Peter Holland (ice hockey)

Holland grew up in Bolton, Ontario. As a youth, he played and won the 2004 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Brampton Junior Battalion minor ice hockey team under Andy Bathgate and his son Bill Bathgate.[1] After a successful minor midget season, where Holland had 119 points (59 goals and 60 assists in 60 games),[2] he was selected in the first round, 11th overall, by the Ontario Hockey League (OHL)'s Guelph Storm in the 2007 OHL Priority Draft.[3] His 2008–09 season caught the attention of scouts, as he earned a spot in the OHL All-Star Game, played in the Canada-Russia Challenge and participated in the 2009 CHL Top Prospects Game.[4] He also represented Team Canada at the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships.[5] Heading into the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Holland was ranked 19th by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau.[4] The Anaheim Ducks selected Holland in the first round, 15th overall.[4]

On November 5, 2011, Holland made his NHL debut. After scoring 11 points in 12 games to start the 2011–12 season with the Syracuse Crunch, the Anaheim Ducks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, Anaheim recalled Holland to play in a 5–0 road game loss against the Detroit Red Wings.[6] He scored his first NHL goal (the game's winner) on November 11, 2011, against Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks.[7]

On November 16, 2013, Holland was traded by the Ducks (along with Brad Staubitz) to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Jesse Blacker and two picks in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.[8] He scored his first goal as a Maple Leaf on November 21, 2013, against Marek Mazanec of the Nashville Predators. Holland wore number 24 for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

On July 16, 2014, Holland agreed to a two-year contract extension with Toronto worth an annual average value of $775,000.[9]

After the 2015–16 season, he re-signed with Toronto on a one-year, $1.3 million contract.[10] As the season began Holland was overshadowed by a plethora of young forward rookies including Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Connor Brown, among others. Due to limited roster space, Holland seldom played for the Maple Leafs, being scratched in 17 of the team's first 25 games, and seeing limited ice time in the eight games he did play.[11] After being informed by general manager Lou Lamoriello that the team would do their best to trade him, Holland was traded to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2018 on December 9, 2016; the condition was not satisfied.[12][11]

On July 1, 2017, as a free agent, Holland signed a two-year contract with the Montreal Canadiens, playing the second year on a one-way basis.[13] Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Holland was unable to make the Canadiens' roster out of training camp and was assigned to Montreal's AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket. With 18 points in 20 games with Laval, on November 30, 2017, Holland was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for Adam Cracknell.[14]

To start the 2018–19 season, Holland played with New York's AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. On February 18, 2019, Holland was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Darren Raddysh.[15] Assigned to the Rockford IceHogs, Holland continued his scoring pace in notching 7 goals and 16 points in 21 games to conclude the season.

An impending free agent from the Blackhawks, Holland opted to pursue a career abroad, agreeing to a two-year contract from Russian club Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg of the KHL on May 22, 2019.[16]

Holland signed a one-year contract with Swedish club Djurgårdens IF of the top-tier Swedish Hockey League in September 2021.[17] Holland played 15 games with Djurgårdens IF and recorded six assists.

In an October 2021 game, Djurgården played a game against Luleå HF, where Holland got into a fight. He ripped an opponent's helmet off, took his own gloves off, and repeatedly punched the Luleå player in the face with his bare fists. Holland was suspended for four games and given a fine of 40,000SEK/$4,000 by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association's disciplinary board. Holland's excuse was that he had never before played in a league where fighting resulted in anything other than a 5-minute penalty. He also claimed he never intended to harm an opponent. The Luleå player, Fredrik Styrman, received a concussion; 10 months after the attack he had to end his hockey career because of lingering symptoms from the concussion.

On March 16, 2022, Holland announced through Twitter that he had retired from professional hockey.[18]

In an attempt to return to professional hockey, Holland signed a professional tryout agreement with the Colorado Avalanche in August 2023.[19] After attending in training camp and pre-season, Holland accepted a re-assignment to the Avalanche's AHL affiliate in the Colorado Eagles, and was later signed to a one-year AHL contract to begin the 2023–24 season on October 11, 2023.[20]