The Return of Pontus Holmberg to the Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs found a diamond in the rough earlier in the season but with a roster recently stocked with trade deadline acquisitions, it looked like Pontus Holmerg would have to wait until next season to make an impact in the NHL.

Unfortunately, the Toronto Maple Leafs biggest acquisition – Ryan O’Reily – is now out with a broken finger ostensibly caused by the bad karma of letting Auston Matthews return to a meaningless game he didn’t need to play in.

Though he’ll likely be back before the season ends, it’s still a pretty big letdown for O’Reilly to get injured so soon after joining the Leafs.

On the positive side, Pontus Homlberg gets another chance to make himself into a playoff option.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Pontus Holberg

Holmberg has gotten into 36 games this year, averaging just under ten minutes per game.  He has scored 2 points per 60 minutes of 5v5 ice time, which ranks him 9th of the 39 players to play for the Leafs this year.  He is seventh in total p/60 if you only count players who have played at least ten games.

Holmberg is just slightly underwater when it comes to shot attempts, even in shots, and even in expected goals.  The Leafs have won his minutes by two goals, and his offense is likely overrated (such that its rated at all) due to a 16% shooting percentage he won’t sustain.

He doesn’t play special teams, he doesn’t score too much, and the main thing about him seems to be that the coach likes him and his teammates praise him.  He isn’t small, but he’s not particularly big and he seems to look like he tries hard, but he’s really one of those guys you don’t notice too much unless you’re looking for him specifically or he scores.

He had one opportunity to play with the Leafs good players above the fourth line and unfortunately he took two penalties and was instantly demoted. (stats naturalstattrick.com)

This may seem a case of damning with feint praise, but a 23 year old who breaks even in his minutes, doesn’t hurt the team, has no cap hit to speak of, and is smart and responsible enough that the coach trusts him is not nothing.

It’s actually quite a valuable depth piece, especially when you consider that he’s a rookie with upside who only stands to get better, even if it’s just the learning the league and gaining experience kind of better (as opposed to developing untapped potential).

Overall, I think Holmberg might have some sneaky-good offensive potential, but that he’s smart and good enough defensively that he isn’t going to hurt you.  I wouldn’t ever expect him to become a star, but he’s probably someone they thought about when they decided they could live without Pierre Engvall.

Going forward, it is entirely possible that Holmberg can earn a job for the playoffs ahead of someone like Acciar, Lafferty, Aston-Reese or even David Kampf.