Regular Season:
Playoffs:
Key Stat: Holtby’s Goals Saved Above Replacement during the regular season was -14.70, which was the third worst in the NHL last year.
The Good: It’s a bit of a challenge to find good parts of Holtby’s regular season, as he regressed in every major category. However, he was solid-enough against the Islanders in the playoffs, posting a .906 save percentage and 2.49 GAA. The Caps had many problems against the Islanders but Holtby wasn’t the main one.
Off the ice, however, Holtby was as thoughtful and caring as ever. His statement and interviews after the George Floyd shooting were just right, and his involvement in the community remained notable and encouraging.
The Bad: As we hinted at above, this was Holtby’s worst regular season since he entered the league in 2011-2012. He posted a career-low .898 save% and a career-high 3.11 GAA. In fact, the only goalies who posted a worse Goals Saved Above Replacement than Holtby’s -14.70 were Martin Jones and Mike Smith.
The Video: NHL.com posted a number of highlights from Holtby’s 2019-2020 season.
…what’s that? You want to see The Save again? Well, if you insist:
The Charts:
The Discussion: It seems like a foregone conclusion that Holtby won’t be back next season so…what was your favorite Braden Holtby moment? (Maybe for this, let’s include everything but “The Save”). Is Holtby capable of a bounceback season, either here or elsewhere? What kind of a deal would you want him to take if he were to stay on in DC for another year (or more)? And finally, what would it take for you to give him a 10 next season?
Other Holtby Season Reviews: Coming soon!
The Vote: Rate Holtby below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season – if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.