The Washington Capitals re-signed backup goalie Pheonix Copley to a three-year contract extension worth $3.3 million Monday.
Copley was scheduled to hit free agency after this season. He is 10-5-3 in 19 appearances this year with a 2.98 goals against average and .903 save percentage.
Copley, 27, was grateful and excited for the team’s vote of confidence in him.
“My job and my mentality doesn’t really change,” Copley said. “I’m here to try and win games and help the team any way I can. So that doesn’t change for me. I’m just going to keep my foot on the gas.”
Copley stepped up as the Capitals’ backup to Braden Holtby after the team traded Philipp Grubauer last summer. In January general manager Brian MacLellan told reporters he and the team had seen enough to know they’d like to bring Copley back.
Speaking again Monday, MacLellan reiterated how the team remained “comfortable in committing to him.”
“We like the person, we like his work ethic, we like the progress he’s made,” MacLellan said. “He continues to improve, he continues to work at his game and I think the goalie coach really likes him and thinks there is upside still.”
The extension solidifies the Capitals’ goaltending pair for a few years. Holtby will be 30, going on 31 when his contract expires after next season. In the meantime, the organization has a pair of prospects they’re excited about, taking their turn with the AHL Hershey Bears — Vitek Vanecek, 22, who was an AHL All-Star this year, and Ilya Samsonov, 21, a 2015 first-round draft pick.
Copley pinning down a longer-term roster spot for himself could complicate how the minor league goalies progress through the system. Alternatively, Copley could be exposed in the 2021 Seattle expansion draft.
Copley hails from North Pole, Alaska. Originally a Capitals prospect as an undrafted free agent, he was dealt to the St. Louis Blues in the T.J. Oshie trade in 2015 and sent back to Washington in the 2017 Kevin Shattenkirk deal.
Prior to 2018, Copley only had two NHL appearances with the Blues and no major league wins, so his ability not only to fill in for Holtby here and there but to win 10 games early on came as a pleasant surprise to the team.
How did Copley plan to celebrate the new contract?
“Hopefully with some wins,” he said.
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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