Alexander Holtz was the New Jersey Devils worst development failure in recent history

The New Jersey Devils don't have a flawless development history under Tom Fitzgerald and Ray Shero before him. There are actually quite a few very strange failures. After being the top defenseman in Calder voting in 2021, Ty Smith saw a continued drop in production that now has him consistently out of the NHL just three years later. Will Butcher is another great rookie that never lived up to that hype again. Pavel Zacha was a top-six pick in possibly the most stacked draft of this century, and they had to ship him off for Erik Haula on an expiring contract. There are many other examples, like Jesper Boqvist, Tyce Thompson, Reilly Walsh, and others.

Still, there was no greater development failure than Alexander Holtz. The seventh-overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft was taken because he had all the skills to become a supreme scorer next to Jack Hughes. He had enough size to think he would grow into a two-way player with 40-goal (or more) upside. This felt like a slam dunk at the time.

The Athletic gave the Devils an A- for this draft in part for the Holtz pick (along with Dawson Mercer and Nico Daws). Bleacher Report gave the Devils an A-, as well. Pucks and Pitchforks called Holtz a "player we like" in our draft analysis.

Nobody really felt the Devils completely dropped the ball here. Yes, there were some interesting prospects available like Marco Rossi, Yaroslav Askarov, and Seth Jarvis, but it's easy to make that call now. Holtz looked like the right call, although some were calling for the Devils to take the goalie. We forget how much we expected out of Mackenzie Blackwood in 2020.

Fast forward to the past few seasons with Alexander Holtz in the United States preparing to be an NHL player. He started in the AHL, back when the Devls affiliate was in Binghamton, NY. In his first full professional season, he had 51 points in 52 games. Devils fans felt like they hit the nail on the head with this pick. In 22-23, the mistakes started.

The New Jersey Devils failed in their development efforts of Alexander Holtz.

Holtz spent most of the season on the sidelines. He was clearly too good for the AHL, but Lindy Ruff felt like he wasn’t good enough for the NHL. He was what some in baseball call a quadruple-A player. He only had four points in 13 games, so there was an argument, but what was making him a nightly healthy scratch helping? He did get to practice with the team, but there was no way he could build any momentum. 

Holtz was expected to become a full-time NHL player the next season (which was last season). And he did! He played all 82 games, one of five players to do so on the Devils. The other four players had more than 1,100 minutes at 5v5 each. Holtz had 835. Despite being fifth in games played, he was 13th in minutes played at 5v5. Even when power play minutes are considered, Holtz still didn’t hit 1,000 minutes. 

Despite the lack of minutes, Holtz still showed prowess as a scorer. He still scored 16 goals despite the inconsistent use. Lindy Ruff had benched him in games where he actually scored earlier in the game. There was never really a rhyme or reason for his benchings. As with all young players, he made his mistakes. However, while Luke Hughes and Dawson Mercer were given a mile-long leash, Holtz couldn’t make one mistake.

This was a prospect who spent a whole offseason with a speed coach when the Devils told him to get faster. He worked on his two-way game before he even became an everyday player. He did everything the Devils asked, and he continued to show malleability to what the coaching staff and front office asked.

Despite this, he was treated as if he was fighting for his NHL future. We understand that teams should treat all prospects the same no matter where they were drafted, but that isn’t a take wrapped in reality. Losing a top-10 pick (plus a goalie who was the main reason you beat the Rangers in your first series win in a decade) for a gritty bottom-six forward and a third-round pick is a massive loss. It all comes down to the failure of Holtz, the failure of the coaching staff, and the failure of his development as a whole. 

We’re not putting all the blame on the Devils, but they need to see this was a problem that needs to be rectified. They cannot let another high pick go for nothing. 

Not including this year’s first-round pick, the Devils have 13 first-round picks under Ray Shero and Tom Fitzgerald. Six are NHL players with the Devils. Seven are either with other organizations or out of the league entirely. Holtz moves that needle in the wrong direction. It needs to be a teaching moment for the organization.