So Braden Holtby is a back up now?

[Roshi]

Apart of really strong playoffs run in 2018 he has been at a backup level for 3 years now. He had a good prime and we (Caps) got to benefit from it. We shall forever salute him for the Cup and few really good years he had here, but it has looked for a while that his career is running short of favour.

Last 3 years he has been outplayed by Grubauer, Samsonov and Demko.

He got decent deal done with the fumes of the cup. He deserved it. After this one its going to be 1-2m veteran back up years and theres nothing wrong in that. Who knows if he can still find that one more cup run so he is still worth a shot for many years to come.

 

[Confused Turnip]

I don’t agree with this however.

The thought process of “well maybe he could be really good again” is not the logic teams should be using to make decisions on multi year, big dollar contracts.

The realistic “upside” was a return to 1b level. The realistic “downside” was he continues to be bad.

They paid him thinking he’d return to upper 1b level which is what his contract pays him.

They should have factored in the downside and/or likeliest outcomes in the cost and they didn’t.

It's a risk/reward calculation. A franchise which is mostly young and working through a pretty big rebuild can afford to take some risks along those lines. It's just 2 years and I don't think they are overall too worried about cap right now so a small overpay like this isn't a huge problem. Sign Holtby and see what you get is fair thinking imo.

 

[Peen]

It's a risk/reward calculation. A franchise which is mostly young and working through a pretty big rebuild can afford to take some risks along those lines. It's just 2 years and I don't think they are overall too worried about cap right now so a small overpay like this isn't a huge problem. Sign Holtby and see what you get is fair thinking imo.

The thing is, we are worried about cap.

We have the worst cap management in the league. It’s bad. It finally caught up to us this past off season and will be a problem this upcoming one as well.

I just think the risk reward was poor relative to the contract he was signed to.

His upside was basically what we needed him to be based on the salary we gave him. The guy is teetering on unplayable and maybe we should put in our young prospect goalie.

If Seattle takes him in the ED, the first person to quote me I’ll donate $100 to a charity of your choice. It’s beyond wishful at this point.

His backloaded deal!!!

 

[crowi]

Yes?

 

[SherVaughn30]

Did he win a cup and just stop caring? Was he hurt? What happened to the guy.

No more Trotz coaching system and goalie coach Mitch Korn. You think Varlamov would be putting up the numbers he has with the Islanders with no Trotz and Korn? Travis Green's coaching(I'm still puzzled at times with what he's trying to do) doesn't fit with Holtby's style of goaltending. Also, I'm not quite sure Holtby has improved much with Ian Clarke, yet.

There is also another factor. Holtby's goaltending style, Hybrid, is not used by any goalies anymore. Most goalies in the NHL now play a pure butterfly using the VH/Reverse VH technique. The scouting report on Holtby has always been that he plays with one of the most narrow butterfly formations. He's is not a sound goalie by today's standards when it comes to recovering for 2ndary shots and back door plays. When Holtby is really on his game, he swallows up the first shot and doesn't give up any rebounds. His goaltending style is a big contrast to how Demko plays.

In regard to the coaching system used in front of him, Holtby is very susceptible if the team in front of him doesn't play structured enough and if he has to face shooters with fast speed. He's had issues reading shooters who are fast on their skates(The NHL players are becoming more of that mold).

When I had read Ian Clarke is considered one of top goalie coaches in the NHL, I thought he would be able to help Holtby recapture some of his Vezina magic. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case. Right now it's sad to say that Holtby has digressed even more so than for his last 3 plus seasons with the Caps. It appears to me, even at age 31, he has fallen into a form of goaltending that is outdated(you have to go back at least 4-5 years ago to find other goalies that were still playing his Hybrid style regularly). I'm afraid he just hasn't adjusted enough to maintain being a good goalie in the NHL. Maybe at best, he could find a way to somehow be a vet backup on his next contract(something like another 2 year deal but cut down to $2-3 million per year.

 

[JasonRoseEh]

Outside of 2018 Holtby has been washed up for years

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

So the “Holtbeast” has been tamed huh?

 

[KingsFan7824]

The Caps got really lucky on this one. Usually you end up paying guys that won you the Cup. The main pieces don't just walk away. Holtby then goes and has a career worst season in his UFA year, giving the Caps an easy out. They didn't even have to think about it, regardless of whether or not they had some young guy behind him. Imagine the Caps having to use $6m, maybe even $7m in space, for this guy today. That's some other depth they then can't have, but getting to go cheap in goal, and still get pretty much the same numbers, potentially extends their declining window for at least a year.

It would've been very interesting to see what happened had he had even a good season last year. I don't believe the Caps would've been so smart as to let him go. That's just not how teams operate. A sub .900sv% though? We love you B, but you can go ahead and see what else is out there. Feel free to see other people. We're open minded. We don't judge. We encourage you to find someone better, that's all. It's not you, it's us. No, no, no, please, we insist. We want you to be happy. That's the most important thing.

 

[nhlfan9191]

The thing is, we are worried about cap.

We have the worst cap management in the league. It’s bad. It finally caught up to us this past off season and will be a problem this upcoming one as well.

I just think the risk reward was poor relative to the contract he was signed to.

His upside was basically what we needed him to be based on the salary we gave him. The guy is teetering on unplayable and maybe we should put in our young prospect goalie.

If Seattle takes him in the ED, the first person to quote me I’ll donate $100 to a charity of your choice. It’s beyond wishful at this point.

