The Justin Holl dilemma has a fairly simple solution
Do any of you remember that hilariously brief topic of Justin Holl for the Norris shortly after the Leafs conquered the Edmonton Oilers in Alberta? All jokes aside, Leafs Nation really thought they found that right-handed defenseman they had been searching for since Dimitri Yushkevich left town. We have been through the ringer with this role. Tyson Barrie, Cody Ceci, Mike Komisarek.. needless to say Justin Holl seemed to be the answer for a time.
I'm sure Holl is a good guy, and before I continue, this is going to be as objectively fair and as constructive as possible. I have been a Leafs fan for 31 years, and I struggle to remember a guy who has all the tools, yet continually drops the tool box off of the scaffolding killing his co workers below - Jack Campbell and Jake Muzzin in this case.
I don't think Justin Holl was ever truly a good defenseman. I think Jake Muzzin was good enough to hide his mistakes. You can say what you want about Mike Babcock, but even a broken clock is right two times a day, and Babcock appears to have been right about Holl's abilities, at least from a consistency standpoint.
The dilemma here isn't if the man is a good hockey player or not, it's whether or not he is even a viable NHL defenseman. His play this season would indicate that, at the very least, he is nowhere near good enough to be a top-4 defenseman.
But what can be done at this point? If the Leafs take Holl out of the picture, that leaves us with Rielly, Brodie, Muzzin, Sandin, Liljegren and Dermott. After that, it's a gaping abyss of dread until some of their young defensemen reach NHL-caliber status. Is what we have in the aforementioned 6 enough? Is there an inexpensive option somewhere out there that can improve the quality of our defense and buy us time until some of our prospects are ready to step into the NHL?
There are question marks surrounding Muzzin as well. Hopefully they evaporate as we move closer to the spring. The point of all of this is, The Leafs need good to great performances from these men listed. If they are ever going to get that monkey off their backs, this issue needs to be fixed. Otherwise, we face the potential of the annual embarrassment in the postseason. I, for one, hate that tradition.
Justin Holl might be a good person, and there might be a fit for him somewhere in the NHL, but I certainly don't think that place is in Toronto. The Leafs should try to find Holl a fresh start somewhere - even if that means waiving him if a deal cannot be reached with another team.
