“I’ve never been traded before, in juniors or pro,” he said after greeting fans for an hour. “A lot of emotions still running through me. It’s going to take a couple days to process. The only thing I’ve ever known in the NHL is the Golden Knights, so it’s going to be different. … It is cool to come and just sign some stuff and say hi to people — and bye.”
The Capitals traded the No. 83 pick in the draft — a third-round selection — and a 2025 third-rounder to Vegas to acquire Thompson, a 27-year-old who began his professional career in Washington’s organization five years ago. Coming out of the Canadian college system, Thompson played his first pro season in 2019-20 for the South Carolina Stingrays, the Capitals’ ECHL affiliate.
Five years later, Thompson is back with Washington. After trading Darcy Kuemper to the Los Angeles Kings this month, the Capitals sought an experienced netminder to pair with Charlie Lindgren, the 30-year-old who will enter the 2024-25 season as the expected starter. General Manager Brian MacLellan said Wednesday that he expects Hunter Shepard and Clay Stevenson to play NHL games this year, but it was clear that Washington needed another goalie to fill out its depth chart.
“It was an opportunity to get a good goalie with some upside,” MacLellan said Saturday. “We had to add. We’re going to have to have four goalies; we only had three after the trade. We look at it as a potential guy that’s going to improve and see what happens in the future with him.”
Thompson posted a 2.70 goals against average and a .908 save percentage this past season. His salary cap hit for 2024-25 is just $766,667, while Lindgren’s is $1.1 million, giving Washington its goaltending tandem at a total cap hit of less than $2 million. Both are entering the final year of their contracts, and both could become unrestricted free agents.
Minutes before the second round of the draft began, the Capitals traded forward Beck Malenstyn to Buffalo for the Sabres’ 2024 second-round pick, the No. 43 selection. Washington used that pick to draft Cole Hutson from the U.S. national team development program; Hutson set a program record for points by a defenseman with 119 in his two seasons.
Malenstyn, a pending restricted free agent, is due a significant raise over his $762,500 salary cap hit, and the Capitals believe they have internal candidates to fill his role on the fourth line. Defense is the weakest area of Washington’s pipeline, and adding Hutson gives that group a boost.
“We didn’t want to move Beck,” MacLellan said. “We like what he’s done. We drafted him. He’s been a big part of our organization’s success in Hershey, had a good year last year. I just think the opportunity for that pick, that we could use it to hopefully get a D — and we ended up getting a D — that was our hope in making that play.”
That continued with the selection of defenseman Leon Muggli from the top league in Switzerland nine picks later. Hutson is an offensive standout, the kind of player the Capitals see quarterbacking the power play one day, and Muggli sees himself as more of a two-way player with a focus on defense.
Washington rounded out its draft with forward Ilya Protas — the younger brother of Aliaksei Protas — at No. 75, forward Eriks Mateiko at No. 90, goaltender Nicholas Kempf at No. 114, forward Petr Sikora at No. 178 and forward Miroslav Satan, the son of the former NHLer of the same name, at No. 212. The Capitals took winger Terik Parascak with the No. 17 pick in Friday’s first round.
To draft the younger Protas, Washington traded up seven slots; the New Jersey Devils had held pick No. 75. Sitting in the stands with Ilya, Aliaksei felt some déjà vu when he heard the trade announcement. In 2019, the Capitals traded up — in the third round, in a deal with New Jersey — to draft him.
“It’s a special moment,” Ilya said. “Special day for me, for my family. I don’t have the words to explain. I’m just happy to be in the organization. … I just wanted to be in the same organization with my brother, you know?”
Added Aliaksei: “I hoped. For sure, I hoped. It’s nice to be drafted by any team, but for sure you wanted to be together. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”
