Alexander Gabriel Holtz (born 23 January 2002) is a Swedish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for the

Henderson Silver Knights The Henderson Silver Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in Henderson, Nevada. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team plays its home games at Lee ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL) as a prospect to the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Golden Knights compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). He was selected seventh overall by the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

in the 2020 NHL entry draft.

Early life

Holtz was born on 23 January 2002 in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. His father, Magnus Holtz (born Andersson), is a former ice hockey player who played two seasons for

Västerviks IK Västerviks Ishockeyklubb (English language, English: ''Vasterviks Ice hockey club'') – commonly known as Västerviks IK or VIK – is a Professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Västervik, Sweden. They currently play in the s ...

. He also has an older brother, David. As a youngster, Holtz played several sports such as

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, but eventually chose to bet on hockey. He started his hockey career in Boo IF at a young age and has since childhood followed his big brother who also played hockey. His father was the coach of

Nacka HK Nacka HK, officially Nacka Hockeyklubb (), is a Swedish ice hockey club based in the Stockholm suburb of Nacka. , Nacka plays in group D of Division 1, the third tier of ice hockey in Sweden. The club traces its roots to Nacka SK, a sports clu ...

at this time. Holtz already made his debut as a 13-year-old in a junior context when he played in U16 with Nacka/Farsta FoC and their U16 division 1 team during the 2014–15 season. Then there were two more seasons with the U16 team in Nacka where he performed so well that he was promoted to their

J18 Elit The J18 Region, formerly called J18 Elit until 2020, is the highest level of under-18 ice hockey in Sweden. The league was first played in the 1980 season. Färjestad BK has won the most league titles, with seven. At Christmas, the five best team ...

team in the 2016–17 season. During those years, he averaged almost two points per game - even though he was two years younger than most he played against. He was named for the Stockholm South team in the national junior hockey tournament

TV-pucken TV-pucken () is a Swedish national under-16 ice hockey tournament for district teams. The boys' TV-pucken was established in 1959, created on the initiative of Swedish ice hockey player Sven "Tumba" Johansson. The tournament is named "TV-pucken ...

in 2017 and scored 6 goals and 10 points in 6 games. Holtz was awarded the

Sven Tumba Sven Tumba (born Sven Olof Gunnar Johansson; 28 August 1931 – 1 October 2011) was one of the most prominent Swedish ice hockey players of the 1950s and 1960s. He also represented Sweden in Association football, football as well as golf and bec ...

award as the best forward of the tournament.

Playing career

Djurgårdens IF

Holtz moved to

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Djurgårdens IF is an s ...

for the 2017–18 season to play in the club's junior teams. Holtz made his professional debut in the

Swedish Hockey League The Swedish Hockey League (SHL; ) is a professional ice hockey league in Sweden and the highest level of the ice hockey in Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and while Li ...

on 29 January 2019, in a home game against

Färjestad BK Färjestad Bollklubb (; abbreviated as FBK) is a Swedish professional ice hockey team based in Karlstad. Färjestad has had 21 Swedish Championship final appearances, winning ten times since the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserie ...

. At the conclusion of the

J20 SuperElit J20 Nationell is a junior ice hockey league composed of 20 teams in Sweden. Previously known as the J20 SuperElit, it is the highest-level junior ice hockey league in Sweden. The teams are divided in two groups, or divisions, ''Norra'' (North) ...

regular season, Holtz was the leading goal scorer with 30 goals in 38 games. The J20 playoffs ended with a third place for Holtz and Djurgården. Holtz began the 2019–20 season by playing with Djurgårdens IF in the

2019–20 Champions Hockey League The 2019–20 Champions Hockey League was the sixth season of the Champions Hockey League, a European ice hockey tournament. 32 teams are competing in the tournament, and qualification was on sporting merits only. The six founding leagues are re ...

, a European ice hockey tournament. In the first game against Polish

GKS Tychy GKS Tychy is a Polish professional football club, based in Tychy, that competes in the Polish I liga. The club was founded in 1971. It played in the Ekstraklasa between 1974–1977 and 1995–1997. Their biggest success was a second-place finish ...

