Penguins acquire rights to Tomas Vokoun from Capitals, signs two-year $4 million deal

The Pittsburgh Penguins are getting a jump on the free agency crush in a big way.

The Pens acquired the rights to Tomas Vokoun from the Washington Capitals for a seventh round pick in the 2012 draft. Vokoun is set to become a free agent on July 1, but with the Penguins acquiring him they’ll have until then to work out a potential contract with him.

(UPDATE: Vokoun signs two-year, $4 million deal. That’s a $2 million cap hit)

Vokoun’s season in Washington came to an abrupt end thanks to a bad groin injury leaving the Caps to use Braden Holtby in the playoffs, a job he seized and made his own. If you’re thinking this is a move to make incumbent start Marc-Andre Fleury nervous, however, hold on a second.

Fleury was worked hard this season as backup Brent Johnson struggled. Fleury played in 67 games and looked obviously poor in the playoffs against Philadelphia after having a strong regular season.

This move harms the plans of other teams who had designs on signing Vokoun in July. Toronto had been rumored to have interest and Detroit sniffed around last summer. With Vokoun sticking with Pittsburgh, the hunt for goaltending (Roberto Luongo?) gets a bit hotter.