Sportsnet: Holl: "I gotta make it happen"

[OVO16]

Sigh, Another soft defenseman?

I mean yeah...he looked good in terms of pace and stick handling. Seems to have some puck smarts in the limited time I saw him. But he seemed really slow footed and soft, especially for a guy his size.

We have enough of those D-Man as is...I really want give a guy like Borman and Ozhighanov a chance. Add a different element to our team

 

[thewave]

Sigh, Another soft defenseman?

I mean yeah...he looked good in terms of pace and stick handling. Seems to have some puck smarts in the limited time I saw him. But he seemed really slow footed and soft, especially for a guy his size.

We have enough of those D-Man as is...I really want give a guy like Borman and Ozhighanov a chance. Add a different element to our team

Who knows what will happen. That's why we have pre season and all that.

 

[Warden of the North]

Why would he do that?

And even if he did, you want him up against the best players in the league? I dont want Holl against Ovie, Kane, McD, Crosby etc

 

[LeafGrief]

I'm rooting for every guy in this organization, but I will be among the surprised if Holl makes the team. He's right, he's gotta be the one to make it happen and steal a job, but I don't have high expectations for him. If he's a capable pressbox defenceman this year and gets into 15-20 games this year, that's a success in my book. I'm not particularly enamoured with Carrick either, but he's the much better option for 3rd pairing RD IMO.

Rielly - Dermott
Gardiner - Zaitsev
Hainsey - Carrick

Borgman - Holl in the box, though my money is on Holl playing the year with the Marlies.

 

[Clark4Ever]

I think he will get a look this season. We will inevitably need reinforcements due to injuries and he is definitely in our top 8-9 defencemen in terms of depth.

 

[Morbo]

He was my sleeper pick this year, and perhaps simply cracking the Leafs roster would qualify.

yeah it's a decent choice. we know Dubas already likes him. And the 5-7 spots are anything but settled.

 

[IPS]

What on earth makes you think Holl is ready for top pairing duties?

The 0.5% chance of him having a rookie season like Brian Dumoulin's I guess (who actually had a very similar upbringing to Holl in Pittsburgh's system).

 

[Slyfox]

Can we try:
Dermott - Rielly
Gardiner - Carrick
Hainsey - Zaitsev

 

[FreeBird]

The 0.5% chance of him having a rookie season like Brian Dumoulin's I guess (who actually had a very similar upbringing to Holl in Pittsburgh's system).

If he can up his Physicality his other attributes are of NHL calibre.

 

[Ciao]

I would like to see more of him before I make up my mind.

I did like his play with Dermott, but it was too small a sample to form much of a judgement.

 

[Duke Silver]

Curious if the people writing him off have seen anything more than the 2 games he played with the Leafs.

To see people say he's soft or slow makes me question if they were paying attention at all.

 

[Falon]

I like Holl, and think he is a 7th or 8th d-man. Hoping for more is setting yourself up for disappointment. I am the most intrigued by Ozi, as he has played for years in the second best league in the world. He is my sleeper pick for someone with potential to truly surprise.

 

[Damisoph]

This is where we need one of these guys to take a step and evolve into a top 4D man. We have plenty of these wildcards, Rosen/Borgman/Holl/Ozhi-whatever/Lilj...someone needs to step up.

 

[HandshakeLineRespect]

Why do people keep advocating moving our left shot d to the right side? We’ve already seen these experiments with Reilly and Gardiner and clearly they don’t like it and aren’t at their best. Now people want Dermott to play his off side? No thanks. Hainsey is the only one who can play the ride side d comfortably and also the fact that Babs wants his defence balanced. Stop coming up with these cockamamie d pairings.

 

[mapleleaf979]

Sigh, Another soft defenseman?

I mean yeah...he looked good in terms of pace and stick handling. Seems to have some puck smarts in the limited time I saw him. But he seemed really slow footed and soft, especially for a guy his size.

We have enough of those D-Man as is...I really want give a guy like Borman and Ozhighanov a chance. Add a different element to our team

His first 3 strides and the stop and re-start will keep him out of the NHL. His long reach compensates for this in the AHL. Guys in the NHL are too smart and skate too well.

 

[Iapyi]

Holl was my dark horse pick to make the team last year, I'd like to see him make the grade based on what I've seen from him on the Marlies, he plays the style of game we need on the team.

 

[Gabriel426]

What I liked beside his two goals was his confidence and comfort level in both games. Didn’t seem to panic when the other teams were pressing.

 

[CanadasTeam]

We have a few D ahead of him. My prediction is Holl becomes the Josh Leivo of the defense.. At best, make the club but won’t get to play regularly.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I do not see him getting much of a shot. Out of the guys on the Marlies alone, he's behind Marincin and Rosen for ice time. Add in Borgman, Carrick, Ozhiganov and Dermott all ahead of him as well for 3 spots (I doubt they use 8 spots on defense over 14 at forward), then you are facing an uphill battle if you are Holl. He is an AHL vet not much unlike Loverde. Maybe he gets more opportunities than Loverde, but his value is to the Marlies, not the Leafs. It'll take a lot of underperforming players or injuries for him to get any sort of legitimate ice time in the NHL.

 

[Boutette]

I do not see him getting much of a shot. Out of the guys on the Marlies alone, he's behind Marincin and Rosen for ice time. Add in Borgman, Carrick, Ozhiganov and Dermott all ahead of him as well for 3 spots (I doubt they use 8 spots on defense over 14 at forward), then you are facing an uphill battle if you are Holl. He is an AHL vet not much unlike Loverde. Maybe he gets more opportunities than Loverde, but his value is to the Marlies, not the Leafs. It'll take a lot of underperforming players or injuries for him to get any sort of legitimate ice time in the NHL.

The Leafs pretty much have a top 10 LD and a bottom 10 RD.

So, how many of these players you describe as being ahead of Holl are actually RD? Marincin? Who played himself off the leafs pretty much permanently and then took a major paycut? Ozy? Who's never played a game in NA and was at best a bottom pairing player in the KHL last year? Carrick? who Babcock seems to prefer in the pressbox? Sure its uphill, but given T.Os lack of decent RD, not as high a grade as you suggest.

 

[inthe6ix]

Like Holl, but don't want him ahead of Ozhighanov who I want to be given a fair shot at that #6 slot.

 

[A1LeafNation]

The way ppl on the Leafs seem to be talking about Holl, he could be the next Hyman.