With Braden Holtby's contract set to expire at the end of this season, Sportsnet Insider Elliotte Friedman has revealed Washington will not be negotiating a new deal with him during the 2019-20 year. Speaking on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday, Friedman said the Capitals want to focus on winning the Stanley Cup and don't want any distractions during play.
Despite that, Friedman added Caps' fans shouldn't panic as the team signed both T.J. Oshie and John Carlson after the season ended and prior to them hitting the free agent market.
Holtby's current contract was for five years at $6.1 million annually. The main hurdle for Washington in negotiations will be cap space. The team will also have to negotiate new deals with pending unrestricted free agents Nicklas Backstrom and Radko Gudas should they want to keep them around, while there will also be some RFAs to deal with, including two with arbitration rights. Washington currently has under $1 million in free space. According to Samantha Pell of the Washington Post, the main sticking point in negotiations with Backstrom appear to be term, not money. She quotes a source close to team as saying Backstrom wants five years, while the team is offering three. You can read our full story on that here.
Former 22nd overall draft pick Ilya Samsonov has played 12 games between the pipes for Washington this season, putting up some solid, although not spectacular, numbers. He currently has a GAA of 2.43 and a .916 save percentage. It is expected that he will eventually take over the top spot in net for the team but it remains to be seen whether Washington is willing to give him that responsibility in the next season or two. Holtby is currently 30 years old so he should have a few years left of good hockey, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
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