Yes, Justin Holl can be a valuable player somewhere, even if it’s not with the Detroit Red Wings. Holl drove that point home this season when he failed spectacularly in so many facets, putting up eight points and two goals, along with a minus-7, in 73 games.
Those numbers alone are bad enough to make you expendable, without mentioning the fact you couldn’t even break through the 15-minute mark in average total ice time. At the end of the day, two different bench bosses couldn’t fix Holl. And although he’s got a year left on his contract, the Wings can still salvage their losses and get something for him in return.
It may not be much, but the following three teams may be more than happy to take on Holl and see if they can fix him.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Because why not try to get a player back who played moderately well for you, right? We’re quick to forget that Justin Holl wasn’t bad with the Maple Leafs, averaging 19:40 per contest across 285 games. He also averaged 20-plus minutes per contest in the three seasons before he came to Hockeytown.
Holl finished with plus-13 or better between 2019-20 and 2022-23, he was a physical player whose hits and blocks crept into the triple digits, and he regularly played on the top four, as implied earlier. While Holl wouldn’t be that player at this point in his career, the point is, there’s a chance he can still play if the Wings ship him back to Ontario.
And with the possibility of Mitch Marner going elsewhere, the Leafs should more than have enough cap space to fit in his contract without asking the Wings to retain some of it.
Anaheim Ducks
With Chris Kreider being the most recent aging star to arrive in Southern California, it’s showing me that the Ducks are building a team with a blend of youth and experience. It’s hard to go wrong there, especially since it yielded them decent results this season, having put up a few more points than many of us thought.
It also shows that Anaheim’s not afraid to take on older players whose best days are behind them. That’s the case with Kreider, and his once-again teammate, Jacob Trouba. So I wouldn’t be shocked if the Ducks wanted to take a chance on Holl.
Plus, the Ducks will need to do a lot of negotiating starting this season with their defensive rotations, since five of them have expiring contracts following the 2025-26 campaign.
Pittsburgh Penguins
If the Penguins are serious about trying to put another winner on the ice for its aging core, acquiring Justin Holl wouldn’t be a bad move. As mentioned earlier, Holl can play when he’s in the right system or with the right team, and the Penguins would give him a change of scenery along with a strong sense of urgency.
That urgency could help bring Holl back to vintage form, and if he gets there, the Pens would have a player who can end sequences, get in front of shots, and land enough body checks for opponents to think twice about crossing them.
Holl wouldn’t be a game-changer in the Steel City, either. But he’d provide a much-needed asset who could potentially climb back up to playing top-four minutes.
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