The Vegas Golden Knights announced Tuesday that the club has inked forward Alexander Holtz to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $837,500.
It was the final piece of business for the Golden Knights prior to Wednesday’s season opener.
Holtz, 23, was a restricted free agent but participated in training camp on a professional tryout. His patience throughout the summer and preseason paid off, and Vegas rewarded him with a two-year deal.
Originally acquired from New Jersey in a June 2024 trade involving Paul Cotter and Akira Schmid, Holtz recorded four goals and 12 points in 53 games with the Golden Knights last season, adding 13 points in 16 games with the Hender Silver Knights. He was recalled for Vegas’ final four games of the regular season.
The Golden Knights submitted their final roster earlier on Tuesday. After losing Cole Schwindt on waivers to the Florida Panthers, the Golden Knights’ list featured 13 forwards, including winger Cole Reinhardt, who was signed this summer in free agency. Holtz was not on the list but is expected to be the 14th forward to start the year after playing very well in the preseason, appearing in six of seven games and scoring a goal while demonstrating improved defensive play.
When called upon, Holtz will look to rediscover his scoring touch from 2023-24 when he scored a career-high 16 goals and 28 points in a full 82-game campaign with the Devils, who drafted him seventh overall in 2020.
Holtz has 23 goals and 46 points in 163 career NHL games with New Jersey and Vegas.
The Golden Knights were able to sign Holtz after waiving defenseman Jeremy Davies, who recently signed a rare two-way deal with an AAV above $1 million ($1.15 million). According to PuckPedia, this was done to maximize LTIR benefits, with Alex Pietrangelo—and his $8.8 million cap hit—being designated for season-ending LTIR.
The rest of the Golden Knights’ final roster (which was submitted prior to waiving Davies and signing Holtz) is as follows:
Forwards
- Ivan Barbashev
- Jack Eichel
- Mitch Marner
- Reilly Smith
- William Karlsson
- Mark Stone
- Brandon Saad
- Tomas Hertl
- Pavel Dorofeyev
- Brett Howden
- Colton Sissons
- Keegan Kolesar
- Cole Reinhardt
Defensemen
- Brayden McNabb
- Shea Theodore
- Noah Hanifin
- Zach Whitecloud
- Jeremy Lauzon
- Kaedan Korczak
- Ben Hutton
- Jeremy Davies
Goaltenders
- Adin Hill
- Akira Schmid
The Golden Knights are set to kick off the 2025-26 season Wednesday night at home against Los Angeles.