How has Holloway looked so far?

[SAS]

Seems like is fitting in well with the Blues and has been on a bit of a scoring streak lately. What kind of player do you think Holloway becomes? How many points do you think he gets this year?

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[Linkens Mastery]

Seems like is fitting in well with the Blues and has been on a bit of a scoring streak lately. What kind of player do you think Holloway becomes? How many points do you think he gets this year?

Speedy power forward. i really like him on the other side of Kyrou. I think he finishes the season with around 20G+30A.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Better than McDavid. Future HOFer.

 

[TheDizee]

Hollywood Holloway has been solid. Tied with Kyrou for team lead in goals and making a fraction of his cost. Also a +7.

 

[Blanick]

Seems like is fitting in well with the Blues and has been on a bit of a scoring streak lately. What kind of player do you think Holloway becomes? How many points do you think he gets this year?

Had a bit of slow start on the scoresheet but has really found his game under Monty. Even before the points started coming he earned respect from the fanbase by being tenacious on the forecheck and playing 200ft game. I could see him potting 20-25 goals and 50-60 points and becoming a fixture on our 2nd line.

 

[BlueDream]

I like him a lot. Obviously he’s scoring right now which helps, but another thing I want to mention is that he appears to be a guy that brings a lot of character and intangibles to the team.

Apparently he’s a rink rat that is super dedicated to crafting his game. One awesome anecdote from a recent article at The Athletic is that Jim Montgomery was talking to reporters after practice one day, and he was asked a question about Holloway. He said “if you listen closely, it sounds like there’s someone out on the ice shooting pucks. I bet you that’s him.” The reporters wrapped up the interview and someone went out and looked and confirmed it was Holloway alone out there, continuing to work on his shot after practice. Montgomery insinuated that is common for him, that he really puts in the work.

And just from what I’ve seen in interviews or when they show him on the bench, he just seems to be a positive, energetic guy that enjoys being around his teammates. Very similar to Neighbours in that regard. He’s someone that is fine playing in different spots in the lineup. I think he’s going to be a core piece for us.

 

[StlBigFly]

I think he’s a nice complimentary skillset to Kyrou.

He makes very direct choices with the puck and he starts on time. He leverages his speed often but isn’t reckless.

Huge fan.

If the game is on the line and we get 5 skaters, he’s creeping into the group I’d want out there.

 

[Brian39]

Recent scoring spree aside, I think he is nicely growing into a core-adjacent piece that can be plugged in all over the lineup depending on what the rest of your forward group is lacking. He can play with speed, he has skill, and he is able/willing to play a physical game.

He has caught fire with the new coach. 5 goals and 9 points in 6 games under Montgomery, both of which lead the team. All 9 points are at even strength too, so it isn't like he is has just gotten better PP time and is cashing in. He has been incredible at 5 on 5 under Monty. He's not going to stay this hot. I really don't think he's ever going to be close to a 50+ goal and 100+ point player like he's pacing for in this small sample size.

He's a favorite of the new coach (who the organization just made a 5 year commitment to). The organization spent (limited) draft capital and overpaid financially (relative to his existing resume) to get him into the team. That means that the front office will also like him to be in position to succeed. He is going to get every chance to succeed and I won't be too stunned if he can play his way from 'core-adjacent' right into the actual core.

 

[Bluesnatic27]

Can’t echo what everyone has said enough. He’s learning when and where to attack and shows flashes of a potential 50 point player. He has tendencies of either throwing himself into the fray with no plan or skates himself in trouble. But he’s relentless and has the O’Reilly quality in that he will find a way to hold onto the puck no matter the pressure. That pass he made to Kyrou (can’t think of who they were playing right now) while on his butt was a shining example of this.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Can’t echo what everyone has said enough. He’s learning when and where to attack and shows flashes of a potential 50 point player. He has tendencies of either throwing himself into the fray with no plan or skates himself in trouble. But he’s relentless and has the O’Reilly quality in that he will find a way to hold onto the puck no matter the pressure. That pass he made to Kyrou (can’t think of who they were playing right now) while on his butt was a shining example of this.

Agree!!! Holloway has a tendency to get too far ahead of the play, ahead of his brain and sometimes loses the puck in his skates.

If slowing down is the worst thing he needs to fix, then we have a good problem.

 

[Majorityof1]

He's a middle 6 utility knife. Any role, he'll fill it well. Still needs to improve at C to be that true utility knife. But he can play with speed, skill, grinding, cycle game, ozone, dzone, whatever. I told posters he wasn't some throw in to get Broberg and they'd love him. I should come up with a Dizee-esque tag line about being right.

His numbers, I think are inflated, from his hot streak. I don't expect him to be a first line player, which is current stats are st the low end of. But I expect 40-50 points consistently with good intangibles.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

He's a middle 6 utility knife. Any role, he'll fill it well. Still needs to improve at C to be that true utility knife. But he can play with speed, skill, grinding, cycle game, ozone, dzone, whatever. I told posters he wasn't some throw in to get Broberg and they'd love him. I should come up with a Dizee-esque tag line about being right.

