Alex Holtz Focused on Small Details | PROSPECT WATCH

Alex Holtz was waiting out one last blast of winter weather earlier this week.
"There's a lot of snow here right now," said Holtz, from Utica, where he was back playing with the Comets.
A Swede, Holtz knows a thing or two about cold temperatures but like a lot of people, winter's last gasp caught his attention.
"We get snow where I'm from but not this much."
In fact, the conversation with Holtz was taking place as he was cooling his heels ahead of a cross-border trip to play the Belleville Senators. The team pushed back their scheduled departure to allow the weather to clear.
Holtz has been back in Utica for almost a month but he's only played a few games since returning to the lineup. He was injured in just his second game back on the farm, eventually missing two weeks. He scored in his return against the Syracuse Crunch on March 5th and then potted two more five days later against the Senators, including a penalty shot.

In total, he has played 19 NHL games this season, scoring three goals and adding an assist, on top of nine in 2021-22, where he picked up two helpers.
Aside from his first, which was also the first Devils goal of the season, the highlight came in Detroit on January 4, where he scored and assisted on a goal by Michael McLeod. Though he never made it onto the scoresheet, Holtz season-high in TOI came at home against Philadelphia on December 15, when he played more than 15 minutes.
Overall, the numbers are modest so far but viewed in the context of the Devils roster being much deeper and internal competition more intense, Holtz has done just fine. The biggest thing is wanting to get game action. Even when he was in the Devils lineup, ice time was hard to come by which is not ideal for a 21-year-old.
"It is great that the team is playing (so well) and winning," explained Holtz, "but when you're not playing in the games…it was why I wanted to come back here."

Holtz said that the small details that separate players from the NHL and the AHL are what he's working on. The small things all contribute to bigger, conceptual elements such as play without the puck and defensive prowess. As a general rule, a player gets drafted and makes a roster because of his offensive ability but he stays there based on those additional qualities.
Holtz also said that he hasn't spoken a lot to coaches or management but instead knows from previous work with Comets head coach Kevin Dineen what he needs to do.
"To get playing hockey again…I think we can have good run here."
Holtz says he was getting comfortable in Newark off-ice. He had an apartment and more permanent digs. He's back now living in a hotel while with Utica.
"A suitcase and a backpack," he quipped, of his living arrangements.
Holtz was taken seventh overall in 2020, one of three Devils picks that year from the opening round, though one, Shakir Makhamadullin has since been dealt to San Jose in the Timo Meier trade.
The pandemic was the main reason he stayed in Sweden to play the remainder of 2020-21. His season overseas ended in time for him to get 10 games in with the Devils affiliate, who were playing an abridged schedule out of the big club's practice facility in Newark.
When things returned to normal, more or less, to start the 2021-22 campaign, Holtz came to North America full-time. It was a logical step for a high first-rounder but also allowed him to, "get out of his comfort zone a little bit," he said at the time.
Holtz and the Comets, now playing in Utica full-time, were the AHL's hottest team to start last season and Holtz was a big reason why. In particular, he went on a tear just before the halfway mark which saw him named AHL rookie of the month. Unfortunately for Holtz and the rest of the Comets, they cooled off down the stretch and exited in their first playoff series.
Many names and faces have changed in Utica, especially given all those involved in the Meier trade, but Holtz feels good about where he's at with the Devils affiliate; he knows that it's important to keep scoring and those other details that often define a prospect's progress.
There's another detail Holtz was pleased with; having lost his roommate from last year when Fabian Zetterlund was also moved in the Meier trade, Utica picked up another Swede, Filip Engaras, a few weeks before he returned to the Comets.
"Someone to talk to, I don't want to forget how to speak the language," he joked.