Leafs Nation owes Justin Holl an apology

At the end of the day, there aren't many top-4 defensemen in the NHL who earn just $2M, aside from those who are on their entry-level deals of course and, sometimes, even the higher-priced top-4 defensemen make mistakes. It just so happens that Holl's are amplified by the fact that he plays in Toronto and not a smaller market with way less exposure and pressure from the media and the fanbase.

When the Leafs lost Jake Muzzin to injury in the early stages of this season, the fans still felt at least somewhat safe knowing that the Buds still had Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie, Mark Giordano, Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin to lean on. When Brodie went down, followed shortly thereafter by Rielly, fan reactions quickly went from mild concern to full-blown panic. After all, a top pairing consisting of a 39-year-old Giordano, as good as he's been, and an inconsistent Justin Holl didn't really instill much confidence - especially with the huge minutes they'd be expected to play in all situations.

So, how has the Gio/Holl pairing faired? Shocking well actually. Holl has logged huge minutes for the Leafs over his last four games, playing 24:08, 23:07, 25:03 and 23:46. Even more impressive - as we've all been watching and waiting for the other shoe to drop, Holl has been on the ice for just a single goal at 5v5, against the Islanders. He's also a +1 over that span with 3 shots on goal, 5 hits and 4 blocked shots. The Leafs are 3-0-1 over that stretch. How's that for stepping up in a big way?

I've been as critical as anyone about Holl's play this season, but even I have to admit that Holl has provided the Leafs with way above $2M defense this season. Just the same way that we hold players accountable when they're playing like crap, we should also celebrate their wins when they're playing well. For me, Holl has been fantastic over this last four game stretch, so consider this my apology to Justin, who has really taken his opportunity and ran with it amid 3 pretty significant injuries to the team's top-3 defensemen.