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Vegas Golden Knights should consider going after Holtby in 2020

By Andrew Steele-Davis

ST LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 02: Braden Holtby #70 of the Washington Capitals sprays water during a stoppage in play against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on October 2, 2019 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 02: Braden Holtby #70 of the Washington Capitals sprays water during a stoppage in play against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on October 2, 2019 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 14: Colorado Avalanche left wing Andre Burakovsky (95) assists on a first period goal against Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby (70) on October 14, 2019, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 14: Colorado Avalanche left wing Andre Burakovsky (95) assists on a first period goal against Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby (70) on October 14, 2019, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

2. Cons

There are two negatives to any proposed deal with Braden Holtby and we’ll start with the one that may actually be a positive.

As mentioned in the previous slide, Marc-Andre Fleury has two more years left after this one on his contract which is worth an average annual value of $7,000,000.

Given that Holtby’s current average annual is $6,100,000 and he would almost certainly be seeking a significant pay rise should he leave Washington, then the Golden Knights would be shelling out a large chunk of their salary cap on two goalies both on the wrong side of 30.

Now, this is where we think it could actually be a positive once you scratch underneath the surface.

Taking Fleury out of the equation, there is a worrying lack of goalie depth or, quality goalie depth should we say, within the Golden Knights organization.

Malcolm Subban is an adequate backup but there are question marks over whether he can morph into a quality NHL starter, while there are also serious doubts hovering over the likes of Oscar Dansk and Dylan Ferguson.

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 05: Braden Holtby #70 of the Washington Capitals looks on in the second period against the Carolina Hurricanes at Capital One Arena on October 5, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 05: Braden Holtby #70 of the Washington Capitals looks on in the second period against the Carolina Hurricanes at Capital One Arena on October 5, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /

By bringing in the 30-year-old Holtby, you would guarantee yourselves an elite goalie tandem through 2020-2021 and thus buying the front office more time to find the future goalie of the franchise either through the draft or via trade.

Now we come on to another caveat which is money. Let’s preface this by making it clear that come the summer of 2020 the Golden Knights will have around $13 million of cap space with which to play with, and that isn’t even taking into account if the salary cap rises next year, which it should.

So, Vegas will have cash to burn and, while there will be the matter of plugging a few gaps when it comes to depth, they will have the means to go out and add another blockbuster name to an already star-studded roster should they feel the need to make another big splash in order to move one step closer to the Stanley Cup.

They’ve got a rich history of that already, of course, having made aggressive moves for the likes of Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty and Paul Stastny, and the next area they need to pay attention to when bolstering the roster is defensively.

Currently earning $6,100,000 a year, Holtby would probably be looking for something in the region of $8-$9 million and, although that is a lot of money for a 30-year-old goalie, this franchise would be okay with making that sort of commitment if they thought it would be the final piece in a Stanley Cup puzzle.

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