The Washington Capitals have traded goaltender Vitek Vanecek for a pair of second-day draft picks.
Ahead of rounds two through seven on Friday, the Caps announced that they'd traded Vanecek and the 46th overall selection (originally from Winnipeg) to the New Jersey Devils, in exchange for a second-round pick (37th overall) and a third-round pick (70th overall).
Vanecek, 26, went 41-22-10 with a 2.68 goals against average and .908 save percentage in 79 career games with Washington.
The Capitals used the 37th pick to select 18-year-old Ryan Chesley, an American defenseman from the University of Minnesota, and the 70th pick to select 18-year-old Alexander Suzdalev, a Swedish-Russian left winger who shoots left-handed.
An interesting tidbit, Chesley is the first player the Capitals have selected from the U.S. Hockey National Team Development Program (US NTDP) since Shane Gersich (Hershey Bears), a fifth-round pick in 2014. Vanecek was a second-round selection (39th overall) for the Capitals that year.
The Devils selected defenseman Simon Nemec with the No. 2 overall pick on Thursday night, and in addition to the newly-acquired No. 46 pick, they will have six other picks remaining in the Draft: three fourth-rounders (Nos. 102, 110, and 126) and one each in the fifth (No. 141 overall), sixth (No. 166 overall), and seventh (No. 198 overall) rounds.
Adding Vanecek also solidifies a Devils goaltending situation that was best described last season as chaotic. Seven different netminders made multiple starts last season, as both Jonathan Bernier (hip surgery) and Mackenzie Blackwood (foot injury) missed large chunks of the season, and 2020 draft pick Nico Daws tied Blackwood for the most appearances with 25.
Vanecek is an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent, but is expected to sign a longer-term deal with the Devils.
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