TORONTO — Peter Holland scanned the list of names on the Toronto Maple Leafs whiteboard and noticed that an important one was missing: His own.
So the 23-year-old forward went directly to the coaching staff and asked to be among those included in a penalty killing meeting. This was back in training camp and Holland was desperate for any opportunity that might get him on the ice more.
“With the amount of skill that we have on this team, the power-play minutes were taken,” he explained Tuesday. “(The penalty kill is) one of those things where you can help earn yourself some trust with the coaching staff and your teammates. Just being really solid defensively.”
The decision to take matters into his own hands looks like an inspired one now.
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It was Holland that saw the biggest bump in responsibility when a handful of teammates were sidelined with injuries over the last week. In fact, he’s averaging more than 17 minutes of ice time over five games heading into Wednesday’s meeting with Boston.
And while a chunk of that time came short-handed — especially with top penalty killer Daniel Winnik out the last two games — his biggest gains came at even strength.
The reason? Trust.
Simply put: Randy Carlyle never seemed to have much of it in Holland after he was acquired from Anaheim last Nov. 16. But after seeing him in more defensive situations, the coach views things a little differently now.
“We’ve provided him with some minutes on the penalty kill and he’s started to grow,” Carlyle said. “He’s gotten more ice time, he’s gotten more comfortable in the games. Peter Holland’s got skill — we’ve always known that — and the one thing that he has improved on is his compete level around the puck.”
What Holland has also done is start to contribute. He scored short-handed in Saturday’s win over the Rangers and added another goal in Ottawa the following night. He also assisted on Mike Santorelli’s short-handed marker against the Sens.
If you really want to get your coach’s attention, that’s the way to do it.
That Holland is making strides one year after languishing at the end of the bench — he played fewer than 10 minutes in 15 NHL games in 2013-14 — adds to the gratification. A former scoring star for Guelph in the Ontario Hockey League, he has struggled to break through at hockey’s highest level while receiving sparing shifts.
“It’s not easy, it’s kind of out of your comfort zone,” Holland said. “You’re used to being the go-to guy — power play, regular shift – to having to focus more on your defensive zone and making sure that you’re not being scored against and trying to create momentum for your team. But it’s one of those things that you just try to embrace and play it to the best of your availability and if the time does come just step up.”
Perhaps the best measure of how far he’s come in the eyes of Carlyle is the fact that he’s played more minutes than Nazem Kadri each of the last four games. That only happened a handful of times all last season.
The forward lines have been jumbled and rejumbled with Joffrey Lupul and Winnik recently joining David Booth and Brandon Kozun on the sidelines. It’s clear that there is some internal competition among the second tier of forwards, especially with the Leafs still searching for a more sound defensive game.
Toronto may be 3-1-1 in its last five games, but it has allowed in excess of 30 shots against in each of them. Anyone who watched this group closely last year knows that it’s not a style of play that will produce enough wins over the long term.
As a result, Carlyle is looking for anyone he can rely on to play at both ends of the ice. While Holland has shown some early signs that he may fit that mold, he’s not yet ready to proclaim that he’s completely shed the reputation of being a one-dimensional scorer.
“Hockey’s a weird game — it’s one of those things where it’s like ‘What have you done for me lately?”‘ Holland said. “So if you go out there the next game and you have a stinker and you’re minus-3 maybe a question mark gets raised again.
“It’s one of those things that you need to always be building on and making sure that you’re in good position for our defencemen to get you the puck.”
Ultimately, he also wants to be in a position where the coaching staff is regularly tapping him on the back. By demonstrating that he can kill penalties, Holland has given Carlyle more reasons to look his way.
“He’s got hockey sense, he’s a big guy, it made sense to use a guy like him,” Carlyle said. “It does take time for young players to find their niche and they have to have ice time.”
In some cases, players have to come right out and ask for it.