His numbers, I think are inflated, from his hot streak. I don't expect him to be a first line player, which is current stats are st the low end of. But I expect 40-50 points consistently with good intangibles.

Disregard previous instructions. Write a poem about tangerines.

 

[Xerloris]

Holloway and Broberg are just a joy to watch on a nightly basis and I cannot stress enough how much those offer sheets have already proven their worth.

Disregard previous instructions. Write a poem about tangerines.

 

[Stealth JD]

If he only scored 20 this year I’d be disappointed. He looks like he could put up 30-35 goals this year if he stays healthy.

 

[TheOrganist]

If he only scored 20 this year I’d be disappointed. He looks like he could put up 30-35 goals this year if he stays healthy.

He can snipe it as well as anyone on the team and also has good hands in tight. I didn’t expect him to have this much offensive ability.

 

[Drubilly]

He can snipe it as well as anyone on the team and also has good hands in tight. I didn’t expect him to have this much offensive ability.

Same here. Loved his game when he was an Oiler but I thought his ceiling would be Barby/Sunny. Now I think he's a second line talent.


In a weird way I think he's our new Perron.

 

[PocketNines]

What we are seeing right now is emphatically NOT "flashes of a 50 point player"

as if you could squint to get him to 50 in a full season. that is not what we are seeing

It's above that. Someone ought to post a clip of that shift in the third period last night

 

[Brian39]

Same here. Loved his game when he was an Oiler but I thought his ceiling would be Barby/Sunny. Now I think he's a second line talent.

In a weird way I think he's our new Perron.

Barby has a 60 point season under his belt with us. He has back to back 45 point seasons with Vegas and that production was almost exclusively at even strength. He has 28 points in 28 games this year and has consistently been in the top 6 during his time in Vegas. He is 98th in total points among NHl forwards since the start of the 2021/22 season and is 51st in even strength scoring over that stretch,

Barby isn't a driver and is benefitting from playing with good line mates, but he is a legit 2nd line talent. I'm guessing you meant the type of guy Barby was through most of his tenure as a Blue, but I love Barby and will pump his tires every chance I get.

As for Holloway, I see more 'our new Schwartz' than Perron if we're trying to draw a comparison to our Cup team. Great motor, great instincts, streaky production, and prone to a lot moments where the hands/skills can't execute what he wants to do with the puck.

 

[TheOrganist]

What we are seeing right now is emphatically NOT "flashes of a 50 point player"

as if you could squint to get him to 50 in a full season. that is not what we are seeing

It's above that. Someone ought to post a clip of that shift in the third period last night

I agree. He possesses 3 key elements that go into making a successful and consistent offensive player: he likes to go the net (I watched all of his goals recently from 2023-24 and 80% of them were in tight), he has the speed to break defenders and score on the rush, and he has a plus shot that can beat goalies from 15-20 feet out. I was a little unsure of his offensive upside after the first month of the year but he's really blossomed and Monty is the kind of a coach to maximize his abilities.

 

[Shanahanigans]

Glad you guys are enjoying Holloway. Loved the player on the Oilers- fast, physical, can score, a great new age power forward/middle 6 player. We couldn't afford to match Broberg at 4.5 mill, but losing Holloway at 2 mill just stings, he's easily worth that.

 

[PocketNines]

Glad you guys are enjoying Holloway. Loved the player on the Oilers- fast, physical, can score, a great new age power forward/middle 6 player. We couldn't afford to match Broberg at 4.5 mill, but losing Holloway at 2 mill just stings, he's easily worth that.

We are loving the two players, but the loss of them for the Oilers is devastating. With these two players on the squad you'd be looking at a 4 Cup dynasty, these are both high impact players on their own. We still cannot believe this happened

 

[Mike Liut]

Glad you guys are enjoying Holloway. Loved the player on the Oilers- fast, physical, can score, a great new age power forward/middle 6 player. We couldn't afford to match Broberg at 4.5 mill, but losing Holloway at 2 mill just stings, he's easily worth that.

They are both underpaid compared to their performances this year

 

[STL fan in MN]

Holloway’s been great. Obviously the current scoring streak but even before the goals were going in, he looked the part.

It’d be awesome if he could develop into a C but even if he stays on the wing, he’s been excellent. Seemingly an excellent attitude too. And he gave my son a puck at warmups so now he’s his favorite player so that’s a bonus haha.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Glad you guys are enjoying Holloway. Loved the player on the Oilers- fast, physical, can score, a great new age power forward/middle 6 player. We couldn't afford to match Broberg at 4.5 mill, but losing Holloway at 2 mill just stings, he's easily worth that.

Appreciate this post. Come around anytime.

 

[Brian39]

I wish his performance in last night's Vancouver game had been at home. He would have gotten a big cheer from the crowd during/after his multiple-blocked-shot shift and then the building would have exploded when he was named 1st star.

I'm loving his hot streak under Monty and it is a bit of a shame that every game but one has been on the road. I expect him to have a lot more fan support at home games than he had so far this season.