Washington Capitals: Braden Holtby 2020 Report Card
Grading Braden Holtby’s final season with the Washington Capitals.
Braden Holtby will always be beloved among Washington Capitals fans and he’ll go down as one of the best goaltenders in franchise history. Having said that his final season with the Caps was far from memorable. His record was 25-14-6. Not bad on the surface.
However, when it came down to goals against average and save percentages, those were career worsts for Holtby. Holtby had a 3.11 goals against average and a .897 save percentage. It was a far cry from his Vezina winning season of 2015-16.
He went from bad to worse in the playoffs and had Ilya Samsonov not hurt himself in an ATV accident he might’ve taken over as a playoff starter. Holtby went 2-6 in those eight playoff games inside the Toronto bubble. He had a .906 save percentage and a 2.49 goals against average.
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The Caps weren’t going to afford Holtby anyway but his dismal season in a contract year diminished his value. Instead of making Sergei Bobrovsky money, he was signed by the Vancouver Canucks for two years worth $8.6 million. Now he reunites with Nate Schmidt and Jay Beagle, forming a new Caps west.
Holtby won’t be remembered for his final season with the Caps and for good reason. It was a good thing the Caps won the Cup when they did before the pandemic and Holtby helped backstop them to that elusive title with the save of a lifetime.
Holtby won’t just be remembered for that save but what he did for the DC community as well. He participated in several initiatives and activities with the team as well as marched in DC Pride parades, giving back to the LGBTQ community.
The Caps will go in a new direction in goaltending this season. Taking the starters job will likely be Ilya Samsonov while the backup will go to Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist comes from the New York Rangers after his contract was bought out.
For Holtby, he’ll look to get the starters job in Vancouver and help that team excel out there.
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Grade C+: Although Holtby’s save percentage took a dip and his goals against average went up, Holtby gets a C+ for at least getting a decent record and helping the Caps make the playoffs once again. We wish Holtby the best with his new endeavors in Vancouver. We also can’t wait to see what the Holtby tribute video will look like in his return to Capital One Arena.