NHL Free Agency: 5 teams who should sign Braden Holtby

3. Carolina Hurricanes

At this stage in his career, Braden Holtby probably shouldn’t be a starting goalie. The numbers don’t lie, as his stats have been declining for the past three seasons. Depending on what the Carolina Hurricanes decide to do this offseason, Holtby could make quite a bit of sense for them.

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Of course, for Holtby to make sense for those bunch of jerks, the Canes would have to trade a goalie – either Petr Mrazek or James Reimer. Reimer is the more likely option because of the way his contract is set up. His salary is under $1 million ($850,000 to be precise), but his cap hit is $3.4 million. With many teams struggling financially, this makes Reimer rather appealing.

Holtby could form a very solid tandem with Mrazek. One has to imagine the Hurricanes are targeting a bigger fish. Should Robin Lehner hit the free agent market, I imagine Carolina will be very interested in him. The same goes for Anton Khudobin. But inevitably, there’s going to be a team stuck without a goalie, much like a game of “musical chairs”.

Also, keep in mind the Hurricanes likely aren’t bringing back Justin Williams. Carolina’s a fairly young team and Holtby knows what it takes to win the Stanley Cup. He’ll also be very motivated.