Daily Faceoff’s Shane Seney discusses Eastern Conference players who need “bounce-back seasons,” and he includes Red Wings defenseman Justin Holl on his list:
Justin Holl, Detroit Red Wings
2023-24 Stats: 38 GP, 0 G, 5 A, 5 PtsYear 1 of Holl’s $10.2 million contract did not go over very well in Detroit as he was a healthy scratch throughout portions of the regular season. He’s at his best when he’s keeping things simple, clearing out the front of the net and being effective on the penalty kill. Not a lot of anything went right for Holl last year. With a $3.4-million cap hit, GM Steve Yzerman is hopeful Holl can improve in year two, or else this contract could go down as one of Yzerman’s biggest mistakes. That’s assuming Holl can still crack the lineup as a regular. With Erik Gustafsson in the fray now, it’s possible Holl opens the year as Detroit’s seventh defenseman.
Continued; the Red Wings are hoping that Holl can do anything positive at this point, or he’ll be waived and sent to Grand Rapids (in my opinion). We’ll see how things shake out injury-wise over the course of training camp and the exhibition season.
