Waiting on Varlamov

Semen Varlamov . . .

- Number one goaltender in waiting
- Drafted in 2006 – 23rd pick overall
- 15-7-6, 2.12 for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the RSL in 2006-2007
- 5-1, 1.51, .934 in the 2007 U20 IIHF World Championship
- 3-0, 0.33, .980 in the 2006 Five Nations Tournament

Going to be a star . . . sooner rather than later. Whoops, not so fast. Here is a list representing some of the finest European goaltenders in the NHL today:

Miikka Kiprusoff (25)
Dominik Hasek (26)
Henrik Lundqvist (23)
Kari Lehtonen (22)
Tomas Vokoun (22)
Evgeni Nabokov (25)
Nikolai Khabibulin (22)
Antero Niittymaki (25)

And here are two more, for good measure

Vesa Toskala (26)
Ilya Bryzgalov (25)

What are those numbers in parentheses? Their ages when they reached 20 games played in a season in the NHL. Why are Toskala and Bryzgalov set apart? Neither of those guys -- talented as they appear to be -- have played half their team's games in an NHL season yet.

Average age for the ten?...24. Varlamov is 19. He will be 24 on April 27, 2012

Expecting him to assume the mantle of "number one goaltender" for the Capitals before, say, the 2010-2011 season is a stretch, perhaps a big stretch.