We got our goalie - José Théodore. What, not Christobal “Hip Hop” Huet? No, that hip hop is dead in Washington now.  But brighter days, I tend to believe, are ahead in the goaltending department.

Théodore signed for 2 years at $4.5 million per today to become the goaltender par excellence for the rouge and, well mostly rouge, of DC.  Huet blows off to the Windy City for four years at $5.625 million per.  For the latter, that’s more $$ than Mike Green.  More than Semin.  To put it in further perspective, that’s Huet getting paid over 62% of Ovechkin’s annual salary.  (Alright, I’m not sure what that last one tells you.)  

NHLPA photo 

I’m breathing a sigh of relief that we have a quality #1 locked up.

On the conference call this afternoon, McPhee compared the days’s events of letting Huet walk to his free agent workings last July, when he let Dainius Zubrus leave up the Turnpike to Nueva Jersey for 6 years at $3.4 million per, when the dollars and years that Zubrus demanded exceeded his historical value to the team, and signed Viktor Kozlov instead for 2 years at $2.5 million.  And what happened there?  Zubrus totaled 13 / 25 / 38 in 82 regular season games and a single assist in 5 playoff games.  Kozlov tallied 16 / 38 / 54 in 81 regular season games and 0 / 3 / 3 in 7 playoff games. 

Ok, they’re not goaltenders, but the concept fits here.  Théodore provides equivalent value at a more cap-friendly price.  (And that’s a small “c,” by the way.  McPhee was asked this afternoon whether he, if necessary, had permission to spend up to the salary cap.  His answer was in the affirmative.) 

For those upset that Huet isn’t between the pipes for the home team at Verizon this fall, justify your belief that it is more likely that Huet will carry his dominant play from March of last season into this coming season than it is likely that Théodore (12-4-1 with two shutouts, a 2.27 GAA, and a .917 SV% in his final 18 starts) will do, essentially, the same.  They seem exceedingly comparable netminders, and are of similar age as well.     

Career stats give a slight nod to Huet in the ratio numbers, but clearly Theodore has more NHL, and specifically playoff, experience: 

Huet:  83-61-11 with 17 shutouts, a 2.43 GAA, and a .918 SV%, 5-8 in the playoffs.
Théodore:   183-197-40 with 26 shutouts, a 2.65 GAA, and a .909 SV%, 19-26 in the playoffs.

Further on the experience point, Huet has enjoyed one season (the last one) of 20 + victories in the NHL (32).  Théodore?  FIVE.  And two of 30 + wins.

One more thing:  Théodore has won four NHL playoff rounds in his career.  Huet?  Zero.

José said this afternoon that Washington was the #1 option on his list of destinations.

Further, when asked about his post-lockout struggles up until this calendar year: “My confidence now is as good as its ever been.”  We should be pretty confident too.  After all, as our Jack Adams winning coach succinctly put:  “He just has to stop the puck.” 

Just please, though, Caps fans, let’s not start this at Verizon Center.