Photo: The Seattle Times
The Seattle Kraken placed 2018 Stanley Cup Champion goaltender Philipp Grubauer on waivers on Wednesday. The 33-year-old has three seasons left on a contract that carries a $5.9 million cap hit.
After allowing five goals on 22 shots (.773) in a 5-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, Grubauer has a 5-15-1 record with career-worsts in save percentage (.866) and goals-against average (3.83) in 21 games this season. His -21.21 goals-saved above average at five-on-five is the worst in the NHL.
Grubauer, who will report to the AHL’s Coachella Valley Thunderbirds if he clears (which is likely), has posted an .890 save percentage and a 3.10 goals-against average in 151 games since finishing third in Vezina Trophy voting with the Colorado Avalanche and joining in Seattle as an unrestricted free agent in July 2021. He lost the Kraken’s starting goaltending job to Joey Daccord last season.
Grubauer went 15-10-3 with a 2.35 goals against average, a .923 save percentage, and three shutouts to grab the starting goalie job in Washington in 2017-18. The 26-year old German netminder was arguably the NHL’s best goaltender from Thanksgiving to the end of the regular season, posting a save percentage of .937 and a goals-against-average of 1.93. Grubauer, who was drafted by the Capitals in the fourth round in 2010, went 15-5-2 in that span and won over the starting job from Braden Holtby after he went through a 1-5-2 stretch. He posted a 43-31-11 record in 101 career games with the Capitals with a 2.29 goals against average and a .923 save percentage.
The Capitals drafted Grubauer 112th overall in the 2010 NHL Draft. He went 43-31-11 with a .923 save percentage, a 2.29 goals-against average, and six shutouts during his six-year tenure in Washington.
The best season of Grubauer’s career came in 2016-17 when he went 13-6-2 with a career-best .926 save percentage, a 2.04 goals-against average, and three shutouts with the Capitals.
The Capitals traded Grubauer, along with left-handed defenseman Brooks Orpik, to the Avalanche for a second-round pick on June 23, 2018, to make salary cap room to sign right-handed defenseman John Carlson.
After playing the first five periods of the Capitals’ Stanley Cup run in 2018, where he allowed eight goals on 49 shots (.837 save percentage), Grubauer was replaced by Holtby and never saw the net for the team again.
In 33 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, Grubauer is 26-17-1 with a .910 save percentage, 2.65 goals-against average, and two shutouts.
By Harrison Brown
