One of the most deserving candidates for a big offseason contract is certainly breaking the mold with his ideals.
In a league where performance means everything, there is one player who has overachieved allseason long, at one of the NHL's most important positions.
What Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby has achieved this season deserves huge accolades. The quirky netminder has made a compelling case for an enormous raise this summer, as he made an NHL-most 86 starts in the final year of his "bridge contract" with the Caps'.
In the face of more than 2,000 shots in 2014-2015, Holtby emerged with a record of 41 wins and 20 losses, while registering a G.A.A of 2.22 and a Save Percentage of .923. He started more games this season than any other goaltender and faced the most shots among them. He ranked second in Save Percentage and third in Goals-Against-Average among all goalies overall.
These are impressive stats by any means.
Still, Holtby continues to change people's idea of "what the professional athlete desires" as he seemigly cares not for the big payday that he is obviously due, and would rather take a patient route when it comes to getting paid.
He has not denied the fact that he would perhaps test the market at the end of the season, as he is set to become a Restricted Free-Agent this summer. He also says that he likes the idea of being in a long-term deal, which is every pro athletes quest when performance dictates so.
However, he has toyed with the idea of signing another one-year bridge contract in order to prove himself further. He knows he could have his chance to test the waters elsewhere, but would rather be granted his due, in due time.
Holtby is one special goaltender, and one special kind of person in general.
If he doesn't wind up getting his big-time contract in Washington, which teams would take a shot at him?