The Washington Capitals have one of the best goaltending tandems in the Eastern Conference in Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren. The pair propelled their team to the best record in the Metropolitan Division last season with Thompson having a career year in wins and goals-against average (GAA).
Thompson, a 28-year-old Calgary native, has not followed a traditional path to the NHL. After going undrafted out of junior, playing a season of Canadian U Sports hockey, bouncing around the minor leagues, and then the better part of four seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights, Thompson landed with the Capitals in June 2024.
The goaltender impressed his new team so much in the 2024-25 season that in Jan. 2025, they signed him to a six-year contract with an average annual value of $5.85 million.
“Logan has demonstrated that he is one of the top goaltenders in the NHL this season and since he joined the league,” Capitals’ general manager Chris Patrick told ESPN after inking Thompson to his new contract. “With his size and exceptional athleticism, we are confident that this signing will enhance one of the most critical positions on our team, especially as he enters the prime years of his career.”
Undrafted Out of Junior
A Calgary native, Thompson played junior hockey for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL) where he amassed a 63-41-10 record along with a .905 save percentage (SV%) and a 3.36 GAA. Undrafted out of junior, he enrolled at Brock University in Ontario so he could continue playing hockey while pursuing a degree in sports management.
“Pro hockey wasn’t even on my mind,” Thompson told The Athletic. “I was just a kid having fun. I had school on Monday and Tuesday. I would go home and play video games, drink beer and just be a college student (from ‘Logan Thompson’s pro dream nearly ended — then his rise to the Golden Knights began,’ The Athletic, 10/18/22).”
For most players, moving from juniors to U Sports means their path to the NHL is closed, but Thompson made the most of his time in college. In the 2018-19 season, he amassed a .934 SV% and won the Ontario University Athletics West Rookie of the Year and Goalie of the Year Awards.
Starts and Stops in the Minor Leagues
In March 2019, after his season with Brock University was over, Thompson received an offer from the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL to play on an amateur tryout contract. After appearing in eight games for the Thunder, he was released in April and then signed a professional tryout contract with the Binghamton Devils of the American Hockey League (AHL). He played in one game for the Devils before being signed to a one-year contract with the Hershey Bears.
For the 2019-20 season, Thompson played for the Bears’ ECHL affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays. He played in 32 games for the team, earning a 23-8-1 record, 2.25 GAA, and a .929 SV%. That summer, he signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Golden Knights where his former coach from junior, Kelly McCrimmon, was now the general manager.
A Golden Opportunity in Las Vegas
Thompson started the 2020-21 season with Las Vegas’ AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights. He posted a 16-6-2 record with an impressive 1.96 GAA and .943 SV%. At the end of the season, he was awarded the AHL’s Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the league’s best goaltender. On Jan. 4, 2022, Thompson became the first U Sports goaltender to start an NHL game in over 30 years. A few weeks later, the Golden Knights signed him to a three-year, $2.3 million contract extension.
Thompson began the 2022-23 season as the Golden Knights’ starting goaltender due to injuries to Robin Lehner and Laurent Brossoit. He put up impressive numbers, becoming the first rookie goaltender named to an NHL All-Star Game since John Gibson in 2016. However, Thompson’s rookie season was halted in Feb. 2023 when he suffered a lower-body injury, which he reinjured again in March, causing him to miss the rest of the regular season. With Thompson watching from the sidelines, the Golden Knights went on to win their first Stanley Cup thanks to the heroics of previously unknown goaltender Adin Hill.
Related: Capitals Sign Logan Thompson to 6-Year Extension
For the 2023-24 season, Thompson and Hill worked as a tandem, but Thompson was inconsistent over the course of the season, with injuries in November and December hampering his progress. He played in 46 games, earning a 25-14-5 record with a 2.70 GAA and .908 SV%. Thompson was named the team’s playoff starter but was replaced by Hill in Game 5 of the first round against the Dallas Stars, who beat the Golden Knights in seven games.
Thompson had been pulled after two consecutive losses despite having a career-high 43 saves in one of the games. After speaking with team management after the series, Thompson felt that McCrimmon and head coach Bruce Cassidy were firmly set on Hill as their starter going forward, so he asked the team for a trade that June.
Trade to the Capitals
While the 2024 NHL Entry Draft was underway, the Golden Knights traded Thompson to the Capitals for two third-round picks. Washington was keen to acquire another top-flight goaltender after trading Darcy Kuemper to the Los Angeles Kings for Pierre-Luc Dubois earlier in the summer.
The trade was a bit of a homecoming for Thompson who, as a member of the Capital’s ECHL affiliate in South Carolina, attended development camp in 2018 and 2019.
Thompson began the 2024-25 season sharing goaltending duties with Lindgren and posting a 22-2-3 record in his first 27 games with the club while earning a .925 SV% and 2.09 GAA, second in the NHL at the time behind Connor Hellebuyck. The Capitals wasted no time in locking Thompson down for the long term, signing him to a six-year extension in Jan. 2025.
Success in Washington
The 2024-25 season was an unqualified success for Thompson. He ranked fourth in voting for the Vezina Trophy, finishing the regular season with 26 goals saved above expected – which was third-best in the league. He lost only six games in regulation posting a 31-6-6 record.
As his goaltending partner Lindgren’s performance waned a bit last season, Thompson was rewarded by getting the starting role for the playoffs. He was one of the main factors in the Capitals’ first round victory over the Montreal Canadiens, and although not as sharp in the second round against Carolina, his aggregate playoff statistics were still quite good with a .917 SV% and a 2.41 GAA.
This season, Thompson is closing in on 100 career wins. He currently has 89 wins in 149 games played. If he reaches the milestone before playing in his 166th game, he will land in the top ten fastest in NHL history to do so.
The Capitals are hoping for a replay of last season’s success for Thompson. If Lindgren can find his game again this season, the pair could be the best goaltending tandem in the Eastern Conference. For Thompson, success will likely rest on remaining healthy, which has been difficult at times during his career. After a summer of reflection, Thompson is committed to his team’s success and proving the doubters wrong.
“Just want to win games, get back to where we were last year, keep proving people wrong. That’s my biggest mindset,” Thompson told The Hockey News. “I want to do my job and help get as many wins for the Washington Capitals as I can and be supportive of my teammates and supportive of (Charlie Lindgren) and just be each other’s biggest fan.”
