The Detroit Red Wings were no strangers to adding outside players who proved to be disappointments.
On Wednesday, Justin Holl scored his second goal in as many games for the Washington Capitals. In Detroit, he scored just two goals throughout his entire stint with the Red Wings.
Doing so, Holl made franchise history. Via Mike Vogel of the Capitals team site, “Holl became the first Caps’ defenseman to score in each of his first two games with the team, and he did the same when he joined the Maple Leafs in 2017-18.”
If that isn’t incredible in the worst ways for Red Wings fans, it’s hard to determine what is. Per Hockey-Reference, Holl scored both goals on his only two shots so far this season. That gives him a 100 percent shooting percentage following Wednesday evening.
Justin Holl Was An Incredible Bust With The Red Wings
Holl signed a three-year, $10.2 million contract in July 2023, carrying a $3.4 million annual cap hit. The Red Wings expected a hard-nosed defenseman who could potentially give them top-four minutes. During his previous season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Holl averaged 20:14 of total ice time with 139 blocks and 151 hits in 80 games.
Holl was also just under 50 percent in Corsi For at even strength, with a 43.5 offensive zone starting percentage. He also logged a career-high 245.3 minutes on the penalty kill. Then he came to Detroit, and his game never materialized.
Holl played in just 111 games with the Red Wings, and he never consistently showed the physical play that made him valuable to the Maple Leafs. In those 111 contests, he notched 13 points besides his two goals. As mentioned above, it took him just two games to do the latter with Washington.
He averaged 14:53 of ice time in that span. Come 2025-26, Holl effectively played his way off the big club and was buried in Grand Rapids. Holl was never a great player in this league even before coming to Detroit. But the Red Wings and the fans expected at least a decent third-pairing defenseman. Holl didn’t even give them that.
Justin Holl’s Legacy Tied To Another Justin
When the Red Wings finally cut their losses with Holl and traded him to the St. Louis Blues, they acquired Justin Faulk. The trade also included Dmitri Buchelnikov, a first-round pick, and a third-round pick.
If anything, the Red Wings acquired a defenseman who could at least hold down a full-time role and low-end second-pairing minutes. Heading into Thursday, Faulk has appeared in 23 games with the Red Wings. He has produced 11 points and six goals in that stretch and is a veteran presence on a blue line that is getting younger.
That said, Faulk was supposed to help the Red Wings bust through their playoff drought. Instead, he’s mostly helping the future core brew. Maybe if Anton Johansson, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, and William Wallinder pan out, there will be at least a small redemption arc for Holl’s legacy as it pertains to the Justin Faulk trade.
As for Holl himself? Fans will see him as one of the biggest free-agent busts of the Steve Yzerman era.
Former Red Wings Bust Makes NHL History