The Detroit Red Wings’ opening night roster is expected to have eight defensemen, with 32-year-old Justin Holl and 23-year-old Albert Johansson as the projected healthy scratches. Often times in training camp and the preseason, the two have been defense partners, including in Tuesday night’s 2-1 win over Pittsburgh.
The difference between the two offers a window into how career arcs affect the perception of players. Both are in the same shoes this season, but where Johansson is a budding prospect who is just now cracking the NHL, Holl is an experienced blueliner who knows how it feels to be a contributor. Last season, he spent more game watching from the press box than he did actually dressing for the game. It’s a humbling feeling, a difficult pill to swallow. While Johansson can trust the process of getting into the NHL lineup, any time Holl isn’t playing is a painful step back.
“I think it’s different for him, in terms of being a 23-year-old and trying to break into the league,” Holl said Tuesday after practice. “Just mentally, the feeling about it is a little bit different. I think it’s easier to handle that when you’re a little younger and you’re like, ‘OK, I’ll get my chance.’ As opposed to me where I’ve been that guy. It’s tough to not be that guy.”
Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
It used to be different for Holl. For the better part of his six-year, 285-game career with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he was that guy — a depended-upon defenseman who played second pairing minutes for one of the most popular teams in the league. In his final two seasons in Toronto, he logged more than 100 hits and 100 blocked shots each year. This was the allure behind the Red Wings signing Holl on the opening day of the 2023 free agency for a modest $3.4 million cap hit over three years. With a defense corps in flux due to prospects maturing and former signees aging out, Holl brought stability to the right side for a team trying to out-depth its way toward the playoffs. He had a clear path to contributing.
Then, this path became obstructed. It just so happened that another right-handed stalwart became available in August 2023 — Jeff Petry, who was also traded that offseason as part of the deal sending Erik Karlsson to Pittsburgh. He was a low-cost upgrade for the defense — just a depth defense prospect and a fourth round pick heading the other way. And after a three-player rotation between Petry, Holl and the left-handed Maatta settled into Petry playing on the second pairing and Maatta playing alongside power play quarterback Shayne Gostisbehere on the third, Holl watched as spot in the lineup withered. And where injuries might have opened up a spot for Holl to still get into games as a reserve player, these didn’t accumulate for the defense corps.
“Last year, we were in situations where we were very healthy,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said Tuesday. “Fortunate, but very unique to be that healthy all year on the back end.”
But health wasn’t the sole reason Holl couldn’t get into games. It couldn’t have been, because there were injuries that gave him a chance to play. When top pairing lefty Jake Walman went down with an injury in mid-March, Detroit was in the middle of its playoff push in desperate need of points. Instead of reshuffling the defense and putting the veteran, playoff-experienced Holl in the lineup, the Red Wings called up prospect Simon Edvinsson, bucking a trend of letting prospects overripen and casting him into an immediate top four role.
Holl remained a healthy scratch.
“Nobody likes that feeling,” Holl said of being out of the lineup so much. “Everybody wants to be in the lineup every night. And I’ve tasted that feeling, and I’ve known what it’s like to be a big part of the team. Nothing else will do once you’ve tasted that. So that’s where I want to be.”
Six months later, little has changed about his situation. Holl went into the offseason motivated to earn more playing time, but he remains in largely the same position on the depth chart. As much as he hopes to get into games, Detroit’s blue line returned or replaced most of the pieces in front of him. And if he is going to get in the lineup, Holl will have to either find a way to beat out a defenseman ahead of him or stay patient enough for an opportunity to come his way through injury or other absence. He’s in the same boat as Johansson, only Holl knows what he is missing.
To get in the lineup, Holl faces an uphill climb. By all means, he is the third-string right-handed defenseman on this roster. But. the Red Wings tried left-shot Erik Gustafsson, signed to be their power play quarterback, on his off-hand in camp and have liked the results thus far. Looking at the potential position battles, Holl is in competition with Petry and Maatta for his playing time, or otherwise waiting for an injury to make his playing necessary.
Holl feels that leaning into his strengths — that is, “Driving play up ice, quick breakouts, killing plays early in the defensive zone, penalty kill, historically that’s the kind of player I’ve been” — will give him the best opportunity to make an impact for the Red Wings.
Those traits were what he leaned into Tuesday in Pittsburgh, where he and Johansson were the only NHL roster defenseman to play in the game. Holl finished with the highest game score of any player, accumulated mostly through stalwart defense, while Johansson was right there with him ranking second. This game saw Holl annd Johansson put in high pressure situations against an NHLer-filled Penguins lineup, such as when the duo was trusted to defend a 2-1 lead against a 6-on-4 disadvantage to end the game. They succeeded, and Detroit won. But for two players on the outside looking in to actually play in regular season games, this kind of preseason performance was a personal win, too.
“I feel confident on the ice. I feel like I know what I can do, and I have done in this league,” Holl said. “So I hope that they recognize that. And I know I still feel good about where my career is going.”
That last part gets to the heart of the issue. For an athlete who is accustomed to being depended upon, being in a position where he can only hope to play games is frustrating, discouraging even. And as a 32-year-old defenseman who hasn’t played a lot on his current contract, how this season pans out could have a major impact on the back end of his career.
This isn’t just about playing in games for the Red Wings. This is about Holl proving that he can be a contributor in the NHL. And whereas a 23-year-old prospect like Johansson still has the benefit of the doubt drawn from untapped potential, an older Holl is not afforded this grace.
The path to playing time is there for Holl, whether through filling in for teammates or earning a spot through competition. Lalonde and his staff certainly aren’t shutting the door on a defenseman they still believe in. Lalonde’s message to Holl is to “Just bring your game, do the things you’re good at, defend, be hard to play against, and we’ll see where it goes from there.” Holl wants to prove he still has what it takes.
“I think that’s kind of a common theme in the NHL,” Holl said of his battle to get in the lineup. “It’s the best league in the world, and I think every year you have to continue to prove yourself. So from the mental standpoint, not much changes. But it’s definitely something where I’m highly motivated and I obviously want to be a big part of the team — and I know I can be. So that’s the main focus for me.”
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