Anaheim Ducks Trade Peter Holland To The Toronto Maple Leafs

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Anaheim Ducks traded former first round pick Peter Holland (15th overall, 2009) to the Toronto Maple Leafs along with Brad Staubitz for defenseman Jesse Blacker and two draft picks in the 2014 NHL draft.

Holland, 22, is a native of Toronto and will make his debut tonight for the Maple Leafs in his hometown.

In 29 career NHL games, Holland has five goals and two assists over three seasons. The former Guelph Storm standout (Guelph is about 60 miles from Toronto itself) scored 254 points in 256 career games for the Storm.

Staubitz played in 15 games for the Ducks last season and hasn’t played more than 20 games at the NHL level the previous two years. He will continue to play in the minors for the Toronto Marlies.

Blacker was a second round pick of the Maple Leafs, 58th overall in the same draft as Holland. He was apart of the powerhouse 2008-09 Windsor Spitfires team that won the Memorial Cup and featured Taylor Hall, Cam Fowler, and Ryan Ellis.

That season Blacker scored 21 points and was a plus-46.

This move works as nothing but a depth move at the moment, and with Holland still having a lot of untapped potential, it will be hard for the Ducks to come out on top of this trade.

A quick breakdown of Blacker’s talent from Hockeyfuture.com is an encouraging sign though,

"A solid talent with a ton of tools at his disposal, Blacker is a top end skater which allows him to cover his mistakes and also jump into the rush. His offensive ability hasn’t translated much into the pros, but he does show flashes on occasion. Defensively, he’s come along well and has been used in penalty killing situations. Issues with Blacker surround his ability to play at a high level consistently. He can also be prone to mental lapses; be it missed plays or a costly penalty."

Seems like he could turn into a decent option as a third pairing defender in the NHL, and if the offensive side of his game starts to click he could slide in as a second pairing defender.

But the biggest question of the deal, is why trade Holland? You can’t say that in 29 games, mostly with fourth line minutes, that he hasn’t panned out the way you had thought he would? With the recent struggles up the middle, Nick Bonino has one goal in his last 13 and Mathieu Perreault has one goal in his last eleven. Not to mention Saku Koivu still out with an injury – this remains a very strange to move to make at the moment.

The Admirals play the Manchester Monarchs tonight, it is unknown at the moment if Blacker will make his debut with the team.

 Anthony Murphy is the Editor at Pucks Of A Feather. You can reach him by email anthony.murphy@thefarmclub.net or follow him on Twitter @AMurphyTFC.

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