Charlie Lindgren has waited a long time for this opportunity. He can claim the starting goalie job for the Washington Capitals for this upcoming 2024-25 season. Lindgren had to be patient along the way. He was with two other NHL clubs, where the chance to become the number-one netminder did not play out for him. He came to D.C. back in the 2022 offseason as a free agent. Lindgren did his best as the backup for then-starting Capitals goalie Darcy Kuemper.
Then, Lindgren proved what he could do in the crease for Washington. Kuemper lost the starting job to Lindgren, and former general manager Brian MacLellan traded him away to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for forward Pierre-Luc Dubois. Now, heading into the 2024-25 season, Lindgren has the opportunity to claim the starting goalie role. He could grab that spot, new goalie Logan Thompson could grab it, or head coach Spencer Carbery will decide to rotate both in a 1A/1B situation. It will not be long before Capitals fans know what the franchise will do between the pipes.
Charlie Lindgren’s NHL Beginning
The Montreal Canadiens signed Charlie Lindgren as an undrafted free agent in March 2016. He had spent his time before this developing in both the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Sioux Falls Stampede, and in college hockey with St. Cloud State. He played in one game for the Canadiens in 2015-16 and won the game. 2016-17 saw Lindgren play in two games and win both of those as well. He played for Montreal for three more seasons as a depth goalie for the club. During that time, he posted the following stats:
- 2017-18: 4-8-2, 3.03 goals against average (GAA), .908 save percentage (SV%), and two shutouts in 14 games played
- 2018-19: 1-0-0, 4.62 GAA, and .898 SV% in one game played
- 2019-20: 2-4-0, 3.33 GAA, and .888 SV% in six games played
The most games he ever suited up for them occurred in 2017-18. He was one of four netminders to defend the Canadiens’ crease that year. The others were Carey Price, Antti Niemi, and Al Montoya.
The next time Lindgren played in the NHL after the 2019-20 campaign was in 2021-22 with the St. Louis Blues. He signed with the Blues as a free agent on July 29, 2021. In his lone season in St. Louis, he played in five games. He was one of five goalies who suited up for the Blues that year. The others were Jordan Binnington, Ville Husso, Joel Hofer, and Jon Gillies. Lindgren posted a 5-0 record with a 1.22 GAA and a .958 SV%.
Charlie Lindgren Breaking Out with the Capitals
Becoming a free agent once again in the 2022 offseason, Charlie Lindgren received his next opportunity with the Washington Capitals. Then-general manager Brian MacLellan signed him to a three-year contract worth $3.3 million. He was brought in to be the full-time backup to new starting Washington goalie Darcy Kuemper, who was fresh off winning a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche. The Capitals gave Kuemper a five-year, $26.25 million deal. He was dubbed as the future face of the crease for Washington for years to come. At least, that was the plan at the time.
In his first campaign in D.C., Lindgren suited up for 31 games. In that span, he posted a record of 13-11-3. He had a 3.05 GAA and an .899 SV%. It was not until the following season in 2023-24 that Lindgren finally broke out and showed the Capitals’ faithful what he could do. Kuemper ended up losing the starting role to Lindgren during last season. Lindgren played in 50 games, and finished the regular season with a 25-16-7 record. He posted a 2.67 GAA, a .911 SV%, and had six shutouts. The Capitals made the 2024 playoffs, and Carbery went with Lindgren as the postseason goalie.
The Capitals were swept by the New York Rangers in their postseason series and Lindgren went 0-4. However, Lindgren had shown enough to the club’s management that Kuemper was dealt to L.A. for Dubois. As a result, Lindgren was penciled in as one of the goalies fighting for the starting gig in 2024-25. While Kuemper may be gone though, someone else was brought in to make things a little more interesting for the starting goalie job.
Goalie Competition in D.C. for the 2024-25 Season
Lindgren will have to continue to show that he should be the go-to netminder for Carbery. MacLellan acquired Logan Thompson from the Vegas Golden Knights over the offseason to compete for a role on the roster too. Thompson made a bit of a name for himself as an undrafted free agent with the Golden Knights. In 103 games for Vegas between the 2020-21 and 2023-24 campaigns, he had a 56-32-11 record with a GAA of 2.67, a SV% of .912, and four shutouts. He will certainly push Lindgren for that starting job.
Training camp and preseason will probably help shape how the Capitals play out the goalie situation. As previously mentioned, there is a chance Carbery just rolls with a rotation of both goalies in a 1A/1B-type role.
Maybe someone wins the starting gig though. Lindgren definitely has a good chance to claim that position. If he can build on the success he had in 2023-24, it will be hard for Washington to justify anything other than Lindgren being the guy for most of the crease time. It will be intriguing to see what happens in net. Either way, Lindgren earned his way into this conversation. He came a long way from being an undrafted free agent signing for Montreal in 2016. He kept improving and MacLellan saw the potential he had. Now, he can try to solidify himself as Washington’s starting goalie in 2024-25. The organization and fanbase will see if he takes advantage of the opportunity ahead.
