The Vancouver Canucks announced Friday they have signed goaltender Braden Holtby to a two-year contract.
The move means the Canucks are moving on from star netminder Jacob Markstrom, who hit the free-agent market on Friday.
Holtby’s deal is worth $4.3 million a season. He backstopped the Washington Capitals to their first Stanley Cup in 2018.
The Canucks also re-signed forward Tyler Motte to a two-year extension at an annual average salary of $1.225 million.
Markstrom helped lead the Canucks into the second round of this year’s playoffs, often standing on his head behind a team that gave up the third-most shots in the regular season.
Holtby struggled with the Capitals last season as his save percentage fell to .897 with a 3.11 goals-against average.
He’s likely to back up Vancouver’s up-and-coming netminder Thatcher Demko, who stole a pair of games for the Canucks in their playoff run this summer and had a 13-10-2 record with a .905 save percentage in regular-season play.
Elsewhere, New Westminster’s Kyle Turris signed a two-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers worth $1.65 million per season. The 31-year-old spent the past three seasons with the Nashville Predators.
— With files from Gord Macdonald and The Canadian Press
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