Former Toronto Maple Leafs Center Gets a PTO With Avs

Former Toronto Maple Leafs center Peter Holland has signed on with the Colorado Avalanche on a Professional Tryout (PTO) contract for this upcoming training camp.

Holland joined the Toronto Maple Leafs almost a decade ago in November 2013 when they acquired him from the Anaheim Ducks for prospect Jesse Blacker, along with a second round pick that turned into Marcus Pettersson (currently with the Pittsburgh Penguins) and a seventh round pick that turned out to be former Maple Leaf Ondrej Kase.

The Maple Leafs general manager who made the deal was Dave Nonis and acquired Holland with high hopes that the former first round pick could find his way in Toronto as he was nearly a point per game player in the American Hockey League as a 22-year old.

The Toronto native was part of the darkest years of the Maple Leafs that saw them finish at the bottom of the standings in 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.  He was around for brief moment during Auston Matthews’ first season, but with the franchise finally having depth up the middle he was traded to the Arizona Coyotes in 2016-17.

Holland has bounced around since leaving the Toronto Maple Leafs

Since leaving Toronto, Holland played in the NHL with Arizona and the New York Rangers, while playing in the American Hockey League for the Laval Rocket, Hartford Wolf Pack and Rockford IceHogs.

His North American career came to an end after the 2018-19 season when he went over to Russia to play in Yekaterinburg for a couple of seasons in the KHL and then one season in Sweden for Djugardens.

Some radio listeners may be more recently familiar with Holland as he was a repeat guest on TSN Radio after deciding not to play hockey this last off-season.  In June he stated on TSN 1050 that he was working on a comeback and was working with Gary Roberts.

Holland stated he was trying to keep the comeback under the radar but a tweet by Darren Dreger let the “cat out of the bag”.   He further stated he started working on a return last season and questioned himself back in December, but decided he did not want to wake up at 45 years old and regret not making an attempt.

Holland has played 266 career NHL games with 174 being with the Toronto Maple Leafs where he scored 25 goals and 63 points, however has never played in a playoff game.  If he can crack the Colorado Avalanche he may be finally be able to suit up in the world’s hardest tournament.