The Golden Knights have agreed to terms on a two-year contract with free agent defenseman Nick Holden, according to a report from TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.
Nick Holden deal now official in Vegas: two years, $4.4 million total ($2.6 M in Year 1, $1.8 M in Year 2)
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 1, 2018
Holden, 31, registered 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 55 games with the New York Rangers last season before he was traded to the Boston Bruins at the NHL Trade Deadline for a third-round pick and defenseman Rob O’Gara.
In 18 games with the Bruins, Holden registered five points (one goal, four assists) and a minus-two rating. He also notched one assist in two playoff games, but he was mostly a healthy scratch during the postseason.
When you get into the fancy stats, Holden was an average defenseman during 5-on-5 play last season, posting a 47.34 CF%, 99.84 PDO and a 50.23 Quality of Competition CF%. In other words, he was a steady bottom-pairing player but nothing special.
With Luca Sbisa likely not returning to Vegas, Holden should fill in as his replacement and will likely provide an upgrade over depth defensemen like Jon Merrill and Brad Hunt. Either way, he figures to be a bottom-pairing player for the Knights.
Although restricted free agents Shea Theodore and Colin Miller have yet to reach agreements with the Knights, Vegas’ blue line is starting to take shape with Holden set to join Nate Schmidt, Brayden McNabb, Deryk Engelland, Merrill and Hunt.
Now that the Knights have signed Paul Stastny and Holden, it has been a busy day for George McPhee, to say the least.