Brutal shift from Alex Kerfoot and Justin Holl last night has Leafs Nation chomping at the bit to get rid of them
In 2021, the Leafs pulled off a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins to acquire forward Jared McCann, which surprised much of Leafs Nation, considering that there was an expansion draft coming up. The thought process among the fans was that the Leafs would opt to protect McCann, exposing Alexander Kerfoot and Justin Holl to Seattle. In the end, the Leafs decided to instead protect Holl and expose both McCann and Kerfoot, which did not sit well with the fanbase - especially after McCann was selected by Seattle.
Since that time, perhaps even beforehand, Holl and Kerfoot were the two players Leaf fans want traded or scratched on a nightly basis. Instead, not only are Holl and Kerfoot still Leafs, but they're also both heavily leaned on by head coach Sheldon Keefe.
Leaf Nation now has another reason to want them gone, thanks to a brutal sequence from the game last night against New Jersey. First, Kerfoot passed into Holl's skates, which led to Kerfoot trying to chip the puck up the boards while being pressured. That pressure caused Kerfoot to poke the puck back to Holl who then, instead of retreating behind the net or lifting the puck out, tried to make a pass up the middle at the blueline which was picked off by Jack Hughes, forcing Matt Murray to make a difficult save.
What should've been a simple out turned into a scoring chance against. But given how glaring the mistakes Kerfoot and Holl have made this season so far, it has almost become expected at least once per game. I know many are counting down the days until one or both are moved. I'm starting to worry, though, that it may not happen until both become UFAs this summer. I also shudder to think about the potential of the Leafs re-signing one or both players.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 18 | 262 ANSWERS Brutal shift from Alex Kerfoot and Justin Holl last night has Leafs Nation chomping at the bit to get rid of them Should the Leafs move Holl and Kerfoot? | ||
| Yes | 136 | 51.9 % |
| Kerfoot but not Holl | 18 | 6.9 % |
| Holl but not Kerfoot | 88 | 33.6 % |
| They shouldn't move either player | 20 | 7.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
