ST. PAUL, Minn. — At this time last season Justin Holl felt he was grinding away for “nothing.”
He was technically a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, albeit one who basically only did long, lonely conditioning skates and then watched games from the press box.
Well imagine how different Holl feels at the dawning of a new year after signing a $6-million, three-year extension with the Leafs just hours before facing his hometown Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.
If the NHL had an award for comeback player of the year, he’d be a front-runner. The 27-year-old was scratched 71 times last season and is now playing nearly 20 minutes per night — making him indispensable to an organization short on right-shot defencemen in the process.
That seemed unlikely when he couldn’t even get a sniff of playing time in his first full NHL campaign. Holl played 137 minutes total in 2018-19 and told Sportsnet earlier this season that if felt bleak “pretty much at all times.”
“I think when you just think of playing 11 games out of 82, it’s a lot of practices, a lot of bag skates, for not a lot of reward,” he said. “It’s tough. You don’t get the fun part, which is the games.
“It felt like you were kind of grinding away for nothing.”
He’s found even more of a footing in the lineup since Sheldon Keefe replaced Mike Babcock as Leafs coach on Nov. 20.
Get the best of our NHL coverage and exclusives delivered directly to your inbox!
NHL Newsletter
Those two had plenty of familiarity after three American Hockey League seasons together and Keefe quickly elevated Holl to the shutdown pairing with Jake Muzzin, where he’s largely thrived.
Holl’s story is one of perseverance.
A second-round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, he started his pro career in the ECHL. He originally arrived in Toronto on an AHL-only deal and had to work his way up from a spare part with the Marlies to a key member of the Calder Cup-winning team in 2018.
His progression has continued in the NHL and comes at an important time for the Leafs, who still have three pending unrestricted free agents on their blue line (Muzzin, Tyson Barrie, Cody Ceci) along with restricted free agent Travis Dermott.
Holl could have tested the open market himself on July 1, but opted instead to repay the loyalty he’s been shown in Toronto while getting a level of financial security few would have thought possible for him.
“I want to make it work here and I want to play on this team because there’s so many great players and they make it easy on you,” Holl said in October. “That’s my main goal. I love it here. This is my fifth year (with the organization) and playing here is great.”