His backloaded deal!!!

I don’t think the contract being backloaded really matters all that much with one year left on the deal.

 

[BCNate]

Demko is quietly putting together a very good season. Even after a brutal few games at the start, he has been a top 10 starter this year. He has 100% taken the starter reigns for this season and likely the long term. Holtby will be the back up, and might only get 4-5 games the rest of the way.

With that said....Holtby getting a ton of practice time with Ian Clarke will do him well. I do expect that he will be better in his starts than he has been.

 

[M2Beezy]

Have you seen Holtby's numbers? He managed to be under .900 last season, which is woeful in this era.

I have no idea how he got such a big contract

 

[crazy8888]

View attachment 405276

The ironic part about this big contract is that if he went to free agency in 2017 or in 2018 he would get paid $10M plus for 6-7 years. Basically Bobrovsky money.
Many teams dodged a big bullet. Especially the Caps!!

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Looking back now Holtby was already slipping before he won the cup. Im sure people remember Trotz going with Grubauer to start the playoffs. He was really struggling down the stretch.

Following season was OK, not spectacular and then last year below .90 save pct. Overall downhill trend.

He's only 31 though so it's not like this should be age thing. But yeah hard to say what's ahead for him, can't say this is surprising but definitely weird seeing guys like him, Price and Bob struggle as much as they have. None of these guys are even that close to 35 and goalies traditionally can do well even in their older days.

 

[krutovsdonut]

i don't think they were under any illusions. he was a typical recent canuck ufa signing. veteran presence.

he was hired to be a steady professional and handle the starter gig if demko faltered, by which i mean he'd soldier on with dignity, not win games. as a bonus if he got his game back he'd be a steal and kick demko in the butt. but i think they knew that was a reach.

he's not been great but he's exactly what they signed him for. if demko at any point goes south i think holtby will soldier on as an ersatz starter.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

Was never an elite goalie, he can just handle workloads. But I think he'll be going back and forth between a starter and back-up before becoming a full-time back-up.

 

[crazy8888]

i don't think they were under any illusions. he was a typical recent canuck ufa signing. veteran presence.

he was hired to be a steady professional and handle the starter gig if demko faltered, by which i mean he'd soldier on with dignity, not win games. as a bonus if he got his game back he'd be a steal and kick demko in the butt. but i think they knew that was a reach.

he's not been great but he's exactly what they signed him for. if demko at any point goes south i think holtby will soldier on as an ersatz starter.

I dont think any teams sign goalies with expectations of 3.56 GAA. He is not a good goalie. Even in his best days he was always good for a back breaking soft goal at worst time of the game. Now they are just all goals. Good thing its only a two year contract.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Was never an elite goalie, he can just handle workloads. But I think he'll be going back and forth between a starter and back-up before becoming a full-time back-up.

He was a product of Trotz and Korn And even Dale Hunter his first big playoff run as a rookie. He was in the right place at the right time. But I still think he can be a capable backup option to a team.

 

[Panda Bear]

lol @Three On Zero

thumbs up @Ched Brosky

 

[Fatass]

I dont think any teams sign goalies with expectations of 3.56 GAA. He is not a good goalie. Even in his best days he was always good for a back breaking soft goal at worst time of the game. Now they are just all goals. Good thing its only a two year contract.

Two years is one too many. Demko needs a new contract this offseason. The cap strapped Benning Canucks will now struggle paying Demko and Holtby.

 

[Fatass]

He was a product of Trotz and Korn And even Dale Hunter his first big playoff run as a rookie. He was in the right place at the right time. But I still think he can be a capable backup option to a team.

Yes, a backup who is paid 1.5 and not 4.5. And is signed to one year contracts.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Yes, a backup who is paid 1.5 and not 4.5. And is signed to one year contracts.

You don’t get Jack **** for $1.5 million anymore. It’s one year. Vancouver and their fans will survive.

 

[krutovsdonut]

I dont think any teams sign goalies with expectations of 3.56 GAA. He is not a good goalie. Even in his best days he was always good for a back breaking soft goal at worst time of the game. Now they are just all goals. Good thing its only a two year contract.

have you watched the canucks much this year? he's been meh, but the team has been worse in front of him until recently. once the team consistently outplays holtby i will worry about backbreaking goals.

 

[Oilslick941611]

1. I asked what better goalie options we could’ve signed for cheaper and he listed a bunch of players at other positions so no, I didn’t miss the point.
2. Realistically we didn’t have a chance at most of those goalies, Smith(lol). Khudobin and Talbot don’t belong as the cap hit isn’t that far off from Holtby

hes out playing your boy

 

[mdobbs]

have you watched the canucks much this year? he's been meh, but the team has been worse in front of him until recently. once the team consistently outplays holtby i will worry about backbreaking goals.

Maybe at the start of the season, but over the last couple starts the team has been playing better and he has been awful.

I think he's done as an NHL starter.

 

[HockeyGuy1964]

He wasn't even the starting goalie for the beginning of the playoffs because he lost his job to, ironically, Grubauer I believe.

He started game 3 after they lost the first 2 & they were kinda luck to win in triple OT or something like that so their playoffs could have been over real quick. Tortorella should have been fired for losing that series because he mismanaged the bench so badly in game 3.

He hasn't been a quality starting goalie since 2018 other than the Stanley Cup run from what I've seen. I was real happy when he spurned the Oilers offer & signed in Vancity.