Peter Holland spent the two weeks before he was traded in exile, on Robidas Island.

Only in this case, he was literally with Stephane Robidas, the former Maple Leafs defenceman who disappeared from the roster in the fall of 2015, something that seems to be a common occurrence under GM Lou Lamoriello.

More on that in a moment.

The Leafs traded Holland to the Arizona Coyotes on Friday afternoon. In return, they received what could well end up being thin air: a conditional sixth round pick in 2018. The condition is that Toronto receives the pick only if Arizona signs or trades Holland.

The move was what Holland wanted, even if it meant going to the worst team in the NHL. Relegated to the press box for 13 of the Leafs first 20 games, Holland and his agent had requested a trade sometime in mid-November. He played less than 10 minutes in his final game as a Leaf against Washington a few days later and was told the next day by Lamoriello that he wasn’t to travel or practice with the team anymore.

Now he is a Coyote.

Holland, 25, is from Caledon, Ont. – 60 kilometres north of Toronto – and grew up a huge Leafs fan. Last year, at one point, he remarked that “sometimes I still have to pinch myself” over the fact he was playing for Toronto. “I wouldn’t want to do this for any other team,” he said.

This year was a different story. Those close to Holland said he was miserable as a 13th forward, perpetually in coach Mike Babcock’s doghouse. He was even more unhappy after he was told to stay home on Nov. 27.

Unable to practice with the Leafs, he began skating with a few injured Toronto Marlies players at Ricoh Coliseum. Leading those skates was Robidas, who is waiting out the final season of his three-year, $9-million contract with the Leafs. Robidas is on injured reserve but working as a behind-the-scenes development coach of sorts, in one of the strangest early retirement situations in the league.

It was one castoff with another.

Holland had an opportunity with the Leafs last season as they entered full rebuild mode and bottomed out in the standings. He played nearly 15 minutes a game and had 27 points in 65 games, including 11 on the power play. The offensive ability that led to him being drafted in the first round (15th overall) back in 2009 by Anaheim was obvious, but it wasn’t enough to endear him to Babcock. Holland wasn’t a great possession player, and the coach didn’t feel he was strong enough defensively to play centre. He often put him out of position on the wing.

A contract dispute in the offseason then turned ugly. With an arbitration hearing scheduled for a Monday, the Leafs placed Holland on waivers on a Friday afternoon, in the middle of July. With no team interested in taking on an arbitration case with little preparation, Holland cleared waivers.

The Leafs ultimately settled on a one-year, $1.3-million contract mere hours before arbitration.

But the message was clear: Holland was in trouble, before the season started.

What complicated matters was the fact that, 25 games into this season, the Leafs still haven’t had a significant injury to any of their forwards. That meant Holland continued to sit. It also meant that youngster Josh Leivo was in a different state of limbo, designated an injured non-roster player for two months until room could be cleared under the 23-man limit.

There have been whispers around the team for weeks that Leivo wasn’t hurt – and certainly not to the extent that he needed to miss one-third of the NHL season.

Now, with Holland gone, Leivo can finally rejoin the lineup. After weeks of bag skates, he is more than ready to finally play, perhaps as soon as this weekend against Boston or Colorado.

Holland, meanwhile, joins a team badly in need of more NHL forwards. With Brad Richardson out indefinitely after breaking his leg last month, the Coyotes have a big hole down the middle and appear destined for another high pick. Holland should help them, and he could even become coach Dave Tippett’s latest reclamation project.

It beats being on Robidas Island.