Yeah, I don't disagree that Holtz is probably the best forward in Utica. The difference is I don't mind giving players like Clarke or Foote another year in Utica to develop and be emergency depth. Whereas having someone like Holtz in that role is superfluous and a waste of a player who still holds decent value.
As I said above "he just might be able to get it going if Rupp gives him more than a token game every now and then. A guy with his offensive promise needs an opportunity to bury himself or make it happen. His usage up to this point will never do that.
Last preseason he played very well. The line was the Devils top scoring line. When the season opened that line no longer existed and Alex was in the press box. If that's Lindy's plan for this season, the best thing for Alex is to be traded to a team that will give him that chance."
Tossing him away and giving Foote or Clarke the future role of a guy they can't match no matter how hard they try, is throwing away a 21-yr-old kid who was never actually given a chance. 21 is not OLD!
This will, be his 3rd professional season, not 4th. 2021-22 was an entry level slide. It was one of the best AHL seasons in history for a kid who started at his age, 19. He made that historical impact in only 52 games.
So, in the 1st year of his 3-yr ELC, 2022-23, instead of giving him another year in the AHL to work on what he didn't do well (which they should now do with 19-yr-old Nemec), they made him a Devil. Then Ruff used him sporadically in 19 games!!! There's a sure fire way to develop a top prospect. Sit a 20-yr-old in the press box! They literally blew an entire season of this kid's development. That's management CRIME!
Holtz finally went to Rupp and asked to report to Utica. Lindy sent him down, but not before he covered his ass with a BS cover. He said a player with Alex's potential had to play lots of games to make his development happen. So, sending him down was the right thing to do. It was the right thing to do in October not in mid-February (2/17).
He immediately played the next 2 games and failed to record a point. Looked like a rust man.
Then he missed 4 games supposedly due to an injury.
He returned to the lineup on 3/5 and scored the game's first goal. Played the next game on 3/10 and scored 2 more goals. He put up 3 assists in the next 2 games before not recording a point on 3/15, but scored in his next game on 3/17. he was sailing along.
Then something went wrong. He played 3 games in which something looked wrong. He wasn't keeping up. He wasn't shooting. Then he went out of the lineup. They said he was ill. That was 3/26.
He missed every single game for the rest of the regular season. That was 9 games. Rumor circulated throughout the city and during games. It was finally reported he was down with Mono, but it wasn't verified by management. I still believe the first time he lost 4 games it was the same problem. He felt himself ready to go after some serious rest and played well for a short time and then it hit again only worse. He rallied himself to play in the playoffs and played short shifts and contributed where he could.
He still wasn't the Holtz everyone knew. He couldn't get his shot on net during PPs and that was when he actually got it off. He passed the puck almost as soon as he got it. He looked to be trying to help out rather than lead the way. He played all six games and picked up 5 assists. Hopefully all of that is put behind him and comes back to the NJ camp healthy.
He still has 2 years remaining on his ELC. That's significant as to how young this kid was when he started. NJ can certainly take the time to get this now 21-yr-old up to snuff at $80K /season.
2022-23 saw him play 33 total games. The season was like a write-off. A waste of a season. Development stagnated.
If that means the AHL to start on ELC yr #2, so be it. Giving up on a kid that young, especially after pissing away a full season, is just stupid. I hope NJ brass has more sense than that.
If they want to give the kid a change of scenery with another team willing to give him the kind of chance NJ wasn't willing to give him, also so be it.