Peter Holland has been traded to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a conditional sixth-round draft pick in 2018.
If Peter Holland is re-signed or traded by #coyotes, the #leafs get a 2018 sixth-rounder. If not, they get nothing.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) December 9, 2016
After a determined effort in training camp and preseason took Holland from probable waiver bait to the opening-night fourth line centerman, the early results alongside Matt Martin and Connor Brown were promising. The trio managed to break even in possession — Holland was a 52.7% Corsi For in his 44 even-strength minutes alongside Connor Brown, while Matt Martin was a 50% CF in his 56 5v5 minutes alongside Holland (that drops to 43.5% CF away from Holland, with Ben Smith taking over the 4C role).
Once the Maple Leafs claimed center Ben Smith for his penalty killing and faceoff acumen, however, the writing was on the wall for Holland. Babcock didn’t see the potential for Holland to play anything other than limited even strength minutes, and a perceived soft style of play — especially for an above-average sized player — never endeared him to the Leafs‘ head coach. Babcock moved Holland around from center to wing and back to center, but he ended up a healthy scratch for 17 of the first 25 games.
Holland and his agent requested a trade before the Maple Leafs last road trip out west and the 25-year-old was held back and kept away from the team during that time. His trade request was honoured today by Maple Leafs‘ GM Lou Lamoriello.
While the return is as negligible as it gets, without a contract coming back in the trade, the Leafs have brought their Standard Player Contracts total down to 47 while freeing up cap space on the remainder of Holland’s $1.3 milllion AAV contract. The Leafs have also opened up an active roster spot for Josh Leivo, who is healthy but was practising with the team while technically still on IR.
Holland was originally acquired from the Anaheim Ducks along with Brad Staubitz in exchange for Jesse Blacker, a conditional third pick, and a seventh round pick. That third round pick later became a second after Holland played more than 25 games during the 2013-14 season.
