Washington Capitals Sign Goalie Justin Peters

The Washington Capitals entered free agency hoping to fulfill two major needs. First and foremost, the team wanted to acquire a veteran goaltender that could support incumbent starter Braden Holtby and would not pose a threat to him. Immediately, this strategy eliminated two of the bigger name goalies on the market in Ryan Miller and Jonas Hiller. Both players still have aspirations of starting in the NHL and could have potentially hurt Holtby’s confidence. Instead, the Caps decided to go in another direction signing former Carolina Hurricane Justin Peters according to Alex Prewitt.

Back in 2004, Peters was a second round selection and has played five seasons with the organization’s top team. Last year, he played in 21 contests for the ‘Canes and recorded seven wins while stopping 91.9% of the shots he faced. The quick signing of Peters allows the Caps to turn their attention to a more pressing need in helping improve the team’s blue line.

The most talked about possible addition has been defenseman Matt Niskanen. Niskanen spent the last four seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins and had a career year in 2013-14 recording 46 points (10 goals, 36 assists). New Assistant Coach Todd Reirden has been linked to Niskanen through much of the preliminary talks due to their time in Pittsburgh together. Still, Niskanen is hoping to sign for in the neighborhood of $5 million a year, which is feasible with Washington’s salary cap space. Washington has made it clear they aim to make a major splash this off-season so make sure to tune in to AllOvertheHill.com for more breaking news.