Mastodon
@New Jersey Devils

Ryan Novozinsky on X “Lindy Ruff says he “hasn’t made a decision” as to whether Alexander Holtz will play tonight vs. Capitals”


Ridiculous

by Zajac19

21 Comments

  1. Nimblesquatch

    Fucking why? I don’t understand the decision making here

  2. Lmao and people were happy with Ruff getting extended….

  3. Top two centers are out and our defense is in shambles?

    ​

    ***Time to bench Alex Holtz***

  4. mustachiolong

    Wait what the fuck? Who can replace him at the moment?

    Edit: It’s fucking Nosek? For fucks sake bench Tierney or Willman. Those two were literally signed for AHL and injury depth.

    Second Edit: Watched the Lindy interview from this afternoon. He was hyper critical of our power play from last game and made a snide comment about Nosek going on our power play to be better “defensively”.

  5. Didn’t watch the massacre that was our last game. Was he a liability against Colorado? I feel like he’s been one of best bottoms 6 guys out there every night.

  6. It’s becoming unbearable the blind love our fanbase has for Holtz

  7. Zestyclose_Estate248

    Somebody said palat and holtz should switch and I agree. Willman’s turnover was worse than holtz’s penalty if we’re doin any benching.

  8. beaucoup_movement

    It’s pretty clear they’ve given this kid some things to emphasize and maybe they’re not seeing it. Nothing wrong with sitting him down for a night if that’s what will get his attention. I trust Ruff and Fitzgerald are watching Holtz very closely in games and obviously in practice. If they don’t like what they see, so be it. Nobody is on scholarship.

  9. I was never on the Holtz bandwagon like lots of the fans that wanted him to play more before this year. But he has very clearly improved and earned a solid role on the team this season. He needs to play at least decent 3rd line minutes and PP. he’s been good at both ends of the ice, and you notice him being real solid on a consistent basis. There’s a lot of other people to consider scratching before him. I’d go with Tierny easily, he hasn’t done a lot of positive and threw the world’s biggest pizza to the other team on the game winner in Denver.

  10. FloppyCanFly

    Listen, it’s explicitly the coaches decision who plays every night.

    Remember when Lindy benched Bratt and he came back with a fire under his ass.

    If Lindy thinks sitting Holtz is the best thing for the team you have to trust him at this point. I personally don’t think Holtz is getting the right opportunity but I also don’t have access to the full picture

  11. Can him enough is enough leash is shorter than ever and he puts a 7th overall pick on our 4th line with grinders. Ruff is a joke of a coach when it comes to strategy he has great rapport with players but that doesn’t mean shit when this team is not using players in the right areas.

  12. vtloncto14

    Holtz has taken longer than expected/desired to develop but.. I thought he’s been playing well. Idt it serves the devils to bench him when down two big scorers/ offensive play drivers

  13. People are missing a fact that this is a teaching moment. It’s not a matter of having shittier players on the team it’s a matter of he fucked up and needs to be better based on what his expectations are. The AHL plugs are expected to make fuck ups at this level that’s why they’re AHL plugs. Holtz is supposed to be ready for the show and making AHL mistakes. That’s why he’s catching the shit.

  14. VanDerZappa

    Yep, fuck Holtz, he doesn’t even hold the calibre MVPs like Smith, Tierney and Willman hold against a cup contender like the Caps.

  15. FlyingScubaShark

    There was a shift during the Colorado game where I specifically watched Holtz.

    IIRC, in this shift he:

    * Picked off an opposing breakout pass to keep the play on-side
    * Delivered a pass that was so good that it surprised his (4th line) linemate…a pass that if handled correctly would have definitely been a great scoring chance

    I get that he still needs to improve on not taking penalties (not too many, but can be avoided), getting in better position on forechecks and backchecks, and winning the one-on-one battles. But he’s rapidly improving and making some really smart plays.

    If the upwards trajectory wasn’t there, then fine, bench him. But with his growth, let the kid play!

  16. gleeson630

    I wouldn’t scratch him. It’s a bad decision. But there’s not zero reason to. This team can’t allow certain egregious things. Are you gonna play like we can win a shootout? Bc even if you add much needed potential offense we probably can’t win those.
    It stupid that it always gonna be tougher on guys with some talent but you need to accountability(we get it Brendan Smith blah blah). I’d rather use this time to play Holtz as much as possible. But maybe if this actually happens it’s a one game thing and he’s better for it. I personally think he’s really trying to push him I don’t think he just hates him.

  17. dudehimself3

    People that assume coaches know best don’t realize how many dumb coaches are littered throughout every professional sports league.

Write A Comment