Guest
Alexander Holtz (born 23 January 2002) is a Swedish professional ice hockey forward for Djurgårdens IF in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Playing career Holtz began playing ice hockey in local club Boo IF, and later moved to Nacka HK where he began playing junior hockey at an early age of 14. He was named for the Stockholm South team in the national junior hockey tournament TV-pucken in 2017 and scored 6 goals and 10 points in 6 games. Holtz was awarded the Sven Tumba award as the best forward of the moved to Djurgårdens IF for the 2017–18 season to play in the club's junior teams. Holtz made his professional debut in the Swedish Hockey League on 29 January 2019 in a home game against Färjestad BK. At the conclusion of the J20 SuperElit regular season, Holtz was the leading goal scorer with 30 goals in 38 games. The J20 playoffs ended with a third place for Holtz and Djurgården. Holtz began the 2019–20 season by playing with Djurgården in the 2019–20 Champions Hockey League, a European ice hockey tournament. In the first game against Polish GKS Tychy, Holtz scored two goals. He recorded his first SHL point in the league premiere on 14 September when assisting Michael Haga to the 1–1 equalizer in the 4–2 win against Linköping HC. In the next game on 17 September, Holtz scored his first and second SHL goal against goaltender Viktor Fasth of Växjö Lakers in a 5–3 win. Holtz extended his contract with Djurgården on 23 September by two years, allowing him to play with the club until the 2021–22 SHL season. Fantasy Summary An incredibly talented goal-scoring winger who is capable of scoring in many different ways. Could one day even challenge for the Maurice Richard Trophy. Also a good playmaker with great understanding of the game and very good skating ability. Observations February 2020 – Holtz has been a regular at the SHL level this season, putting up eight goals and 14 points in 29 games. At first glance, those stats may not look so great but that is excellent production for a 17-year-old in one of the best leagues in the world. Holtz is only averaging 12:42 of ice time on a very good Djurgården team but 1:50 of that has come on the power play where he has scored two of his 14 points. Holtz’s usage hasn’t been optimal but he’s making the best of it. He still projects to become a top 10 pick at the draft. Jokke Nevalainen July 2019 – Holtz has just finished his first full season in J20 SuperElit with Djurgårdens IF. While Holtz wasn’t consistently dominant on the ice, his productivity has been phenomenal all season long. He broke the U17 record for most points in a single season but was surpassed by Lucas Raymond in the last round of the regular season. With his 30 goals, Holtz also demolished the U17 goal-scoring record. He also got to make his debut with Djurgårdens IF in the SHL, although with spare ice time (5:32 average) in all three games he was dressed for. To crown this season, Holtz was part of Team Sweden at the U18 World Championship where he also was selected to be one of the assistant captains. Just as at the club level, Holtz stayed productive and had four goals and seven points, and played his part for Sweden to win the gold medal. While writing about Holtz it is easy to get stuck at his most prominent skill – his shot. Holtz is a fantastic shooter who can beat the goaltender in many different ways; he can score with a precise wrist shot, with a swift snapshot or blast the puck past the goaltender with a heavy slap shot. His shot is one of the best, if not the best, among all prospects eligible for the 2020 NHL Entry Draft at this date. But there’s more to Holtz’s scoring abilities than just shooting; he reads and anticipates the game well and is great at spotting openings to give himself breakaways. In the offensive zone, he works hard to position himself to become an option for a pass, and he is often ready to shoot well before the puck is heading his way. Holtz is far from a one-dimensional sniper, as his playmaking skills aren’t bad; he can spot less-than-obvious passing lanes and execute passes well enough to take advantage of his above-average vision. His offensive game is supported by good skating abilities; he has quite good initial step and acceleration, and his top speed is already above-average in J20 SuperElit. Another aspect to like about Holtz’s game is his stickhandling. He is not a player that will consistently try to dangle his way past opponents, but he has the ability to beat lone defenders in order to create prime scoring chances for himself or to open up the play. It is also worth noting that Holtz is a good forechecker and reads the game very well off the puck, which enables him to win the puck up high. In the upcoming season, Holtz will most likely continue to play for Djurården’s J20 team, while getting the occasional call-up to the SHL team. Christoffer Hedlund
