The Capitals’ goaltender has emerged as one of the best in the entire world. His path to get there was far from easy.
On March 5, 2014, the Washington Capitals acquired infamous Capitals-killing goaltender Jaroslav Halak in a late-breaking blockbuster on deadline day. It was a futile move in an attempt to push the Capitals to the playoffs in possibly their most disappointing season of the past decade. Goaltender Braden Holtby, who played in 48 games that season, was unseated as the starting netminder on this day, one that we can all look back on now just to realize how lucky we are today.
From the moment Holtby was drafted 93rd overall at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, he had long odds of ever becoming the long-term anchor between the pipes for the team that drafted him. The Capitals had a variety of young and old goaltenders at that time, and the carousel would keep spinning for years. Veterans Cristobal Huet and Jose Theodore held the fort down on separate occasions as the Capitals waited for two highly-touted goalies, Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth, to move their way up through the system. Varlamov appeared at many times to be “the guy” going forward, highlighted by his impressive performance in the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins, as well as the following year against the Montreal Canadiens despite that series culminating in the most disappointing moment, arguably, in franchise history. Injuries would derail Varlamov’s tenure in Washington.
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The following year, Neuvirth, the young Czech netminder, would seize control of the Washington Capitals net and lead them to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where they would flame out against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The following season, the Caps would bring in another veteran in Tomas Vokoun, hoping once again that a veteran would take them all the way. By the end of the season, with Varlamov long gone and both Neuvirth and Vokoun shelved with injuries, Braden Holtby would force his name into the conversation as he led the Capitals against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It should be noted that by this point, after appearing in bits and pieces of the 2010-11 and 2011-12 regular seasons, Holtby had compiled a 14-4-3 overall record with a goals allowed average near 2.00 and a save percentage north of .920. Capitals fans knew all about him by this point, but the rest of the league would soon be put on notice.
Over the next two weeks, Holtby essentially became a household name. “Held by Holtby” became a repeated phrase by NBC’s lead announcer Doc Emrick, as he carried the Capitals to a shocking upset as his team advanced past the Bruins and into the second round of the playoffs. Although the miracle run would end at Madison Square Garden in a game seven, it was by no fault of Holtby’s, as he posted a .935 SV% and a 1.95 GAA. Braden Holtby had made a name for himself.
Holtby would turn around to appear in 36 games in a lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. He continued to progress as the goaltender of the future in Washington that season, and did everything he could to solve the puzzle that is the New York Rangers for the Capitals in the 2013 playoffs, but would once again be denied. It would be the following season that seemed to have to potential to derail a promising career.
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Calling the 2013-14 campaign a disappointment would be an understatement for both the Capitals and Braden Holtby. The shuffling between Holtby and Michael Neuvirth, coupled with then-head coach Adam Oates‘ authoritarian-like tendencies regarding his player’s habits, the man so affectionately referred to as the “Holtbeast,” took a significant step back. This regression was highlighted when the Washington Capitals acquired Halak, an occasion which would turn out to be the last time Holtby would be separated from his rightful place between the pipes.
Through all of the adjustments to his game under Oates, his entire game was changed. One simple alteration, namely playing deeper in his crease, would have a domino effect of smaller effects that Holtby struggled to adjust to. Luckily for him (and probably the entire organization), this would be the last year of Oates in D.C., and it would be a blessing for Holtby.
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In a move that was arguably about two or three years overdue, Holtby was set as the undisputed number one goaltender for the Washington Capitals under new head coach Barry Trotz. With Trotz came a widely known goalie guru by the name of Mitch Korn, who immediately meshed with Holtby. Allowed to do what he did best, playing on top of the crease and using his natural instincts and otherworldly athleticism, Holtby regained all of the confidence that was lost, and found his game again.
Braden Holtby cut both his GAA and SV% significantly in his first season post-Oates. His SV% climbed from .915 to .923, much more in line with his career average of .922. His GAA dipped from 2.85 to 2.22, a more-than-significant improvement in the matter of a year. It was such a good year, in fact, that he came in fourth place in the voting for the Vezina Trophy, the award given to the league’s best goaltender each year. Quite possibly the highest point of his first season under Trotz would be out-dueling the player he was benched for, in the process of defeating the New York Islanders in seven games in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
38 appearances into the 2015-16 season, Braden Holtby has made an argument as the undisputed best goaltender in the NHL. With an astounding 30-5-2 record – one that takes into account a more than two month span from November 10th to January 16th where he didn’t accumulate a loss in regulation – he is an early favorite for the Vezina.
Holtby has been a playoff performer his entire career. With a .936 SV% and a 1.92 GAA, he is one of the best performing postseason goaltenders in NHL history. With the most complete Washington Capitals team in years in front of him, chances are that if Holtby stays true to his ways, the Eastern Conference Semifinals are far from the limit that he can take this team.
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From staring up at a logjam of young talent, to being sent up and down from the Hershey Bears, to being unseated by his team’s arch nemesis, Braden Holtby is now the anchor of the NHL’s best team, and he has found himself at the peak in Washington. It was a long road with many questions along the way, but as perhaps the only one that never doubted himself, he is right where he belongs.