Devils need to start leveraging Holtz' best skills
The Devils need more scoring throughout the lineup. Putting Holtz in a better position to succeed could be one way to go about getting it.
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By Alex Chauvancy (@AlexC_THW)
The New Jersey Devils have been getting goals from all their top players. Dougie Hamilton. Nico Hischier. Jack Hughes. Jesper Bratt. You name it. The problem is they aren't getting much scoring from anyone else. Outside of the big three — Hughes, Hischier, Bratt — only Yegor Sharangovich is in double-digit goals and on pace for 20-plus tallies.
You could argue he should be higher in the lineup, as Todd did yesterday in his post here at Infernal Access. The same applies to Dawson Mercer, but another player who may also have that case is Alexander Holtz.
He had a goal and an assist in a 5-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday and looked quite good against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.
The problem is head coach Lindy Ruff has not put Holtz in positions to succeed this season. To be fair, it's not as if Holtz deserved to be playing higher up the lineup. There were issues in his game. Although if the last two games are any indication, it's time to expand his role and leverage his best skills.
Getting more out of Holtz
Most of you subscribed to IA are likely familiar with Jack Han. But if you aren't, we'll be using some of his work to explain why the Devils should give Holtz more of a look alongside some of the team's top-nine forwards.
In one of Han's articles about how to ruin a player, the difference between smart and dumb teams and how they successfully (or don't) develop prospects. Smart teams, as he states, don't worry about a player's flaws and find ways to leverage his best assets. Dumb ones worry about a player's faults and put him in positions that don't bring the best out of him.
For example, focusing on a winger's defensive game when that's not necessarily important for wingers. You could argue that's *one* reason Ruff has mostly played Holtz in fourth-line minutes this season. His skating and speed were probably another. But, as we've seen the last two games, the pace of play hasn't been an issue for him.
Holtz's best assets are his offensive makeup. His shot can be lethal when he gets time and space, as evidenced by this goal he scored against the Red Wings on Wednesday:
Not only does Holtz have a plus shot; he's also an underrated passer. Before scoring his goal against the Red Wings, he made a beautiful tape-to-tape pass to Miles Wood on a 2-on-1. Ville Husso made a good save on Wood, but Holtz followed up the play and regained puck possession. Once he did, he made a saucer pass to Michael McLeod, who had an empty net for an easy goal.
Holtz didn't collect a point against the Blues, but he still played quite well. The problem moving forward is that his linemates are Wood and McLeod. No disrespect to them, but they are not ideal linemates for a player like Holtz.
This is where the argument for moving Erik Haula down to the third-line center role makes perfect sense. With him playing wing alongside Hughes, the Devils' bottom two centers are McLeod and Jesper Boqvist. McLeod has a limited offensive ceiling, and though Boqvist is a strong forechecker, he hasn't collected a point in 18 games.
Haula may only have one goal in his last 21 games, but he's totaled 11 points over that stretch. He is setting up his teammates for scoring chances. Plus, his two-way impacts at even strength have been quite good.
Ruff mentioned the reason for keeping Haula on Hughes' wing is because the team possesses the puck with those two on the ice. That's all fine and well, but eventually Haula needs to score. And moving him down to the third-line role would significantly boost the team's depth down the middle, as was supposed to be the case when the Devils acquired him from the Boston Bruins this offseason.
If Ruff moved Haula to a more suitable third-line center role, it'd benefit Holtz. 1) if Ruff still has reservations about Holtz's defensive game, Haula's solid two-way play at center should erase some of those concerns; 2) Holtz would get a center who's showing this year that he can at least set up his linemates for scoring chances.
Palat - Hischier - Bratt
Sharangovich - Hughes - Mercer
Tatar - Haula - Holtz
Wood - McLeod/Boq - Zetterlund
Todd mentioned these lines in his post yesterday. Not only is that the ideal top-six, but having Tatar and Haula as linemates for Holtz is nearly perfect for where he is right now.
Tatar's having a big-time rebound season and looks closer to the player he was during his three years with the Montreal Canadiens. He does so many little things that make him a very underrated play driver, which Holtz would benefit from. If the Devils' third line consisted of Holtz and these two forwards, that's one way to strengthen their depth:
The Devils need more secondary scoring. There's no question about that. Perhaps a trade addresses that at some point but, for now, it needs to come internally. Putting Sharangovich and Mercer in better positions to succeed would help but it's time Ruff starts leveraging the best of Holtz's skill set and putting him where he can use his best tools.
If the Devils can get him going consistently, it can help many of their finishing issues and hopefully help them get goalie'd less often.
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The part about playing to a prospect’s strengths is 💯 I’d even go a step further and say we should bring back the Palat, Hughes, Holtz line. Why not put Holtz in the best position to succeed?
Good call a few articles ago on putting Mercer: Hughes: sharry together. What a line against the rags in the 3rd.