Toronto Maple Leafs Rumors: Could Justin Holl be on the Move

After the Toronto Maple Leafs pulled the trigger on yet another blockbuster deal with the Chicago Blackhawks. The focus now shifts to who on the roster is going out the door, the team needs to clear some money off the books to activate goaltender Matt Murray off of LTIR.

Daily Faceoff's hockey insider Frank Seravalli attempted to connect the dots after the trade to acquire Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty, saying the Leafs may be trying to move one of Alex Kerfoot, Justin Holl, or Pierre Engvall to clear the cap space.

Connecting dots on #Leafs cap after McCabe/Lafferty trade:

1. Either Toronto is not planning to activate Matt Murray until the playoffs.
2. Or Toronto is now moving one of Kerfoot / Engvall / Holl before the deadline.

Seems to be some smoke recently with Kerfoot and #Canucks.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 27, 2023

If we look at the history of those players listed above, we will see Kerfoot has the trust of head coach Sheldon Keefe and has never been benched or scratched. Whereas both Holl and Engvall have been sat to reset their game.

However, Seravalli does say that Kerfoot seems to be on the Vancouver Canucks watch list, so there could be a chance that he is moved rather than Engvall and Holl. With that said, it seems that Kerfoot's versatility is something that the Maple Leafs value, which is evident because he plays both on the wing and up the middle as well as on numerous different lines.

The interesting thing about this trade is now the Maple Leafs have eight NHL defensemen, and with McCabe essentially being an upgrade over Holl, it looks like he could be the one that is moved ahead of the March. 3, 2023, NHL Trade Deadline.