Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Peter Holland To Arizona
The Toronto Maple Leafs have found a home for Peter Holland.
The Arizona Coyotes will be the new home for Toronto Maple Leafs forward Peter Holland after the Leafs struck a deal for a conditional pick to unload Holland off the roster.
Holland had minimal success in Toronto and perhaps will enjoy more in Arizona with a fresh start, but this is a move the Leafs needed to make.
The most unfortunate part of this whole situation is that it could have been avoided.
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Rather than let Holland walk in the off-season like they should have, the Toronto Maple Leafs decided it was a good idea to bog down their one-way roster and give him a contract that, frankly, he didn’t deserve.
Handing out a $1.3M contract to a player who couldn’t easily be demoted, and figured only to be a fourth line player, was a questionable move back in July.
Hollands continued struggles at the NHL level to be an effective player proved that over the course of his eight games in the 2016-2017 season.
With the amount of youth in the Leafs system – and youth that were NHL ready – combined with the players the Leafs couldn’t get rid of, and questionably signed as UFA’s, there was no realistic room for Holland.
Holland finishes his Leafs career with 63 points in 174 games over four seasons.
That marks the first move of Lou Lamoriello’s rewind on the 2016 NHL off-season. Next up is back-up goaltender Jhonas Enroth, whose time is ultimately over with the Leafs.
If Lamoriello is able to move Enroth – or they simply mutually part ways – that will be two of Uncle Lou’s off-season moves that he managed to go back on before the clock struck 2017.
In Enroth’s case, there was potential – a lot of potential – for him to be a trade-bait player at the deadline. It didn’t work out, and that’s how it goes, but Holland should have never been a Leaf beyond the end of last season.
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