Penguins Acquire Tomas Vokoun, Sign Him to Two-Year Deal

The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that they have acquired goaltender Tomas Vokoun from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a seventh round pick in the 2012 Entry Draft.  Immediately after the trade, the Penguins announced that they had signed the 35-year-old netminder to a two-year contract worth $4 million.  The deal will average out to $2 million per season.  He would have been an unrestricted free agent on July 1.  In 48 games last season with the Capitals, he posted a 25-17-2 record, four shutouts, a 2.51 GAA, and a .917 save percentage.  Not a bad move for the Penguins, as Vokoun will add lots of stability in goal.  While Marc-Andre Fleury will still have the starter role, Vokoun will add a lot of skill and veteran depth to the team in the backup role and will easily be able to jump in to the starter role if Fleury should miss time with injury.  The signing insures that Brent Johnson will not be retained by Pittsburgh in the off-season.

Capitals Sign Tomas Vokoun to One-Year Contract

Just one day after trading Semyon Varlamov to the Colorado Avalanche, the Washington Capitals signed veteran goaltender Tomas Vokoun to a one-year contract worth $1.5 million. In 57 games last season with the Florida Panthers, he posted a 22-28-5 record, six shutouts, a 2.55 GAA, and a .922 save percentage. This is an excellent signing for the Capitals, as Vokoun will bring lots of veteran depth and stability to the team in goal. He also has good agility and can play at the top of his games for stretches at a time. By adding Vokoun, the Capitals are likely hoping a veteran goaltender can help them advance far in the playoffs after several years of early playoff departures. However, Vokoun doesn't have a lot of playoff experience and hasn't been able to advance a team deep in the playoffs, so there will likely be a lot of pressure on him to help Washington advance deep in the postseason in 2012.