, Holtz scored two goals. He recorded his first SHL point in the league premiere on 14 September when assisting Michael Haga to the 1–1 equalizer in the 4–2 win against

Linköping HC Linköping Hockey Club, often known by its Acronym, initials LHC, or Colloquialism, colloquially among its fans as Cluben, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Linköping, founded in 1976. The home arena of the team is Saab Arena (for ...

. In the next game on 17 September, Holtz scored his first and second SHL goal against goaltender

Viktor Fasth Erik Sixten Viktor Fasth (born 8 August 1982) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey goaltender who last played for the Växjö Lakers of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Fasth had his international breakthrough during the 2010–11 season, ...

Växjö Lakers The Växjö Lakers Hockey Club (often referred to as the Växjö Lakers or VLH) are a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Växjö in Sweden. The club plays at the Vida Arena and plays in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserien), ...

in a 5–3 win. Holtz extended his contract with Djurgårdens IF on 23 September by two years, allowing him to play with the club until the 2021–22 SHL season. In his first full season in the SHL in the 2020–21 campaign, Holtz appeared in a career-high 40 regular season games with Djurgårdens IF collecting seven goals and 11 assists to set new career mark of 18 points. After co-leading the club in postseason scoring with four points in three games, Holtz signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the

on 19 April 2021, as well as an

amateur tryout The following are the types of hockey contracts that players may be signed to when they play professional ice hockey. NHL contracts Two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract which stipulates that an athlete's salary i ...

(ATO) contract with their

(AHL) affiliate, the

Binghamton Devils The Binghamton Devils were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2017 to 2021 as the top minor league affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s New Jersey Devils. During the 2017–18 and 2 ...

New Jersey Devils

Holtz moved to North America permanently for the 2021–22 season. Following the conclusion of the NHL pre-season, Holtz was assigned to the AHL's

Utica Comets The Utica Comets are a professional ice hockey team based in Utica, New York. They are members of the North Division in the Eastern Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL) and affiliated with the National Hockey League's (NHL) New Jersey D ...

, where he finished among the top rookie scorers, recording 26 goals and 51 points in 52 games. In one of a few brief stints with the Devils, Holtz scored his first NHL point, an assist on a goal by Pavel Zacha against the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

on 9 November 2021. Holtz made the Devils' NHL roster for the 2022–23 season but failed to retain a permanent roster spot, playing only 19 games with the Devils and 14 with the Comets. He scored his first NHL goal, the Devils' first goal of the season, on 13 October 2022 against the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

. His first multi-point NHL game came on 4 January 2023, scoring a goal and an assist against the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

in his 25th NHL game.

Vegas Golden Knights

On 29 June 2024, during the

2024 NHL entry draft The 2024 NHL entry draft was the 62nd NHL entry draft, entry draft for the National Hockey League. It was held on June 28–29, 2024, at Sphere (venue), Sphere in the Las Vegas Valley. As per their April 2024 agreement, all draft rights held by ...

, Holtz and

Akira Schmid Akira Schmid (born 12 May 2000) is a Swiss professional ice hockey goaltender for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the New Jersey Devils in the fifth round, 136th overall, in the 2018 NHL entry dr ...

were traded to the

in exchange for

Paul Cotter Paul Cotter (born November 16, 1999) is an American professional ice hockey forward for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the Vegas Golden Knights, who drafted him in 2018 and with whom he won th ...

and a third-round pick in

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

. Holtz scored his first goal with Vegas on October 22, 2024, contributing the Golden Knights' fourth goal in a 6–1 victory over the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holtz, Alexander 2002 births Living people Binghamton Devils players Djurgårdens IF (men's hockey) players Ice hockey people from Stockholm NHL first-round draft picks New Jersey Devils draft picks New Jersey Devils players Swedish ice hockey left wingers Utica Comets players Vegas Golden Knights players 21st-century Swedish sportsmen