New Jersey Devils Have Limited Options For Alexander Holtz

There’s been a lot of hype about Swedish sharpshooter Alexander Holtz, from the time he was drafted, to a strong 2022 preseason performance, making the opening night roster, and scoring his first NHL goal on the first game of the season. Since then, Holtz has played in just three games and has yet to play since Ondrej Palat’s injury, indicating that he has fallen below fellow Swedes Jesper Boqvist and Fabian Zetterlund in the pecking order.

The New Jersey Devils have stormed their way to the top of the NHL, and now no reasonable blame can be placed on coach Lindy Ruff for not substituting Holtz into a team that’s playing just fine without him. Holtz isn’t getting game time in Utica or the NHL, so what should the team do with him now?

It goes without saying that Holtz has very little value to the organization watching every game from the press box.  When Holtz did play, the results weren’t exactly great. Over his four game cameo thus far, Holtz played 42:19, averaging 10:34 a night.

At 5v5, Holtz averages 1.65 shots/60. That figure is the lowest on the entire team by a comfortable margin – the next closest is Ondrej Palat with 3.33. Holtz is also down in the basement with Brendan Smith with the lowest ixGF/60 (individual expected goals for) rates. This is not necessarily to say Holtz has been bad, because he hasn’t, but the offense and good play in general just aren’t there at 5v5 and he has barely had any power play time to take pot shots from the circle.

Holtz had done particularly well with the man advantage, with 12.41 goals/60, the highest number of any Devils forward at the moment. It appears that Holtz is still not NHL ready just yet, and that’s OK. If it’s better for his development and the team doesn’t need him yet, no problem! He’s worked on some things to have some early, brief success and hasn’t been bad, but not being bad is the minimum you can ask of an NHL player. Let’s explore some options.

Sent Down To AHL

The Utica Comets were a really good team in the AHL last year, tying for third in the league in wins and points. Some career AHLers and vets have gone in and out, and the Comets also lost guys like Zetterlund and Boqvist to the NHL. However, they’re returning both Akira Schmid and Nico Daws in net, Nolan Foote, Tyce Thompson, and Graeme Clarke at forward, and added Simon Nemec to a defense that already includes Nikita Okhotyuk and and Reilly Walsh.

Holtz should look no further than Nemec and Foote, two first-round picks that prove that if you’re not ready for the NHL, you won’t play there. Yes, Nemec is only 18 years old, but he was still given an opportunity to make the team in the preseason.

With Utica last year, Holtz was just shy of being a point-per-game player, scoring 51 points in 52 games. He shot 15.6% along with seven power play goals, only had 10 PIM all year, and added three points in five playoff games. Another year of ripping up the AHL really wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, and if the Devils really need him they can call him up whenever they want. Who knows, maybe he gets it rolling in the AHL and then ends up sticking as a regular later in the NHL season.

Confidence is key in all sports – pitchers, quarterbacks, goalies, batters, and goal scorers all thrive off of confidence. Sitting in the press box probably hasn’t been inspiring so far for the young Holtz.