Next summer, the Red Wings might reevaluate their buyout of the seasoned defenceman.
The buyout front was very active last month. Following their release as UFAs, Cam Atkinson, Adam Boqvist, Jack Campbell, Nate Schmidt, Jeff Skinner, and Ryan Suter signed deals for the current campaign.
The addition of Red Wings defenseman Justin Holl to that list should have come as no surprise. The 32-year-old Holl was a reliable top-four option for the Maple Leafs for the previous four seasons before signing a three-year, $10.2 million contract with the Wings during the summer of free agency.
However, in his final NHL season, Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde did not even use him, much less use a player with a $3.4 million cap cost. Holl made just 38 appearances during the year, being sidelined for more over half of it while remaining largely healthy. During those games, he averaged 15:05, which was his lowest since an 11-game stay in Toronto in 2018–19. He also recorded five assists, a +8 rating, and 22 PIMs.
Although Detroit had a lot of cap room going into the summer, most people anticipated that general manager Steve Yzerman would use what he had. Cornerstone RFAs Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider still require new contracts, and the Wings were anticipated to be among the most aggressive participants in the UFA market in order to help them reach the end of the
That was not actually the case. Winger Vladimir Tarasenko, a two-time Stanley Cup winner, was their most well-known acquisition to the team. He essentially took David Perron’s spot after he left for the Senators in free agency. They did succeed in keeping Patrick Kane for a single-year, $6.5 million contract and sent top-pair defenseman Jake Walman to the Sharks in a cap-dump transaction. They also traded James Reimer for Cam Talbot at the goalie position. As things stand, one could argue that their squad has gotten worse from the team that finished second in the East wild card race the previous season due to a tiebreaker with the Washington Capitals.
To that end, rather than increasing their cap space by just buying out Holl, some were perplexed when Yzerman chose to attach a second-round selection to get rid of Walman, who was extremely efficient in his role alongside Seider at even strength for the last two seasons. However, a buyout would have resulted in a dead cap penalty of $1.13 million for the following four seasons, given that Holl had two years left on his deal. As they go closer to contention, that’s probably not something they wanted to be held accountable for, according to Max Bultman of The Athletic.
Nevertheless, Lalonde had good reason to use Holl sparingly. Even though Holl was given more favorable use than he had at Toronto, he returned the favor by controlling just 42.6% of predicted goals, the lowest possession quality results of his career. In each of his four seasons as a regular with the Leafs, he had been over 50%.
But with Walman out of the picture and increased demand on young players like Simon Edvinsson to play this season, Holl might find himself used more as a safety net. For the time being at least, Bultman “doesn’t get the sense from Yzerman that he thinks Holl is a lost cause.” After all, just a year before, he had signed him to an eight-figure, multi-season contract.
However, Bultman believes that if Detroit were to replicate its success from the previous season, they would probably investigate a buyout more actively during Holl’s final season when the opportunity opens in June of next year. According to PuckPedia, there would still be a $1.13 million dead cap penalty, but only for the next two seasons. On July 1, 2027, just one year after his contract was set to end, Holl would no longer be listed.
By doing this, the Wings would have more than $2 million to spend in free agency in 2025. When the Raymond and Seider agreements finally close this summer, they’ll have their whole core secured for the long run. In 2025, none of the real key players will be available for new contracts, and they’ll have goaltender Ville
