Braden Holtby, Capitals agree to 5-year, $30.5 million extension
Braden Holtby didn’t get the $8 million he was asking in arbitration, but that wasn’t expected. He did, however, get a well-deserved raise as the 25-year old netminder and the Washington Capitals came to an agreement Friday on a five-year, $30.5 million extension.
The two sides did go through with an arbitration hearing Thursday, and the arbitrator had until early Saturday afternoon to come to a decision. The Capitals were seeking $5.1 million, while Holtby aimed high hoping for something in the middle.
Per Elliotte Friedman, Holtby will receive $3.5 million in salary this season along with a $3 million signing bonus, then $7 million in 2016-17 and 2017-18 and $5 million in the final two years of the deal. He also now possesses the seventh-highest cap hit among NHL goaltenders.
From the Capitals:
“Braden emerged as a top NHL goaltender and we are pleased to sign him to a long-term contract,” said Capitals GM Brian MacLellan. “We feel Braden is just entering his prime and in his young career has already established himself as one of the best goaltenders in the history of our franchise. He is an athletic goaltender with a tremendous work ethic and is a big part of our future.”
Holtby put up 41 wins, nine shutouts and a .929 even strength save percentage as he helped guide the Capitals to a win away from the Eastern Conference Final this past season. As Lambert noted on Tuesday, the goaltender has the fourth-best save percentage between the regular season and postseason since 2010. Who's ranked higher? Only Tuukka Rask, Cory Schneider and Henrik Lundqvist. Pretty good company, and it’s obvious Mitch Korn has already had a positive effect on him after one year. We'll probably be looking back at this contract when it ends in 2019-20 as a total bargain.
Holtby’s extension leaves McLelland with a little north of $4 million in cap space, according to General Fanager, and only RFA Marcus Johansson left to re-sign. They're scheduled for an arbitration hearing next Wednesday.
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