ARLINGTON, V.A. — Charlie Lindgren needed to hit reset.
And now that he did, the 32-year-old netminder is feeling the best he's ever felt as he enters his fifth year with the Washington Capitals.
This past offseason gave Lindgren the needed opportunity to reflect following a rough go in 2025-26, where he went 9-8-3 with a .879 save percentage as the majority of his appearances came on the second half of back-to-backs behind a fatigued team.
Looking back at last season, though, Lindgren didn't want to make any excuses, and left D.C. unsatisfied as he felt that he had more to give.
"I'm not going to complain about any start that I get in the NHL. That's just my mentality. Anytime I get a chance to get out there and prove myself, I want to take full advantage," Lindgren said, adding, "Coming away from last year, I wasn't overly thrilled with the way it went."
After heading home in April, Lindgren took a month off, and then got right back into the swing of training, where he again worked alongside the likes of Jake Oettinger and other Minnesota-grown netminders.
While he worked on post play and fine-tuning different details of his game, Lindgren mostly stressed trusting in his game, trusting his reflexes and staying contained.
"You can almost work too hard, where you find yourself almost overplaying things," Lindgren said. "It was just finding that balance where you're competing as hard as you can, but you're also playing inside your posts and covering the 6-by-4."
Training camp also added a bit of pressure, with the team evaluating its goaltending situation with Clay Stevenson knocking on the door for his NHL chance, but after running with three netminders through the start of camp, D.C. ultimately chose to stick with Lindgren as the No. 2 to Logan Thompson, losing Stevenson on waivers to the Winnipeg Jets.
Now, as he begins a new year following a productive training camp and strong showing in the preseason, he said he's feeling the best he's felt going into an NHL season.
"I feel like I put in some really darn good work this summer and feel like I'm in a really good spot physically and in my headspace," Lindgren said. "Just excited to be back here with the Caps. I love this place, I love this team, I love the city... I just feel very blessed."
"The opportunity to come back this year fresh, feeling healthy and try to show that he's still capable of playing at the level that we've seen in the past, we're confident that he's going to be able to do that," coach Spencer Carbery added.
Lindgren's first start of the new campaign will be a challenge, as he'll get the net for the second night of a season-opening back-to-back on the road against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
It's not unfamiliar territory, and Lindgren said he'll be ready for it and sees it as an opportunity to continue laying the foundation he built for himself this offseason.
"We're all human, so I think there's definitely times where the brain can get overinvolved. I'm playing my best when I'm not thinking and just going out and relying on my instincts and playing," Lindgren said. "I think my mental fortitude is probably one of my best assets. I put so much work into getting where I'm at, I don't take really any second for granted, one day for granted."
Then, from there, he's ready to not only prove the Capitals right, but to prove to himself that he can be the best version of himself between the pipes.
He plans to make that happen through the work he puts in each day.
"Every time I get a chance to go play, I feel like I can be a difference maker. My goal always is to make sure that when I get a chance, I want to give the team the best chance to win as I can," Lindgren said. "I'm a guy that the team knows what they'll get from me. I'm going to compete my butt off, I'm never going to give in, never going to give up and just go out and play my game. I got a lot of trust in what I've done... I just feel awesome."
