The Washington Capitals’ goaltending duo of Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren will remain together for the next three seasons after The Outlaw put pen to paper on Monday morning.
Lindgren signed a three-year, $9 million contract extension that will keep him in DC through the 2027-28 season.
“Since joining our organization in 2022, Charlie has consistently demonstrated exceptional professionalism and reliability in net with his athleticism and drive,” Capitals GM Chris Patrick said in a statement. “With both goalies under contract for the next three seasons, we expect this tandem to provide our club stability at a crucial position and push one another to compete and play at a high level.”
Lindgren’s deal comes a little over a month after Thompson inked a six year, $35.1 million extension worth $5.85 million per season. Combined, the duo will count $8.85 million against the cap, which is less than some individual starting goaltenders in the league.
Arguably the Team MVP last season, Lindgren set career highs in games played (50), starts (48), wins (35), and shutouts (6) in 2023-24 after earning a bulk of the playing time from entrenched starter Darcy Kuemper. Lindy’s herculean effort helped push the Capitals into an unlikely playoff spot in game 82 of the regular season.
The 31-year-old Lindgren has followed that up by alternating starts with Thompson in 2024-25, posting a 13-10-3 record, 2.70 goals-against average, and an .898 save percentage in 27 appearances. Lindgren has saved -2.2 goals above expected thus far — good for 64th best in the NHL.
A contract for Lindgren has been rumored since January 31 when ESPN’s Kevin Weekes said the Capitals were exploring an extension with the netminder worth as much as $3.5 to $4 million annually. No further developments had surfaced since then.
Patrick expressed his appreciation of the team’s goaltending setup this season during a pre-Trade Deadline day interview, specifically mentioning that it has allowed each goalie to stay rested throughout a grueling schedule. The Capitals sit in first place in the Eastern Conference and lead the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs by 6 standings points.
“Yeah, it’s been huge,” Patrick said. “I think the trick with goaltending in this league is playing someone that can help get you a win and not burning him out so that by game 82 you’ve got a guy that’s had a heavy workload and is going into the playoffs kind of trying to hold his body together. And I think having two really strong goaltenders has given us the ability to, one, win hockey games, and, two, we have two guys that hopefully be really fresh going into the playoffs to help us win games.”
With Lindgren inked, the Capitals, per Puck Pedia, have a projected $23.12 million available to spend with Jakob Chychrun, Andrew Mangiapane, Taylor Raddysh, Lars Eller, Nic Dowd, Jakub Vrana, and Dylan McIlrath all pending unrestricted free agents. The salary cap is set to rise to $95.5 million for the 2025-26 campaign.
