New Jersey Devils: Alex Holtz Was A Beast On Monday Night

New Jersey Devils prospect, Alexander Holtz, was a beast on Monday night.

The best part about having a top ten pick in the NHL Entry Draft, most of the time, is watching them play in the following World Junior Classic. New Jersey Devils fans are experiencing that right now as Alex Holtz is currently playing in the tournament for Team Sweden. Of course, Sweden is one of those five great hockey countries that pretty much always does well in these types of tournaments. They went into this game having won 53 straight round-robin World Juniors games.

This year, the Devils have one of their most dangerous forwards. Alexander Holtz is one fantastic offensive player. He is known for being a goal scorer because of his amazing shot. In addition to his shot, he has shown the ability to score goals in other ways because he has a nose for the net. Most people know him for putting the puck in the net but he is also very fun to watch make plays.

In Monday’s win over Team Austria, Holtz was a shooting gallery. He had many chances but the Austrian netminder, Sebastian Wraneschitz, was amazing. He only let up four goals on a remarkable 65 shots (his teammates only had six shots on goal). Holtz was robbed a few times but it is clear that his shot is going to make a big difference for New Jersey one day soon. His willingness to get the puck on net that much is very needed in Newark.

One thing people don’t talk about enough, however, is his playmaking ability. He isn’t known for it because his goal scoring is so good but he showed what he can do in this game. He collected his first point of the tournament on an all-world pass to Lucas Raymond who buried it. Raymond, a known pass-first prospect, scored from Holtz who is a known shoot-first prospect. That has to make New Jersey Devils fans feel good thinking about Holtz playing with Jack Hughes one day.

The fact that Holtz had such a good game here should be something that excites Devils fans. It was only Austria, who is awful, but the skills are clearly there. The goal for these kids is to improve their craft so that they have the best chance to be impact NHL players. The Devils have a good one in Holtz and there are more highlights to come.

Holtz and his Swedish teammates will be back in action on Wednesday against Team Russia. That is going to be one of the better games of the round-robin part of the tournament as both countries expect to win gold every year. It is a big challenge for Team Sweden as they look for their 55th straight round-robin win at the World Juniors. Seeing Holtz dominate in a game like this would surely be great.