The Leafs were back at practice on Tuesday after a day off on Monday and there was a pretty surprising face skating as an extra, which means that he could be a healthy scratch on Wednesday. Justin Holl, who is a pending UFA, skated alongside Jordie Benn on the team's 4th pair, with Conor Timmins sliding up to play with Rasmus Sandin on the 3rd pair.
Both the Arizona Coyotes and Columbus Blue Jackets have announced this week that Jakob Chychrun and Vladislav Gavrikov would be healthy scratches this week to preserve their health as their teams look to facilitate trades. Is there a chance that the Leafs view Holl as the odd-man out? Is there a scenario in which the Leafs could pursue a deal for another RHD that is an upgrade over Holl? In that case, could we see the Leafs move Holl to another team as a precursor to help create some additional cap space by moving his $2M cap hit?
We certainly have more questions than answers right now, but this is certainly a bit of a head scratcher, especially with how well Holl had played at points this season for Toronto, while Muzzin, Rielly and Brodie were all out with injuries.
POLL | ||
14 FEVRIER | 357 ANSWERS Leafs defenseman and pending UFA projects to be a healthy scratch; could Dubas be prepping for a trade? Are the Leafs preparing to trade Justin Holl? | ||
Yes | 225 | 63 % |
No | 48 | 13.4 % |
Just a roster move to rotate another D in | 84 | 23.5 % |
List of polls |