théodore's play did not see much improvement the following season, in 2006–07, as he lost the starting role to budaj with a 13–15–1 record, 3.26 gaa and .891 save percentage. he saw a resurgence in 2007–08 and resumed the starting role with a 2.40 gaa and .910 save percentage. on july 1, 2008, he parted ways with the avalanche in the off-season and signed a two-year, $9 million contract with the washington capitals. he replaced long-time capitals starter olaf kölzig and the previous season's acquisition (as well as former canadiens teammate) cristobal huet, both having departed in free agency. joining a team that featured young talents alexander semin, nicklas bäckström, mike green and alexander ovechkin, théodore helped lead the capitals to a division title and entered the 2009 playoffs as the second seed. however, after allowing four goals in a game 1 loss to the new york rangers in the opening round, he was pulled in favour of backup semyon varlamov. in 2010, théodore had a 30–7–7 record and tied a capitals franchise record for consecutive wins (10) and ended the season on a 20–0–4 streak. he started the playoffs but was pulled in game 2 and replaced again by varlamov. théodore did not play any more games as the capitals were eliminated in seven games in the first round of playoffs, as jaroslav halák and the montreal canadiens won three consecutive games to overcome a 3–1 deficit to win the series four games to three. théodore won the bill masterton memorial trophy in 2010.