Oct. 12: According to a team announcement, the Red Wings officially summoned Holl from AHL Grand Rapids this morning.
Oct. 11: The Detroit Red Wings are expected to recall defender Justin Holl from the minor leagues as Jeff Petry (upper-body) deals with a day-to-day injury, shares Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. Petry left the team’s Thursday night game partway through the second period, though it wasn’t clear when he sustained the injury. He recorded one shot, one hit, and a -1 in nine minutes of ice time. At the least, he is expected to miss Detroit’s Saturday game.
This move gives Holl another chance at earning a role with the Red Wings after failing to make the team out of training camp. That resulted in Holl being placed on waivers and sent to the minor leagues for the first time since the 2017-18 season when he played an integral role on the Calder Cup Championship-winning Toronto Marlies. Holl used that season to spring into the NHL, grabbing onto the seventh-defender role for the Maple Leafs in 2018-19 and earning an everyday role in 2019-20.
He’d record 285 games across six seasons with the Leafs – recording 11 goals, 82 points, and 150 penalty minutes. That wasn’t enough to hang onto his spot amid Toronto’s blue-line flux last summer, leading Holl to sign a three-year, $10.2MM deal with the Red Wings in 2023. He worked into 38 games with Detroit last season, netting five assists and 22 penalty minutes but failing to score. That poor performance foreshadowed the 32-year-old’s downfall, and he now finds himself grappling for any NHL minutes just over a year after signing his multi-year deal.
This injury doesn’t guarantee Holl’s path to a role. Wings head coach Derek Lalonde adds that the team is considering utilizing seven defenders – including Albert Johansson – until Petry returns. Johansson managed 21 points in 66 AHL games last season while emerging as a capable defender with an effective reach on his side of the red line. He survived Detroit’s training camp cuts and would be making his NHL debut, should Lalonde choose to deploy him.
Lalonde is a mess. He usage of players is terrible. Thier performance last night is the same old poor play from last year. He should be fired. Hire Quenneville, maybe he can bring some exciting hockey back to the “D”
He can only use what Stevie has given him. Stevie did not fix the weak D.
They look like the same old stale team. Any other GM would be on the hot seat and the coach will go first.
I feel like we need Holl, Woll and Jared Boll on the same team.
The Pittsburgh game reminded me of the lousy D coverage of a couple of years ago. So many missed assignments right out front of Husso. I am very skeptical of Husso, but he did a pretty good job despite the poor D zone coverage so the GA was kept down. This is basic D zone priority. Anyone without the puck is a serious,….very serious threat. I can’t understand how pro players make NHL teams and still do not recognize the loose man (THEIR loose man) until the puck is in their net. EVERYONE has D zone responsibilities. Until they act accordingly, frustration will abound.
Still don’t get why the overpay mediocre guys like Chiarot and Holl on the free agent market and then just give away a pretty good player like Walman for free.
Yea fire everyone after one game….SONK. Jesus, just sit back and watch the show. Have an opinion after a month or so, NOT one game.
I just hate how NHL hockey teams disclose injuries with “Upper Body” and “Lower Body” designations… what do they think they’re doing protecting nuclear secrets? Get a life NHL teams, this is a sport not a matter of national security
Holl is not flashy but where he’s supposed to be for the most part. Nashville game showed a rebound from the D Zone disaster of the Pittsburgh game. That was a full team failure with shockingly, only Husso preventing a potential double digit loss. Who knows, maybe it really was injury that showed Husso in such bad light last year. Keep watching for a pattern.
Modern day pro hockey is a high speed, multi level chess game played with temperamental chess pieces that often move to squares they don’t belong on.