As the Rangers embark on the task of turning around their sinking ship, and as they faced the realization that they’re unlikely to do it by scoring a ton of goals, some more stability throughout the roster was needed.
And so they called up journeyman center Peter Holland from AHL Hartford on Monday, and he was set to go right into the lineup Tuesday night in a Garden match against the Flyers.
“A good two-way player, tries to play a 200-foot game,” was how coach Alain Vigneault described the 27-year-old on Tuesday morning. Vigneault spoke with Wolf Pack coach Keith McCambridge and assistant general manager Chris Drury about what they’ve seen from Holland since he arrived in a Nov. 30 trade with the Canadiens in exchange for Adam Cracknell. During that time, Holland put up five goals and 14 points in 16 games, which went along with his eight goals and 19 points in 20 games for AHL Laval this season.
“Good with the puck,” Vigneault continued. “He’s been having some real good moments in Hartford. Keith spoke very highly of him as far as his work ethic and his understanding of the right way to play. So we made a little move there and hopefully he’ll contribute for us.”
Holland is a veteran of 243 career NHL games after being a first-round pick (No. 15) of the Ducks in 2009. The majority of his career — 174 games — came with the Maple Leafs from 2013-14 through midway of last season, when he was traded to the Coyotes. He was a free agent this summer and signed a two-year, $1.35 million deal with the Canadiens, which clearly never worked out quite the way he or the team wanted.
“It’s been a tough year, for sure,” Holland said. “I went to camp with Montreal and I wasn’t expecting the trade to over here in New York after having signed for two years in Montreal. But excited for the opportunity. They told me when they traded for me that they needed some centermen in their organization so there was more opportunity for me. I was excited to hear that, and obviously they’re being faithful on their word, too.
“And here I am, playing with the Rangers. So look forward to getting back out there in the NHL.”
It’s true that the Rangers desperately need depth down the middle, which was something they knew this offseason once they traded Derek Stepan at the draft. But that lack of depth is being exposed now that Kevin Hayes is set to miss his second straight game with a leg contusion, just as it was when Mika Zibanejad was out for nine games before returning Dec. 19.
The void couldn’t quite be filled by rookie Boo Nieves, who played 28 games since he was called up Oct. 26, but was sent back to Hartford to work on being more consistent.
“Boo, we feel has a lot of upside,” Vigneault said. “His size and his skating ability. But there are a couple areas that we need him to be a little more consistent. If he’s going to play in the NHL on a regular basis, it’s going to be as a dependable third- or fourth-liner. We just felt that at this time, Peter, with the feedback we were getting from Chris and Keith in Hartford, was playing really well and we just wanted to take a look at him.”
Holland said he had been following the Rangers closely since the trade, and he believes “there’s a really good team in here” despite the recent slide of 1-4-0 in the past five games and 3-5-2 in their previous 10. But it’s going to take some more stability, especially defensively, if they want to keep pace in the postseason race.
“I think they traded for me for a reason,” Holland said. “They liked what they saw in my game. I built some confidence this year in the American League, so I’ll just try to bring some of that.”