Drafted 7th overall in 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Alexander Holtz was the first of three picks in the first round for the New Jersey Devils. Holtz, Dawson Mercer, and Shakir Mukhamadullin were Tom Fitzgerald’s first three draft picks as Devils GM. With the Devils roster needing to be trimmed to 23, Fitzgerald will need to make the decision whether Alexander Holtz will be on the opening night roster or be sent back down to the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League.
Since the player exit meeting of last season, Holtz listened when the organization told him that elite-level conditioning will give him the best opportunity to a regular in the NHL. He trained with Devils forward Jesper Bratt in Sweden this past summer. Bratt, who is coming off a career year with New Jersey, served as mentor and Holtz learned and emulated the same good habits that made Bratt successful. As a result, Holtz claimed he put on some muscle.
“I think maybe I lost some (bad) weight but gained some muscles,” Holtz told NHL.com Mike Morreale.
And his conditioning and stamina was definitely noticed during Prospect Challenge and preseason.
Holtz had impressive showing at the Prospect Challenge in Buffalo and chipped in two goals against the Montreal Canadiens in the first game. Last night, he finally got his first goal of preseason against the Boston Bruins and finished preseason with 1 goal and 2 assists.
H20 Line Chemistry
The chemistry of the Palat-Hughes-Holtz line is a natural fit and would be great for Holtz’s continuing development. With a world class franchise player in Jack Hughes and a multiple Stanley Cup champion in Ondrej Palat on his line, Holtz will gain more confidence and become an elite NHL scoring machine. Fitzgerald needs to keep Holtz up with the NHL club so Holtz can further develop chemistry with his preseason line mates and concurrently grow as a professional hockey player. Holtz has made big strides in the past six months after scoring 26 goals and 25 assists with 51 points for the Comets last season. Let him continue this progress with the Devils.
PODCAST: Devils Finish Preseason With Win, Beat Bruins 5-3 (Devils After Dark)
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Sam Woo is co-host and executive producer of the Let's Go Devils Podcast which can be heard live every Sunday at 9pm ET and Wednesday at 8:30pm ET.
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