Capitals GM MacLellan: Signing of Peters intended to send a message to Holtby

The Washington Capitals signed free agent goaltender Justin Peters to a two-year contract on July 1, and according to general manager Brian MacLellan, the addition was designed to "send the right message" to incumbent Braden Holtby.

As per Chuck Gormley of CSN Washington:

We want Holtby to be our guy and we want him to be supported by a good backup. Peters is a good backup in our mind and he has some upside, too. He’s 28 years old, he’s still a young guy. He’s a good teammate, he gets along with the No. 1 guys he’s played with, so we thought it was a match that way.

I mean, if you bring in an older, experienced guy it’s going to cost us more money and it might have been a little more pressure on Holtby. 

We wanted to send a message to Holtby that he’s our No. 1 guy.

Holtby, 24, showed great promise early in his career, but posted a .915 save percentage last season, his lowest to date at the NHL level. 

The decision not to retain the rights to Jaroslav Halak followed by the signing of a fairly untested Peters signals Holtby will be given every opportunity to lead the Capitals back to the postseason, and he'll likely get more support from his Washington teammates under new head coach Barry Trotz.