Former Leafs draft pick Korbinian Holzer appears to leave the NHL.

Korbinian Holzer appears to be done in the NHL.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Former Leafs draft pick Korbinian Holzer appears to leave the NHL.
Peter Joneleit/CSM/Zuma

It seems as though the National Hockey League career of 32 year old defenseman Korbinian Holzer may have come to an end.

Although Holzer himself has not announced his retirement from either professional hockey or the NHL, a new report out of Germany would appear to indicate that the German born blue liner is headed back across the pond to continue his hockey career. Holzer himself appears to have confirmed the news in comments made to German outlet Eishockey News, where he states that the process of a a new contract overseas has all come together very quickly.

"It was all happening pretty quickly now," said Holzer as per the report. "I agreed after a conversation on Saturday evening."

Holzer's new deal will unsurprisingly come from the Kontinental Hockey League and it sounds like he will be joining one of that league's premier organizations, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg. That team contains other names that would also be familiar to fans on this side of the ocean as well, although there's no doubt that the most notable name on the team belongs to former Detroit Red Wings great Pavel Datsyuk. Fans in Toronto will also be familiar with former Leaf Peter Holland who is also on that team, and no doubt that played some small role in making Holzer feeling comfortable about going to the KHL.

Surprisingly enough it sounds like one of the National Hockey League's disgraced former coaches may have also been a major selling point in getting him to the KHL. Holzer himself specifically cited the fact that former Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters will be the man behind the bench as a reason for him joining Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg.

"Bill Peters is the coach there, which is definitely an advantage over a Russian-speaking coach at the start." He is looking forward to the new challenge at the current third in the Eastern Conference: "It's a top team and it will definitely be interesting there."

Peters was of course unceremoniously ousted by both the Calgary Flames and the NHL as a whole when reports began to emerge suggesting he had used racial slurs towards minority players in the past, resulting in him taking up a job outside of North America. 

We wish Holzer nothing but the best on this new chapter in his hockey career.

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