 14 starts as well, but he has 10 wins, a 2.38 GAA, and a save percentage of .919. Even with his early season struggles, Varlamov still only has only one regulation loss this season. He doesn't lose. Watching him play, the most important thing he is doing is making glove saves. This has been a major issue for him as he has previously given up bad rebounds off of easy glove saves. He still lets in a few soft goals, but this is something he will continue to improve on as the season continues.

Theodore and Varlamov both have 14 starts at this point, but I look for Varlamov to begin getting a lot more starts. While he does allow soft goals, Theodore has a career of being inconsistent. At this point, playing time is more important for a developing Varlamov who continues to win then it is to develop an already veteran Theodore, especially with Theodore in the last year of his contract. Let's hope Varlamov is ready to take the reins completely as the playoffs begin.