Photo credit: Danny Wild-USA Today Sports (left); Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images (right)
Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper had some high praise for former Maple Leaf forward Pontus Holmberg, shining a light on Toronto’s decision to let him go.
This past offseason, the Toronto Maple Leafs made the decision to let forward Pontus Holmberg go after three seasons. He never really found that extra gear and Toronto decided to replace him with other bottom-six options.
So he elected to sign a one-year deal with their rivals instead, the Tampa Bay Lightning. While he hasn’t blown anyone out of the water, he is helping Tampa currently sit first in the Atlantic with a 16-7-2 record.
How Pontus Holmberg is playing the exact role the Leafs say they need
But the one person he is impressing is potentially the most important as head coach Jon Cooper had nothing but glowing reviews for the Swedish forward over his last few games.
Speaking to reporters after Tampa Bay’s 4-1 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday, Cooper made sure to note Holmberg’s impact and credited his tenacity and workhorse mentality when it comes to defending.
Cooper stated after the game:
The puck is like glued to his stick. He can have the biggest players in the league on top of him and he just knows how to protect it.
It’s high praise from a coach about a forward who received a fair share of criticism when he played in Toronto and never quite met the lofty expectations some had for him.
But with him finding a niche role in Tampa Bay he’s thriving. In 18 games so far he has 6 points (1 goal, 5 assists) while adding a plus-5, nine blocks and 20 hits.
Where he really shines though is the smaller facets of the game. His possession numbers have skyrocketed this year (44.8 CF% in 2024 — 50.4 CF% in 2025) while he also ranks fourth on the team in penalties drawn (16) while also only having 10 total PIM of his own.
It’s the little things he does right that is impressing Cooper, and it’s making the Maple Leafs’ decision to let him go look a tad misguided.
What Holmberg’s success says about how Toronto evaluates its own depth
For a team desperate to find a defensively sound, gritty, workhorse 3C, Toronto might have had one in Holmberg and decided to let him go. While Holmberg did not offer a ton of offensive versatility, he was critical in giving Toronto more power play chances.
He led the team with 59 drawn penalties last year (per MoneyPuck), which was 10 ahead of Matthew Knies. Toronto’s power play was so good last year not only because they had star power, but Holmberg was creating those chances in the first place.Toronto replaced Holmberg with Nic Roy who isn’t a bad choice, but with him having been injured, and the team using Max Domi at times — it shows a glaring hole that Holmberg could have filled.
Toronto lost two defensive forwards in David Kampf and Holmberg, but names like Matias Maccelli and Dakota Joshua who have come in just have not given the team the same type of play they need.
It might have been in the Maple Leafs’ best interest to keep Pontus Holmberg around, but Tampa Bay seems quite content with their decision to sign him.
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Jon Cooper’s praise for Pontus Holmberg makes the Maple Leafs’ decision look worse
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