The arbitration case for Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby is set for one week from today, Thursday, July 23rd in Toronto. Should the case make it to arbitration, the third-party mediator will be required to render a decision within 48 hours. This means that, one way or another, the Holtby case will conclude by next Saturday, July 25th.
It should be noted that 23 of 24 arbitration cases filed last year never went to arbitration, as agreements between teams and players were reached before the scheduled hearing. Only P.K. Subban’s case made it to arbitration. However, with a week to go, Caps Nation is getting antsy. In a sense, both sides generally like to get a deal done before arbitration out of fear that arbitration could cost them more money than was previously on the table.
As of one week ago, Alex Prewitt reported that the two sides were about $1,000,000 apart.
The Capitals’ offer to Holtby — the 25-year-old who tied franchise records for games played, wins and shutouts last season and finished fourth in Vezina Trophy voting — has maxed in the mid-$5 million range, while Holtby’s team has countered around $1 million higher, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation.
Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post speculated that if the two sides indeed end up going to arbitration, Holtby could make a good case for himself and the bigger money he is looking for. Greenberg compared goalies with similar age and similar stats and their corresponding salaries with Holtby’s stats and recent salary demands.
