We’re halfway through the season and few players have made more of opportunities with their new teams than that of Dylan Holloway.
Signed by the St. Louis Blues to a two-year, $2.29-million AAV offer sheet this summer, he’s racked up 15 goals and 32 points through his first 44 games in The Lou. He’s second among their forwards in goals, and third in points, while second and in each looking solely at five-on-five minutes.
Opportunity is everything, and he’s gotten that, making a home on their second line with Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou.
“It was a big part of it,” Holloway admitted on a recent episode of the What Chaos! podcast. “Just going off what Edmonton was telling me, it didn’t seem like I was going to get a ton of opportunity.“And I talked to Doug Armstrong too before it all went down, and I felt there was more opportunity here in St. Louis. I knew it wasn’t going to just be handed to me, I knew I’d have to have a good camp and earn it, but there was definitely more opportunity in St. Louis.”
Whatever the Oilers were planning for Holloway seemed to follow what happened in his four years in Edmonton’s organization. After the team drafted him 14th overall in 2020, he would spend his draft-plus-one year with the NCAA’s University of Wisconsin, turning pro ahead of the 2021-22 season.
It was a slow start to the year as he was recovering from wrist surgery, but once he got going with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, he was going. He scored eight goals and 22 points in 33 games, nine of which came in their final seven games.
In both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, there often seemed to be a lack of plan for Holloway. While injuries played into things, positional changes and too few time in the American Hockey League likely impacted what he was able to do.
“I think as a young player too, that’s huge,” added Holloway about getting the opportunity. “You wanna make your mark, grow and learn how to play the game at the NHL and play well. That comes with opportunity, and I’m thankful for that opportunity in St. Louis.”
It wasn’t an easy decision for Holloway, though. After all, he had been to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, losing to the Florida Panthers, and his most common centre linemate in the playoffs was none other than Leon Draisaitl.
But for as much as the players bonded through that experience, Holloway said things felt different when the offseason began.
“It was so hard because… we were so close,” he said on the What Chaos! podcast. “Basically like two shots away from winning a Stanley Cup. That whole experience, going through the playoffs, you get tight with the guys, and it’s just an experience nobody really understands except those guys in that room.“It was super tough, but (at) the same time, too, as soon as that’s all over, it almost seems like the teams in a different mode. It was hard but… I think long-term for my development as a player, I think it was the right decision.”
Watching Holloway have success elsewhere could always be worse, though, as he could’ve had the chance to do so with the Calgary Flames.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
This article is presented by Deloitte Canada
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