End of an Era

Holtby traded to Coyotes in pre-trade deadline stunner

End of an era is one way to put it, certainly the longest tenured goaltender in the DCHL, Braden Holtby is changing teams for the first time. In a surprise move the Flyers traded Holtby, along with prospect Declan Chisholm, and Boston's 7th round pick in the 2021 draft to the Coyotes for goaltender Frederick Andersen. "There is not much to say but respect and admiration, Braden was a true pro for 7 years... that's how long we've had him, 7 years of regular seasons that got us to the playoffs and no player has been a bigger part of our success than him. I wouldn't say it was time or anything but with the direction of our team this season and in the future we just thought it was the right move for us," GM Josh Guertler told reporters.

Holtby practically owns the DCHL goaltending record books, beginning in the first season of the DCHL in 2016-2017, he leads in every key category. Holtby's 202 wins is 20 more than the next highest goaltender, he leads with 22 shutouts, his 2.22 GAA is the lowest of any goaltender with more than 100 games, and his .923 Sv% is higher than any goaltender with more than 207 games. By all accounts he has been the best goaltender in the history of the DCHL, even picking up a 2020 Vezina Trophy awarded to the league's top goaltender (and probably 1 or 2 more but I cannot honestly remember).

Holtby's 32 playoffs wins are 2nd most in DCHL history, only 4 behind Pekka Rinne as the leader. "Braden got us so close, literally a game away back in 2018 from winning it all and I wish more than anything we could have won with him here. Unfortunately the business side complicates the situation sometimes and we needed some flexibility. We are excited to bring on Frederick [Andersen] and hope he can pick up where Braden left off for us," GM Guertler stated.

This trade has certainly sent shockwaves through the locker room and the fan base, it will be on the team to see if it can shift them into a higher gear down the stretch and into the playoffs.