Justin Holl: From the ECHL to the Toronto Maple Leafs Blueline

As an unsigned NHL draftee, Justin Holl has experienced quite an unusual career path.

The 6”4, 210 lbs native of Tonka Bay, Minnesota entered the 2010 NHL draft out of the University of Minnesota, where he was selected in the second round, 54th overall, by the Chicago Blackhawks. Instead of signing his entry-level contract with the Original Six franchise, Holl opted to honour his commitment to the Gophers and finish out his collegiate career back home.

Over the course of his four-year NCAA career, Holl amassed 38 points in 142 games, capping off his senior year with a Frozen Four appearance. When it came time to progress onto the next stage in his hockey career, Holl joined the Blackhawks franchise for the 2014-15 season, splitting time between the club’s ECHL and AHL affiliates.

After finishing the season with 34 points in 66 games with the Indy Fuel, Holl, still without an entry-level contract from the only NHL team had ever known, was offered an AHL deal from then Marlies GM Kyle Dubas to join the Toronto Maple Leafs farm system for the 2015-16 season.

Now, almost six years later, and having had played at all three levels the NHL has to offer, Holl has blossomed into a homegrown, minute-eating, smooth-skating, defensive machine to make up one half of the Leafs shutdown pairing.

I am sure if you ask the 28-year-old about that day when the Blackhawks never offered him a contract, he will tell you it was one of the hardest moments he has experienced. However, in 2021, Holl can look back on that faithful day and realize the turning point in his career came from one phone call from Mr. Dubas.

Holl and the Marlies

Quickly moving up the Marlies depth chart, then head coach Sheldon Keefe and GM Kyle Dubas saw something most did not in Holl. There was something about the potential in his game that forced Keefe and Dubas into the same position during a very unique interview.

In 2016, Steve Dangle had the opportunity to speak to both Keefe and Dubas, separately, about who they believed were the biggest surprises to come out of the Marlies season that year. Among forwards, both lauded Zach Hyman after the former Wolverine’s breakout performance for the Leafs that season. Safe to say that stamp of approval has worked out quite nicely for the duo.

But on the backend, interestingly enough, both Keefe and Dubas mentioned Holl as the guy who surprised most.

At the time, Dubas stated, “on defense I would say that the biggest surprise has been Justin Holl, who we signed in the offseason right in early July. He’s got good size, right shot, but an excellent skater and very, very confident with the puck, and able to make plays up the ice.”

What is incredibly fascinating about this interview is the same elements of Holl’s game that the now Leafs GM and head coach praised before are exactly what make Holl such an effective NHL defensemen nearly five years later.

That commendation is what made Holl the first guy called upon when a Leaf defensemen was out due to injury. On January 31st, 2018, Ron Hainsey was unable to dress for the Leafs, forcing the team to use an emergency recall to get Holl ready in time for puck drop.

And boy did he make an impact. Holl now holds the Toronto Maple Leafs record for scoring two goals in his first two career games as a defensemen. Following that night in 2018, Holl believed he had taken the next step in his development. However, that may have not been the case.

Holl’s Continued Success

A large portion of the fanbase and the media alike were skeptical of whether or not Holl would be able to build off of last year’s career season. After all, he had never put up numbers like those before.

But safe to say, through the team’s first seven games (stats as of January 26th), Holl has been the Leafs  best defensemen. He leads the blueline in hits and blocks, is second in takeaways, and is first in expected goals above replacement by a large margin – Holl sits at 2.4 whereas Muzzin is second at 0.6 (stats; evolving-hockey.com).

On a league-wide basis as well, it is hard to not love the steps Holl has taken to even further his development. Among defensemen to play at least 30 total minutes at 5-on-5, Holl is fourth in Corsi-for percentage, fifth in Fenwick-for percentage, first in shots-for percentage, fifth in expected goals-for percentage, 10th in scoring chances-for percentage, and tied for first in high-danger goals-for percentage (stats; naturalstattrick.com).

It is astonishing to see how far Holl has gone in his career to get to where he is today. From not receiving an NHL contract from the Blackhawks, to making his NHL debut at age-27, and becoming a full-time NHLer at age-28.

It is quite the testament to Holl’s determination and resilience to battle through and surpass expectations at every level he has played at. But a ton of credit needs to go to Kyle Dubas and the Leafs development team.

No one was able to see Holl’s potential in the same light Dubas did. Under his guidance, Toronto was able to build their first homegrown, right-shooting, defensive defensemen in a very long time.

Holl has been one of the best success stories to come out of the Toronto Maple Leafs over the last couple of years. Looking back at it, his three-year, $2 million AAV is looking rather pretty right about now.