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The Toronto Maple Leafs face a great deal of uncertainty going into the summer with more than half of their defensive corps heading to unrestricted free agency, but GM Kyle Dubas took a step towards limiting their exposure by signing Justin Holl to a three-year, $6 Million extension on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old blueliner has become a dependable piece this season after being a healthy scratch for 71 games last season. Holl has 11 points (1 goal, 10 assists) in 38 games this season, playing early in the season on the bottom pairing but in the top four alongside Jake Muzzin since the promotion of Sheldon Keefe from the American Hockey League.
The fact that Holl is being utilized in a larger role and under Keefe (who has been his coach since he signed with Toronto in 2016) is undoubtedly a factor in his agreeing to an extension. The benefit for the Leafs is to get a right-handed defenseman locked up at a $2 Million AAV.
The signing is comparable to what the Washington Capitals did with defensemen Michal Kempny and Nik Jensen, who didn’t make it to the NHL until their mid-20’s after playing in Europe and the NCAA. Both signed four-year, $10 Million deals ($2.5 Million) after some short-term success, which gave them long-term security and the Caps a reasonable cap hit.
If Holl continues to play in their top-four, his cap hit is a significant bargain, but would still be cost effective even if he eventually moves down to the bottom pairing. Toronto still has four pending unrestricted free agents in Tyson Barrie, Jake Muzzin, Cody Ceci, and Martin Marincin, and Travis Dermott as a restricted free agent.
Dubas still has a lot of work ahead of him before next season, Dermott could be signed to a bridge deal during the off-season, but they may be limited to trying to re-sign one of the three UFA’s to join Morgan Rielly, Holl, and rookies Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren on the blueline, unless they create some room by trading a forward like Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson, or William Nylander.
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The Leafs take on the Minnesota Wild at the Xcel Energy Center. The game is an earlier 6pm EST start to accommodate for New Year’s Eve. Toronto made some tinkering adjustments to their forward lines at the Ford Performance Centre on Monday, with Pierre Engvall shifting back to wing on a third line with Jason Spezza and Kasperi Kapanen, and Dmytro Timashov lining up with Frederik Gauthier and Adam Brooks, but no lineup changes are expected for their last contest in 2019, with Andersen likely to make his 32nd start of the season.
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World Junior update
Rasmus Sandin was held scoreless in a 6-2 Swedish victory over Slovakia on Tuesday, but the Leafs 2018 first rounder received a bit of scare late in the third period after being slashed by forward Martin Fasko-Rudas. Sandin left the ice immediately clutching his wrist and was sent to the hospital for x-rays.
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Rasmus Sandin goes straight to the dressing room following a slash to the wrist. pic.twitter.com/5shx6fIJtX
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 31, 2019
Reports after the game indicate that the x-rays were negative and that Sandin has no fracture. Sweden finished 3-0-1 and in top spot in Group A, which means they will play the Czech Republic on Thursday.
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We have new Convo. Enjoy.@MikeInBuffalo @TheLeafsConvo #TheLeafsConvo #tmltalk https://t.co/C1eViFsd5g
— Norman James (@IamNormanJames) December 29, 2019
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