Red Wings defenseman Justin Holl’s team won “Da Beauty League’s” title recently, earning a banged-up keg for their summertime hockey troubles. This morning, Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen discusses Holl’s status as something of a survivor among the Red Wings’ frequent scratches:
Holl is often a magnet for criticism. The much-maligned defender was a healthy scratch for all but three of Detroit’s final 32 games during the 2024-25 NHL campaign.
There were calls from parts of the fanbase for Holl’s contract to be bought out during the summer. He’s entering the second year of a three-year deal with an AAV of $3.4 million.
By contrast, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman has been suggesting over the summer that Holl, a right-hand shot, may be filling a role of more prominence during his second season in Detroit. The Red Wings are bereft of right shot defensemen beyond Moritz Seider.
“He’s an NHL defenseman,” Yzerman said of Holl. “Justin was a good player in the NHL and will be.”
Continued with an assortment of stories; if the Wings want to move Holl, they’ll probably have to wait until later this season to do so thanks to the term on his contract.
He can do the job of playing as a no-frills, shut-down defender, but he can also play inconsistently. At 6’4″ and 194 pounds, he can leave you wanting more in terms of physicality…
But it could be argued that Holl’s inconsistent play was in part due to his incredibly inconsistent ice time. He’s not a bad defenseman, just not somebody who kept up the level of play that he displayed early on in the 2023-2024 season. At 32 years of age, with those two years remaining on his contract, he appears to be the Red Wings’ reclamation project, for better or worse.
