Capitals' Holtby: 'I want to fight for every game I can play'

Rumor has it Washington Capitals GM Brian MacLellan and head coach Barry Trotz have tabbed Braden Holtby as the team's No. 1 netminder heading into the 2014-15 season, hoping to stop the franchise's recent crease carousel. 

The 24-year-old acknowledged to Alex Prewitt of The Washington Post that he, too, heard those rumblings, but was quick to add he won't be resting on his laurels any time soon:

It’s nice to have some confidence in you to start. But I always know in the past, and obviously the last few years, you’re only as good as the game you start next. It’s nice to have confidence in me that they believe in what I can do, and I do as well, but once we get on the ice, I want to fight for every game I can play and make sure that confidence is in the right place and it’s up to me to find it.

The team is in the midst of a mini reboot after missing the playoffs for the first time in seven years, and Holtby appears rather excited about the changes the club has made this offseason:

It’s an exciting time right now. With the changes we’ve made, the additions we made with our staff and players, it’s exciting. I think all of us returning – I can’t speak for everyone else – but for myself it’s pretty easy to find the extra motivation to train and stuff, because of the excitement to get back on the ice with the group we have and the potential we have as a group already. It’s exciting. Motivation is easy when you have a group like that.

Holtby, who will be backed up by Justin Peters, boasts 105 regular-season appearances, with a slightly above-average .919 save percentage.

In order for the Capitals to regain the look of a Stanley Cup contender, he will need to demonstrate the ability to be a consistent, elite-level goalie.