Snapshots: Penguins, Toronto, AHL
The Pittsburgh Penguins still have their sights set on a Stanley Cup if the season ever resumes, but there are tough decisions coming at some point with regards to their goaltending situation. The writing staff at PHR gave our takes on what the team should do moving forward with Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry, but Josh Yohe of The Athletic (subscription required) asked Penguins GM Jim Rutherford directly.
Well, I’ll say this: If we are going to keep both of them, we’d have to move a few things around on our team. There is a way to do things and to make that work, yes. There are some very, very tough decisions ahead.
Jarry and Murray are both scheduled for restricted free agency when the season ends and with a stagnant salary cap there won’t be a ton of money lying around. With Jarry outperforming Murray all season long but not having the track record of his Stanley Cup-winning partner, a 2020 playoff run might be the deciding factor. Rutherford isn’t committing either way, but he hasn’t been shy about moving on from key players in the past.
- Ontario’s premier Doug Ford has discussed the idea of Toronto being a host city for the rest of the NHL season with Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. Edmonton and Vancouver had previously been discussed as possible host cities in Canada, although Justin Holl of the Toronto Maple Leafs had some interesting thoughts on returning to his team’s country. The Minnesota native told reporters on a conference call today that “the general consensus amongst American players is that we’ll wait until we have a concrete plan before we go back. Because you never know if you go back there and then you’re sitting around for another month or two.”
- The AHL has a conference call set for Friday afternoon according to Patrick Williams of NHL.com, which could be when the league announces that they have canceled the rest of the season. The minor league generates a huge amount of their revenue from ticket sales, something that won’t be gathered if fans aren’t allowed to attend the event. As Williams points out, if the AHL does cancel the playoffs, it would be the first time since 1937 that the Calder Cup has not been awarded.
Justin Holl Signs Three-Year Extension
The Toronto Maple Leafs have locked up one of their unexpected contributors, signing Justin Holl to a three-year extension. The deal will carry an average annual value of $2MM and keeps Holl under contract through the 2022-23 season.
If you want a success story based on hard work, determination and patience, look no further than Holl. The right-handed defenseman was originally a second-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, but after playing four years at the University of Minnesota failed to earn himself an NHL entry-level contract. Instead, Holl would take his talents to the ECHL where he played 66 games for the Indy Fuel and starred, resulting in an invitation to Toronto training camp in 2015.
That invitation wasn’t to play for the Maple Leafs though. Holl was with the Toronto Marlies for the training camp and eventually earned himself an AHL contract, a deal that would turn out to be very valuable to the Maple Leafs’ organization. After an excellent 2015-16 season with the Marlies–under Sheldon Keefe, who now coaches the Maple Leafs–Holl signed his first NHL contract. Still, he didn’t make his debut until the 2017-18 season and then was made a healthy scratch 71 times under Mike Babcock in 2018-19.
This year has been completely different. Taking a full-time role early in the year, Holl has developed into a legitimate top-four option for the Maple Leafs and arguably their best right-handed defensive option. While Tyson Barrie was brought in to provide offense, Holl has been a much more reliable player in his own end, even forming a sort of shutdown pairing with Jake Muzzin before the latter broke his foot recently.
When it came to the future on defense for the Maple Leafs, it was hard to know exactly what the plan was. Among the team’s regulars only Morgan Rielly was signed for next season, with Holl, Muzzin, Barrie, Cody Ceci and Martin Marincin all scheduled for unrestricted free agency. Travis Dermott is a restricted free agent and will also need a raise, something that complicates things for the Toronto front office. The team is already paying out so much money to their forward group that the budget for defense will be tight, and likely means at least one of Muzzin or Barrie will have to be let go.
This relatively cheap deal will help that situation, though there is still some risk in the contract. Holl has played only 51 NHL games to this point thanks to the year he spent in the press box, and will turn 28 in a month’s time. There’s no guarantee that he will continue to perform at a top level, or even provide $2MM in value. The Maple Leafs are already walking a tight rope in terms of cap flexibility, meaning there will be pressure on Holl to make sure he can stay in the lineup and performing for the next several years.
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