Draft Profile: Alexander Holtz

“I love goallllllssssss” - Goalmember, star of my new movie Austin Powerplays. You want goals? Alexander Holtz has goals. The Ducks need goals. You see where I’m going this? If Anaheim wants pure scoring talent, they’ll find it in Holtz, who has one of the best pure shots the draft has seen.

The Swedish righty scored an incredible 30 goals in 38 games his draft minus one year and put up another nine in 35 games playing against men in the SHL this last season. He has started this season already with a goal in this young SHL year, so it seems like that shot is still good as ever.

While prospects like Cole Perfetti and Marco Rossi have a more diverse skill set, Holtz can sometimes be viewed as a one trick pony. The only thing is that the trick is so good that it makes up for a lot of other gaps. He’s pinpoint accurate. He can change the angle quickly and rip it by goaltenders so fast it will take a second or two to even realize he scored.

What’s his ceiling? Consistent 40 goal scorer. Yeah, his shot is that great.

I personally view Holtz as a bit of an underrated playmaker. He has great hands and has a good understanding of the game as it flows, allowing him to use the same skills that make his shot so deadly to make a play if the situation warrants. He usually plays as the trigger man, however, so he doesn’t always get to flash that skill.

That said, you might guess that Holtz can sometimes be a perimeter player. And you would be right. It’s not that he’s lazy or doesn’t want to battle for pucks per se, it just feels as though there’s some timidness, especially in his own end. I would like to see him attack the puck more to start offensive breakouts where he can have more chances to use his shot.

Additionally, his skating isn’t particularly high end. I would peg him as an average skater. I don’t see this as being a huge issue, however, because he has the smarts to get into the right spots to unleash his incredible shot. The bottom line is this: Alexander Holtz would give the Anaheim Ducks the pure goal scoring threat they haven’t had since prime Corey Perry. Given the lack of high end offensive talent outside of Trevor Zegras, a player like Holtz would be a massive shot of adrenaline into an otherwise lethargic scoring corps.

Just imagine Trevor Zegras feeding Alexander Holtz on a line for the next several years. I’ve got goosebumps just thinking about it.