Originally a 2018 sixth-round pick, Pontus Holmberg is entering his fourth season with the Maple Leafs organization. The Vasteras, Sweden native has been grinding his way up the depth chart in Toronto and entering the 2024-25 season, is a bottom-six option who has a chance to crack the opening night lineup.
Former head coach Sheldon Keefe was a fan of Holmberg’s game but he also was tough on him at times, with consistent playing time hard to come by. Despite the inconsistent opportunity, Holmberg is coming off career highs last season appearing in 54 games, scoring seven times and recording 17 points.
When Brad Treliving took over as GM last May one of his first orders of business was re-signing Holmberg to a two-year contract. The defensive-minded forward is entering year two of the deal, set to earn $800,000 against the cap and will become a restricted free agent at season’s end. A season that he’s hoping is his most productive one yet at the NHL level.
In order to understand where someone is going, you have to look at where they came from. Holmberg was a late-round NHL pick but he’s also shown outside of the national league he’s more than capable of being an impact player. He was the Swedish Hockey League’s playoff MVP in 2021 after registering 14 points in 14 postseason games with the Vaxjo Lakers, winning the league championship. He’s also represented Sweden numerous times throughout his career including most recently leading Team Sweden to a bronze medal over John Tavares and Team Canada at the 2024 World Championships. Holmberg played in all 10 games for Sweden where he finished with six assists while averaging 15:29 of ice time per game.
Heading into the ’24-25 NHL season with the Maple Leafs, Holmberg needs to do his best to impress Craig Berube. He’ll be able to catch Berube’s eye with a sustained work ethic, being hard on pucks, winning battles along the wall and being an option to kill penalties. Make no mistake about it, if Holmberg has any chance of sticking around for a full season in Toronto, he’ll need to solidify himself as a bottom-six versatile option for the Leafs’ new bench boss.
The expectation – Force Treliving to keep him
Considering the Maple Leafs roster structure as preseason action continues, Holmberg is on the bubble to make the team out of training camp. Berube has decided to move William Nylander to centre which slides Tavares down to the three-hole so now Holmberg is seemingly pushed to the wing, as David Kampf will be occupying the fourth-line pivot role.
Holmberg’s spent time at both centre and the wing so far in his early days as an NHLer, winning 44.3% of his 422 career draws. Can he be effective as a winger? Absolutely. Holmberg does a great job at staying on the right side of the puck, he’s very attentive to the defensive details of the game and every so often wows the crowd with an offensive flash. This one-handed goal last season was a prime example of some of the tricks in Holmberg’s toolbox:
Pontus Holmberg scores a FILTHY one-handed goal and Mitch Marner can’t believe it 😱😂 pic.twitter.com/NeHa0Oa0Y7
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) January 10, 2024
Holmberg doesn’t need to be a stick-handling wizard to make the team. The expectation for him heading into the ’24-25 campaign is to play Berube-style hockey and make an impact in all three zones. Holmberg led all Leafs’ forwards last season in blocked shots per 60 minutes and averaged just under one minute per game killing penalties. Two elements of his game that he’ll need to continue to focus on heading into a new year with a new bench boss.
The goal – Push David Kampf out the door
While Holmberg obviously would never be so direct about a teammate, his goal this season should be to force Treliving to move Kampf and his $2.4-million cap hit. Both players were re-signed on the same day last year, just one month into Treliving’s tenure and if the GM only knew more about Holmberg’s game, perhaps he wouldn’t have locked in Kampf to a four-year deal.
Heading into the new season, having Holmberg take over Kampf’s role at $1.6 million less could do wonders for Treliving’s flexibility to shore up Toronto’s roster around the trade deadline. Kampf does have no-trade protection, however, it’s modified to only cover 10 teams. If Holmberg becomes a story throughout camp for all the right reasons, perhaps Kampf is a trade candidate before the season even starts. Right now the Leafs are over the cap and with the expectation of a one-year deal coming for Max Pacioretty, someone has to go.
To gain Berube’s trust, which should be Holmberg’s sole focus throughout training camp, he’ll need to play an in-your-face style and perhaps slightly more aggressive than he normally would. Being vanilla and blending into the game won’t cut it and he’ll get looked over. It seems like Holmberg understands his assignment as he made his preseason debut against the Ottawa Senators in game two of the exhibition schedule and after taking out Sens’ forward Ridly Greig with a questionable trip, Holmberg answered the bell and dropped the mitts with Cole Reinhardt:
Pontus Holmberg vs. Cole Reinhardt pic.twitter.com/eeqpnscCCI
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) September 25, 2024
Leafs fans will remember Grieg as the Senator who blasted an empty netter into Toronto’s twine, which then led to Morgan Rielly being suspended for five games. He’ll need more of this in order to ensure Berube vouches for him on the fourth line.
With Nikita Grebenkin being waivers exempt, Easton Cowan in tough to stick around, Steven Lorentz on a no-strings-attached PTO, Fraser Minten and Connor Dewar both on the shelve to start camp, Holmberg has a prime opportunity in front of him. Be tough to play against in the preseason and he’ll make the team.
Berube has given the entire Leafs’ roster a clean slate. There’s a ton of internal competition taking place, especially for spots up front among the bottom six. Holmberg is in the mix, there’s no doubt about it. His versatility and ability to kill penalties help his odds of cracking the opening-night roster and if he’s able to showcase more piss and vinegar into his game on a nightly basis, he’ll go from a depth option to one of Berube’s favourites in a hurry.
