Washington Capitals acquire New Jersey Devils goaltender in Sunday morning trade
Photo credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Capitals acquired goalie Rémi Poirier from the Devils on Sunday for their 2027 seventh-round pick, GM Chris Patrick announced.
The Washington Capitals added some goaltending depth on Sunday, acquiring Rémi Poirier from the New Jersey Devils.
Washington sent its own 2027 seventh-round pick to New Jersey, and general manager Chris Patrick announced the deal.
Poirier is 25, comes from Quebec, and was a sixth-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 2020 (185th overall).
Dallas waived him in September, and the Devils claimed him.
He was still waiting on his NHL debut at the time.
What Poirier brings to Washington
Last season he played 52 games for the AHL's Texas Stars and went 27-19-6 with a .912 save percentage and a 2.61 goals-against average.
People around the league have praised his athleticism, and his $850,000 cap hit is easy to carry.
Logan Thompson is the clear starter in Washington.
He returned from injured reserve on Oct. 28 after a lower-body injury, and Mitch Gibson went back to Hershey that same day.
Hershey looks like a natural first stop for Poirier, though the backup job could be open at some point.
Why the Devils moved on
New Jersey now has Connor Hellebuyck and Jake Allen in net, so Poirier had no clear path to playing time.
The Devils get the seventh-round pick and now hold five selections in the 2027 draft, two of them in the first round.
Their cap space also grew to about $974,000.
For Washington, this is cheap depth with a little upside.
A seventh-round pick rarely turns into an NHL player, so the price is tiny.
If Poirier can push for the backup spot behind Thompson, the Capitals will have found real value for almost nothing.
That matters, especially with Thompson just coming off an injury.
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