Holtz definitely did not have the best D+1 imaginable, though it could have been amazing. He actually started off the year performing well above expectations. He put up 16 points in his first 22 SHL games of the year, which is really really impressive pace. If he could have kept that up, I would be willing to bet he would easily be voted #2 right here. I believe he got injured, though, after game 19 in the SHL, and then he missed some games leading up to the World Juniors tournament. Then during the World Juniors tournament, he reportedly suffered a minor back injury IIRC, and missed one or two games before returning to the lineup for Djurgardens (the World Juniors tournament was up and down for Holtz, but watching all of the Sweden games, him and Lucas Raymond were absolutely sandbagged by having one of the worst centers I have ever seen play on a line with them. I have never seen someone bring a line down as horribly as whoever their center was during that tournament). I didn't watch too many games, but Holtz just did not look right during both the World Juniors and during the rest of his season with Djurgardens. It also didn't help that from January on, Djurgardens was an absolute trainwreck of a team and his linemate William Eklund was injured for some of it. Holtz had his minutes cut to around an average of 12:30 a night from January on, while at the beginning of the year, he was playing an average of around 17:00 a night.
In my opinion, there are three primary reasons for his lackluster 2nd half: a nagging injury (possibly to his back), the mess that is Djurgardens, and Eklund being injured. I would have been willing to bet that if one of these three hadn't happened, he would've had a much better 2nd half, but all of them piled on and Holtz just couldn't get himself going. There were times, though, that Holtz showed why he was pick #7. In his 2nd game against Frolunda in the playoffs, Holtz was utterly dominant alongside Eklund in that game. He was a man on an absolute mission. He put up 2 goals and 2 assists in an elimination game to keep Djurgardens alive, doubling his point total from the last 18 games of the SHL regular season (2). That was by far the best game I have ever seen Holtz play, especially considering the win-or-go-home circumstances. He and Eklund were in complete control the whole game. But that was just one game, and you can't base your opinion on just one game.
Holtz didn't light the world on fire in the AHL either, but I am willing to give him more of a pass because he just played an entire SHL season with nagging injuries and it's his first time playing professional North American hockey and it really just looked like he was trying to dip his toe into the water and get the feel for the North American game. He was also really unlucky. He was shooting at a really good volume and getting into high danger scoring areas pretty consistently, but the puck just wasn't going in. A bout of bad luck along with the other concerns.
It's really hard to judge Holtz's season. We saw how good an uninjured Holtz looked at the beginning of the year, and then we saw how his year ended, and it frankly was just not good. And it's really hard to make out what to think after that season. Holtz is never going to be a play driver, but when he finds chemistry with the right guy (Eklund this past season in Djurgardens), we see just how good he can be. There are areas he needs to improve, namely in his skating, conditioning, and his ability to create offense for himself a little bit more (different from play driving). But based on what I saw of Holtz when he is at his best, which was the first half of his season, there is no doubt that I know Holtz can be a top-line goal-scoring winger. I, like everyone here, am excited and curious to see how he does this year in the AHL.
EDIT: I think he also might have gotten COVID at some point during the season.
