Holtby is a project, otherwise he wouldn't have been available on a one-year deal for $2 million. He has won the Vezina Trophy (2016) and led the Capitals to the Stanley Cup (2018), so he has a fantastic resume. However, his performance the past two and half seasons has been rough, and that's why he's here.
Holtby picked the Stars, so he believes their structure can help him. The Stars are willing to take a chance on Holtby, so they believe their structure can help him. Ben Bishop is dealing with a knee injury that could keep him out all season. The Stars could've rolled out Anton Khudobin and Jake Oettinger, as they did last season, but the feeling is that by bringing in Holtby they can add an element of competition and possibly even unearth a bargain in net. At the very worst, Holtby flames out, Bishop isn't ready and the Stars go back to a combo of Khudobin and Oettinger. If Holtby plays well, that gives the Stars the option to consider a trade of Khudobin if Bishop is ready to go or Oettinger looks like he can be the No. 1 goalie. If both Holtby and Khudobin play well, the Stars then could go into the playoffs with two goalies who have had recent success in the postseason.
Holtby doesn't seem to have any physical issues that are leading to the bad numbers, so much of his work will be in getting his head right. Stars goalie coach Jeff Reese could be a good fit in allowing Holtby to get his game back, and so should the Stars' defensive structure. Dallas was third in fewest shots against per game at 27.1 and third in high danger scoring chances against. The Central Division should be a lot different than the high-flying North Division that Holtby played in last season. If Oettinger blows people away in the preseason, the experiment might not even make it to November, but it sure seems like the Stars will start with Khudobin and Holtby on the NHL roster and allow Oettinger to start in the minors (he doesn't require waivers, so he can be called up at any time). The guess here is the Stars need to remain in early playoff contention with the duo of Khudobin and Holtby or changes could be made quickly. Is that 15 games, 20 games? We'll see. But Holtby is motivated, and the team would really like to see if he can find his old form, so that seems worth whatever risk is involved.
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This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.
