Speculation: Where does Holtby go?

[Habs Halifax]

Bad time for Holtby to be UFA... Not trending that well and a flat gap growth. I suspect he takes a 1 or 2 year deal IMO. Doubt any NHL GM will offer him 5 years with a high AAV. Too risky

Sabres might be interested if the deal is 1 or 2 years at something around $5M AAV.

 

[CreeksideStrangler]

Holtby is gonna be paid like 7 mill per

not after this past season

 

[RABBIT]

I really hope that not Buffalo, but we have an idiot GM, so everything can be expected. Ullmark had a solid season, Hutton fell off a cliff with his problems and can no longer be considered a reliable guy, and we can’t risk entering the season again with Ullmark and Hutton, we need a partner for Ullmark, but this is definitely not Holtby, he will ask money and term, as well as starting goalie place.

You have impeccable timing

 

[abo9]

I think he’s in a tough spot. Teams are getting wise to the risk of signing a goalie to long-term, big buck contracts.

Are they though? Bobrovsky was signed just last season...

 

[Vachon23]

He's gonna be overpaid.

His last good season was in 2016-2017.

can’t call 2017-2018 a bad season when you won the Cup

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

Are they though? Bobrovsky was signed just last season...

And I think if you could give the Panthers a mulligan on that, they would take it.

 

[Mrfenn92]

I'll say he signs with the flames.

 

[abo9]

And I think if you could give the Panthers a mulligan on that, they would take it.

My point is there's always gonna be at least one team to give contracts who look dumb from the get go, especially in UFA

GM's are not learning, UFA's will always be the worst place to looks for players

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

My point is there's always gonna be at least one team to give contracts who look dumb from the get go, especially in UFA

GM's are not learning, UFA's will always be the worst place to looks for players

Did you ignore the rest of my post?

 

[Mazatt]

I don't see why the Flames would go for Holtby. He's expensive, declining, and they have a younger option in Rittich. When going for a goaltender all they need is a 1b, 30 games kinda guy on the cheap to give Rittich a break sometimes, not get an entirely new, possibly worse starter.

 

[Brodeur]

- DET, LAK, NJD and OTT are rebuilding, but they have the cap space to sign Holtby and in two/three years no reason to think he won't be a good goalie by the time they contend

I'd say the Devils are unlikely due to the impending Expansion Draft. Mackenzie Blackwood would require a protection spot and he had a reasonably good season considering the tire fire that the Devils put out there. Cory Schneider is signed for a couple more seasons, so I don't know if it's a given that ownership will be happy to eat the cost of a buyout / AHL burial. If the Devils add a goalie, I think it would be a more economical version who wouldn't require a long term deal.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

I doubt the Oilers would have interest in shelling out 6m+ long term for a goalie.

It seems like the team is happy with Koskinens progression from last season to this season and are likely comfortable with him being the 1A in a tandem for the next couple seasons. They also have some interesting goaltending prospects in Rodrigue, Skinner and Konovalov, they are probably hopeful one of those guys can eventually fill the backup role 2-3 years from now.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

What about Chicago?

They could move on from Crawford and replace him with Holtby. It would give them stability in net for the next few seasons. Crawford will be 36 years old early next season.

 

[2Pair]

Minnesota could offer him a 1 year deal to play behind the most goalie friendly system in the league and try and rebuild his value.

 

[Stimpythecat]

The Kings are not interested in Holtby. The Kings already have their goalie replacement in Petersen.

 

[HawkeyTalkMan]

What about Chicago?

They could move on from Crawford and replace him with Holtby. It would give them stability in net for the next few seasons. Crawford will be 36 years old early next season.

depending how Chicago feels about Chicago going forward, i was thinking we might look at him as an option. I dont think any goalies in the pipeline will be more than an NHL backup. Sure Chicago could sign crawford for 1 year with bonuses, but it still doesnt solve the long term issue and Crawford is 35+.

They might offer the contract they just are expiring with Crawford to Holtby (6x$6)so it would be a virtual cap wash for them, but they might be looking to save some money in net, who knows.

 

[FlameChampion]

Hes an interesting case. I really dont know what kind of money/term we are talking here. I have to think that GM's are going to show some restaint here. UFA goalies dont seem to get paid that much other than whatever Florida was doing. But also been a while of someone of Holtbys name has hit UFA (I think his name reputation is obviously higher than his current state of play). I think a team like Edmonton would make sense if hes willing to take like 3mil a year (basically replace Smith). If hes going to want 5-6mil+ I dont really dont know what teams are going to bite on him. Maybe a team like Carolina, Ottawa etc makes sense. I dont think theres a ton of options for him unless hes willing to take a smaller cap hit.

 

[Draiskull]

If Flames lost out on Hall and Rittich has bad playoffs they may be interested and have the cap space.

 

[RalphKing]

Flames will go after Hall IMO. Then they will have little cap space left and have guys to sign on D too. Only way Holtby goes to the Flames is if they loose out on Hall or Holtby signs a very low team friendly deal.

If no cap space issues, Holtby does fit the Flames needs

Why does Calgary need another LW? They already have Gaudreau and Tkachuk. Granted, I think Treliving makes plenty of bad UFA signings, but it doesn't make sense really.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Edmonton can’t afford him, they aren’t paying Koskinen 4.5 the next 2 years to back up Holtby. Colorado has much cheaper/better options in both Grubauer and Francouz. So I don’t see the logic there.

To me Buffalo makes sense, though I don’t know how much money they want to throw at him with a Dahlin contract on the horizon.

Neither of Colorado's guys are better than Holtby, that's just not true, unless of course your opinion is based off a season that didn't even finish which would be ridiculous

 

[One Winged Angel]

I wouldn't bet on Carolina making a move for a goalie unless it's a younger guy like Georgiev. Holtby's in a rough position in that he's 30, coming off a bad year, has been trending down the past few years, and there aren't a ton of teams in the market for taking a chance that he rebounds.

I’m all ears on Georgiev.

 

[One Winged Angel]

I can’t see Holtby getting less than 8.5 million and whoever gives him that is going to be making a huge mistake.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Holtby is gonna be paid like 7 mill per

He's getting WAY more than that unless he leaves money on the table

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Maybe Detroit if they offer him enough and sell him on the Yzerplan?

He'd basically be quitting for the rest of his career

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

No way he gets that amount.

Not with a stagnant cap and declining play.

Frankly, I wouldn't be shocked if he ended up taking closer to 5 mil on average.

You're right he won't get 7 million.

He will get more