TORONTO — Everywhere Dave Nonis looked, teams were trying to unload their high-paid problems on a general manager who seemed desperate to make a deal. The Toronto Maple Leafs were without their top three centres and their offence was sputtering. James van Riemsdyk, who was moved from the wing to the middle, had gone five games without a goal.
The Leafs, who had lost to the last-place Buffalo Sabres, were screaming out for a solution. But Nonis, who had offers, refused to make a short-term fix that would become a long-term burden.
Instead, the Leafs traded for a 22-year-old former first-round pick whose impact today might not be as significant as it is in the future.
“It’s not just a short-term solution,” said Nonis, after acquiring Peter Holland, along with Brad Staubitz, from the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday for Jesse Blacker, a conditional third-round and a seventh-round pick in the 2014 draft. “We look at the long term for him and we think he has the potential to be a long-term player for us. Whether or not he continues to contribute here will depend on his play.”
From the outside looking in, the trade for Holland appeared to be a knee-jerk reaction following the three-game suspension Nazem Kadri received Thursday. But Nonis said the Leafs had been in talks to acquire the 6-foot-2 centre as early as last season. Those talks heated up again shortly after Dave Bolland’s ankle tendon was severed two weeks ago, joining Tyler Bozak on the long-term injured reserve.
It was a trade, Nonis said, he would have made regardless of the team’s shortage down the middle.
“From our standpoint, it accomplishes two goals,” Nonis said of acquiring Holland, who was the Norfolk Admirals’ leading scorer with five goals and nine points in 10 games. “It provides a centre for now that is capable of playing, but it also gives us depth at a position that we’re lacking. And he’s still on his entry-level (contract).
“He’s a guy that has upside. Whether he realizes that potential or not remains to be seen but we think there’s an opportunity for him to turn into a solid player for us.”