Getting to Know: Alexander Holtz

The Detroit Red Wings have always been known for being a Swede-friendly team and there are plenty of talented Swedes who will be available in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.

Although the draft lottery has not taken place and has not been rescheduled yet, Detroit is not expected to draft any lower than fourth.

So by the time the Wings' first of three second-round picks rolls around, Swedish forward Alexander Holtz would be gone as there are others projected to go higher than Holtz, including Alexis Lafrenière, Quinton Byfield and German forward Tim Stützle.

When NHL Central Scouting released its final rankings, it had Holtz as the No. 2 international skater behind Stützle.

"Holtz is a sniper," said Goran Stubb, NHL director of European scouting, on the NHL Draft Class podcast on May 12. "I think as an 18-year-old, there are only two other 18-year-old players playing in the Swedish League who have better stats than Holtz and those two guys are Markus Naslund and Peter Forsberg so I think that says a lot about him as an offensive player and a sniper."

Playing for Djurgårdens IF in the Swedish Hockey League, Sweden's top league, Holtz had nine goals and seven assists in 35 games.

That ranked him 10th on the team. Linus Hultström, led the team with 32 points (15-17-32) in 52 games. But all nine players ahead of Holtz were considerably older.

Holtz recently spoke to TSN's Mark Masters about his abbreviated season and what made him the most proud.

"Playing for the men's team at Djurgårdens," Holtz told TSN. "I support Djurgårdens and it's been my favorite team my whole life, so getting a chance to play for them has been really fun. Getting a chance to come on the ice with the crowd every night has been really fun. That's the biggest experience I will take with me from this year."

Holtz also played three games for Djurgårdens IF J20 in the SuperElit, recording seven goals and two assists.

It was definitely a different experience playing against men as opposed to playing against guys his own age.

"Everyone is stronger. Everyone is bigger," Holtz said. "Everyone has played the game so much longer. Of course, it's hard to play against them, but it's fun also. It's been a really fun year playing against men. They've played longer so they have more of a routine and that's what I learned."

Playing for Sweden at the World Junior Championship, Holtz had five points (3-2-5) in seven games, tied with Wings prospect Jonatan Berggren (1-4-5), as Sweden beat rival Finland for the bronze medal.

Craig Button, TSN's director of scouting, had Holtz 13th on his final list, released March 30, a couple of spots down from his Jan. 15 list.

"He's a shooter and he's a determined goal scorer," Button told Art Regner on the most recent Red & White Authority podcast. He reminds me of (Nashville's) Filip Forsberg, the way he plays the game. He's got that drive to shoot the puck, he's got that drive to go to the net. He's a very difficult player to mark, a very, very difficult player to keep under wraps because he's quick in his mind in recognizing a scoring opportunity and then he just will not be deterred. He won't. He just doesn't allow himself to be denied. In and around the net, you gotta be able to score but you gotta be able to score inside the dots, you gotta be able to score in and around the net. Alexander Holtz has those qualities.

"We go back to scoring and the importance of scoring. If everybody could do it, it wouldn't be something that everybody's looking for. The problem is not a lot of players can score so when you do see these players like Holtz, you have to give them every consideration. You play him with a good playmaker that can get him the puck, he's going to get open, he's going to take it to the net, he's going to finish."

While fellow Swedish prospect Lucas Raymond has compared Holtz to Washington star Alex Ovechkin, Holtz thinks Button's comparison is more accurate.

"I don't know if my game is exactly like Ovechkin," Holtz said. "I think I'm more like (Boston's) David Pastrnak or Filip Forsberg. I love to watch them. Both are right (handed) and you love to watch the righties more, because you can see yourself in them. Pastrnak had an amazing year, as did Forsberg. He did the (lacrosse) move and both guys are really creative on the ice. It's lovely to watch."

Holtz agrees with the assessments of his game and his strengths.

"I'm a goal scorer," Holtz said. "I'm a very good offensive player. I can play a responsible 200-foot game also, but my strengths are in the offensive zone setting up my teammates and shooting the biscuit."

Goal scoring is something that Holtz has always focused on and tried to improve.

"I'd say I love to score goals and I always loved to score goals," Holtz said. "I love to shoot. I have a fantastic, big shooting ramp here at home, so I can stand out there for hours listening to music and just shooting pucks. I like to watch goal scorers and watch the top 10 goals from each season and so on, so I think it comes from there."

The league has still not decided when it will hold the NHL Entry Draft, originally scheduled for June 26-27 in Montreal.

So that means that Holtz and his fellow prospects are left waiting and might still be waiting if it isn't held until later in the summer.