Ex-Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman moving to Russia on KHL deal
A former Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman is moving on to Russia to continue his professional hockey career.
Mac Hollowell, a 2018 draft pick of the Leafs who spent five years in the organization before they opted to move on, is heading to the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl as his next playing destination.
The team’s Telegram channel confirmed the news on their Telegram channel, announcing the news as a one-year deal.
Hollowell had spent the past two seasons in the AHL, first playing for the Hartford Wolf Pack and then the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, affiliates of the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Hollowell’s time with the Pittsburgh organization reunited him with former Leafs general manager and current Penguins president and general manager Kyle Dubas, who was in Toronto’s front office for his entire tenure with the team before departing the same offseason as the young defender.
The defenceman had also been part of Canada’s Spengler Cup squad in 2024, appearing for a team that fell in the tournament semifinal to the Straubing Tigers.
The KHL deal is Hollowell’s third one-year deal in as many years, though it appears that a third straight NHL organization decided against giving him much NHL playing time.
Back in 2023, the Leafs opted against signing Hollowell to a qualifying offer, despite playing six games in the NHL with the team in 2022-23, in one of the first moves of Brad Treliving’s tenure as Toronto general manager.
His NHL career to date has been limited to those appearances, with the 26-year-old’s future now uncertain as to whether he’ll play professionally in North America again.