Rumor: Pittsburgh Penguins Interested In Maple Leafs' Defenseman

According to Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now, the Pittsburgh Penguins are looking to add a defenseman and Justin Holl could be a perfect fit.

The Maple Leafs recently placed him and Travis Dermott on the trading block. When looking at the Penguins' current group on the backend, it is apparent that they would benefit from adding a big right-handed like Holl. He would be a very nice addition for their third pair.

The Penguins are off to a 4-3-3 start and are currently last in the Metropolitan Division. Injuries have played a big role in this, but even so, they may want to be aggressive now to help them win more frequently.

The beauty of a player like Holl is that he also comes with only a $2 million cap hit and is locked up until the end of next season. Thus, he doesn't have an expensive contract and would be more than a rental. That makes him an even more alluring option for the Penguins.

Holl is having a down year with the Maple Leafs so far, though. In seven games, he has zero points and a -7 rating. He also has been healthy scratched numerous games because of it, too. However, when seeing as how he had two goals and 20 points in 55 games last season, he is capable of producing far more. With that, he was also defensively sound, as evidenced by his +16 rating.

We recently noted that the Penguins seem like a potential landing spot Holl, so it's not surprising to hear that the possibility of a deal happening with Pittsburgh is there.