There is a lot of excitement heading into the season for the Washington Capitals. The Capitals have welcomed back Alex Ovechkin for another season while bringing in Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou.  Still, if the Capitals are going to make a run at the Stanley Cup, goaltender Logan Thompson is going to need to be at his best.

Thompson was great in 2025-26 and finished fourth in voting for the Vezina Trophy, given to the top goaltender in the NHL. Thompson was asked if finishing fourth in the voting was motivating him, and his response threw some shade, per Capitals beat reporter Sammi Silber.

“I don’t really think so anymore. The GMs make that vote, and I know there’s one GM that probably won’t give me any votes ever. I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about Caps hockey,” Thompson said.

Thompson finished with 29 points in the voting, with the help of two first-place votes, four second-place votes, and seven third-place votes. Meanwhile, Andrei Vasilevskiy won the award, while Ilya Sorokin and Jeremy Swayman finished second and third.

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The assumption is that the GM he is pointing out is Kelly McCrimmon, who is the GM of the Vegas Golden Knights. The two have a long history. Thompson was drafted in the WHL Bantam Draft by McCrimmon when he was the GM and head coach of the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings. Thompson was undrafted in the NHL Draft, and in 2020 McCrimmon, then the GM of the Golden Knights, signed Thompson.

When McCrimmon made it clear that Adin Hill would be the starting netminder in Vegas for the 2024-25 season, Thompson requested a trade. McCrimmon granted the request, sending him to the Washington Capitals during the 2024 NHL Draft.

Thompson and the Capitals take to the ice for the first game of the regular season on October 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes.