NJ Devils TRADE Alexander Holtz & Akira Schmid To Vegas Golden Knights for Paul Cotter! 

Knights fan here, and I'm not sure if your GM was drunk. Paul Kotter can occasionally look good, and he does hit. But he is a turnover machine, and his scoring will disappear for long stretches. Always nervous when he's on the ice. He also takes dumb penalties.

He isn’t getting another year because he is small and has drama around him. Devils need size and Cotter is bigger and is on an ECL till 2026. Schmid had 20 games left till he was exempt from waivers. They got what they could for these two.

Holtz is soft and will never get enough ice time to be effective!! Schmid will not play!!! So let him go else where! Devils need toughness any way they can get it.

Holtz has been a big disappointment so far for such a high draft pick but is young and with good development still be 2nd or 3rd liner

This trade is a big FU to devils fans. Holtz is definitely a 30 goal scorer. We basically waived him and Vegas claimed him. Cotter is what you call B.S. You get that kind of player anytime anywhere for anything. This wasn’t a trade. We just waived our 22 yo 7OA pick. Period.

this is one of the worst trades ive seen in a very very long time

I was surprised to see Holtz traded as well. He still has a year left on his ELC. Even the Rangers re-signed Kappo Kakko to another season. Not only is he a year older than Holtz, but he has 2 more years of NHL experience as well. When Graeme Clarke got traded, that lead me to think Holtz would be given the chance to at least play out his ELC. I never would have guessed that he would be traded this offseason.

Schmid obviously wasnt going to play with the veteran goalies. And Holtz is not a guarantee to perform next year. They need players who will perform next year.

I wrote a long post for a few a fan groups about where this off season is heading that we are both members of, including on Facebook that might interest you. I'm convinced that Fitz went past the point of no return in free agent negotiations with at least 3 free agents pand realized that higher than expected salary cap demands would be necessary to get them. This is likely going to be big name RhD, a very good replacement for Bahl at LhD, and a very good veteran second line winger. Whatever happened in negotiations caused him to scramble and Vegas smelled blood realizing that Fitz was not going to risk losing his free agent targets and having to scramble to aquire these bigger assets. He also did not want to have his other perfect feeling moves jeopardized by not having enough grit, center depth, and capable minute munching players in the forward group that help so much in a long regular season by, say, making Tierney a full time lineup player. This meant that he needed a very low cap hit for McLeod's replacement. I like Cotter and think that he will revitalize the fourth line for an entry level cap hit. He may have some third line potential. He is making league minimum, so we saved $1-2 million on McLeod's replacement from a cap perspective. I also do get the feeling that analytics people are placing a higher value on gritty depth players league wide making him a little bit more valuable, hence Fitz's unwillingness to put a Tierney of Nosek level guy in that position. We also have zero in the way of credible Center prospects in our development pipeline thinking past this season. So Fitz got caught scrambling and Vegas made him pay knowing that Holtz is not viewed as essential chemistry-wise in our forward group makeup (and there are some doubts on his progression even though I agree he'll probably pop). They also senses that Schmid was no longer essential given that Daws' is the same age and may very well be a better prospect right now and that Allen will give us another good season as pro backup. I checked our roster and notes that Kinkaid is shown as being on Utica, sounds like third depth chart insurance if Daws' isn't ready as well. So they fleeced us, but will still likely have an incredible team. If the free agents we likely pick up don't look good or Fitz has trouble signing them and has to scramble again for lesser options, he's going to look like shit very quick for this deal, which does stink to hell.😊

I think your view on this is really balanced. Holtz wasn't gonna make the top line but he was already contributing so it seems impossible he couldn't contribute more. All we can do is just give it some time and see what happens

It’s a deal strictly to remove cap from the devils books as they have to sign both Hughes and nemec long term. It really sucks dumping a player like holtz, but the devils already have the sexy pick in both jack and bratt. Add the beef to the lineup and take no shit. Especially from nyr, hate those guys

Right now holtz trade value was low some of it is his fault but it’s also the devils fault for not helping him develop correctly. Schmid has a great upside to his game. But this trade was not the greatest trade by Fitzy. The Marino trade was great! For someone who had a horrible season giving us a second rounder. But hopefully fitzy redeems himself during free agency

Oh my god. 2 young guys on cheap deals. Holts has upside. What a shame

At first I’m not liking this trade. A lot of potential just went out the door. We got who?? Then you look at what we got back. Schmid for a 3rd, fair enough. He seemed to need longer to develop. Holtz for Cotter, a depth 3-4 C that likes to hit. As long as Fitz uses that 3rd to pick Colton or someone like him on Monday, I can live with this.

Cotter brings physicality to the lineup and is signed at 775k for two years. When you look long term New Jersey has to sign both nemec and Hughes. Palat contract hurts devils a lot. If they didn’t have that they’d be able to resign holtz, but unfortunately they’re cap strapped long term when you really look at it. This is a cap trade. Holtz sweetens the deal and removes 1.7 from our cap

Drafted two more goalies, we have Markstrom, we have Allen. Someone had to go. Clearly they believe in Daws more. Was hoping to see what Holtz could do without Lindy as coach. Fitzgerald didn't sound like a Holtz fan either.

I'm no where near as knowledgable as most on this channel but I would have sent Fitzie packing at the same time as Lindy. Holtz could be and should be a 20 to 30 goal a year player. I think it was hard for him to get the quality minutes with the NJD having so many top forwards. I would rather have seen a buyout for Palat and let our new coach sort out a better role for Holtz. The Hockey Guy said at least Holtz will get more breathing room and a better chance to develop in his new home. Cotter seems physical but he has a + - of -15 after 138 NHL games. That's NOT what we need for a centerman. I realize that -15 is not all his fault, it's just that when he was on the ice, that's what happened. Hits are great but 2 way centermen are sometimes worth their weight in gold. Adam Henrique and Travis Zajac for example. Schmid also had a spectacular week and a half when we had a solid D against the Rags. But I think long term the staff considered Daws a better bet. I'm glad for Schmid because it looks like they expect him to be the solid #2 in his new arena. I think it was a bad trade. Might be wrong... but we will see soon enough.

You are grading the trade way too early.

6’2” 215, plays hard, loves to hit, and hits a lot. Can play all 3 forward positions. Great trade. Schmid is a nothing and Holtz is a proven bust who lost all value. To get what the Devils got is awesome. Need size. Added size.

We’re going to add top 6 talent in FA…I’m not worried about this at all.. holtz was one dimensional

I remember hearing Schmid wanting to leave NJ last season when we sent him down. I Don't blame him if it was true. I feel bad for him. We seem to just run through promising goalies 🫤

Joe brining the 🔥 I felt the same way dude. I like cotter and what he can bring but cmon give up on Holtzy that early?! And a new coach ? We gave Zacha til 25! I feel like we need change but can’t be just flipping pieces cause of a down year

I disagree. The more i looked into this, the more i realized it was a necessary trade. Schmid had to go, we didnt have the room for him or money to sign him, he was going to be nothing more than a deal sweetener anyway. Holtz may have a high ceiling, but not with us, trading him for guaranteed size and grit was the right move. I think its a fair trade.

You're gonna love Cotter

You have to relax and watch more before commenting like this Holtz had no value. Devs were offered NOTHING for him. At least 6 offers last two days for a number 5. Cotter is big and hits. That’s why they got him. Period. Schmid was going to hold out and not play. They had no choice. How do you not know this if you’re making a podcast. I enjoy your show most of the time but please, dig deeper before influencing the casual fan

Fitz over pays on contracts and can’t make a decent trade, time to go. I will say he had drafted very well for us, and I thank him for that

It’s pretty obvious they think very little of Holtz. They have killed his market value over the last few years

Schmid was due a raise this year. He was a RFA and we would have lost him to waivers. Cotter has 213 hits last year. More than twice as many as any Devil. He also blocks shots which we need

This proves Fitz is a dope. Fitz drafted Holtz in 2020 over Quinn, Rossi, Perfetti, Askarov, Lundell, Jarvis, Guhle, Reichel…… and then this? This trade ended all faith in Fitz for me as a competent GM.

Barbashev is a great idea, I wish he would have came this way

People dont realize that Cotter does so many more things than Holtz does. If Devils fans are banking on Holtz ever becoming a 25-30 goal scorer then I think we're all going to be waiting for awhile. He was inconsistent and had zero ways to get top 6 or PP mins. Cotter on the other hand is physical, can win faceoffs, score around 10 goals. He's basically Mikey McLeod. Would fans trade Holtz for McLeod? I think they would He's also cost controlled for the next 2 seasons while Holtz is going to need a new deal next year which probably pays him 2.5 mil per if he does anything of substance this coming season. If he doesnt then he'll be with another organization.

I don't like it but I don't hate it either, we already have Hughes bratt hischier timo that can put 30goals. Goalies don't have much value because they are unpredictable getting a 3rd for Schmid was pretty solid. Sure we could have probably got a little more for Holtz than cotter but that maybe was the best offer on the table. And maybe they both asked to get traded

Honestly i felt the same way , but schmid had his chance and blew it , holtz apparently didnt fit in , it freed up cap room on the roster.

Holtz really a 1 trick pony he has a good shot, but we lost this trade. Maybe fitz has a plan for Monday better be on Stamkos

It keeps getting better because Cotter wasn’t even good enough for them to play in the playoffs for them. He “won the cup” but wasn’t dressed during the cup win or this year at all either:

Eeeekkkk giving up on Holtz basically... I like Cotter but man

Holtz is a bust. Teams always overvalue their players, especially first rounders. Not sure about Akira but guess the Devils decided they were going in a different direction for goaltending and given what’s happened over the last few years, are they really that wrong? One could make the argument the Devils could have gotten more. I’ll give that.

Schmid for Cotter straight up is what it should have been.

This one got me too. I thought if that’s all you’re getting for Holtz then keep him one more year and attempt to grow his value again and then sell him at deadline or after the season and take your loss then!!! The only thing I can think of is he must have someone or multiple players coming in during Free Agency that would push Holtz right back to the bottom 6 on the depth chart . So if Necas or Bertuzzi or some combo of Forwards aren’t Devils when free agency begins then it makes not much sense at all to me. (I wonder if they busted Holtzs balls and told him he was traded to Buffalo back with Lindy again 😂 ☠️. )

2:12 the pain in the "WAS" 😅

Don’t like it. Fitz’ quote says it all: he’s “betting” on Cotters upside. I would have given Holtz the 12:30 of ice a game Cotter got and bet on THAT upside.

@hockeyskatedown, wtf was that????? Has Fitz gone completely CRAZY?!?!?

Wish I could like this video more than once

We fall in love with prospects and always want to hold on to them im not saying the return wqs great but holtz is not a great skater bad in his own end bad off the puck is on the softer side and dosent drive play i dont think hes gonna blow up to b a great player but then again that would prob b the devils luck haha

As a knights fan i can say cotter has huge upside. He is fast and has way better puck skills than people realize. He does take bad penalties and has turnover problems but i feel he can improve on those.

Too bad they couldn't get Theodore instead of the 3rd pick 2025.

Your kidding right… this is Holtz and Schmid for Marchaseault right…!!!

We will miss this two guys a lot. Hope paul cottier does well. I am not a fan of this trade

They had too many soft skill finesse players. Fitz is finally trying to fix one of their major weaknesses. You realize all the trades the devils tried to make and made tried to involve holtz and nobody wanted him. He held little value to other teams. If he had as much value as people thought they would of had no problem getting a better return at the trade deadline or before the draft. Holtz wasn't the best skater, was soft, and made horrible decisions with the puck. Cotter will hold a ton more value to the devils than holtz did or would ever. Would of been nice to keep zetterlund instead of holtz..

Fitz is a damn clown. I have no idea what this guy was thinking doing this trade!

They ruined HOLTZ. And at the same time, hated him. Did they catch him trashing the owners / staff or something?! It’s very odd.

vegas didnt qualify Schmid. Hes a ufa now. Anyone can sign him.

Worst trade ever I'm done with fitzs 😢

This is the worst trade of the year and its not close. Why didnt they juat trade a 4th or 5th rd pick for cotter if they like him that much? Now we habe no snipers in the prospect pool. This is an all time head scatcher. This is the kind of deal that will follow fitz the rest of hi scareer and likely ruin it. Did holtz bang his daughter or something? Fitz and lindy hated him so much. Dont tell me about upside with cotter, is that a effing joke?

Holtz was mishandled from day 1. He was never put in a position to succeed for a long enough period of time. Shuffling him around in limited minutes with assorted 3rd and 4th liners. He is a 20+ goal guy at minimum. You don't just throw that away for a 4th line center. It's a terrible trade. Not as bad as the Sharangovich trade. Still pretty bad.

Holtz and Akira will NOT take off. Holtz will be playing in Sweden in probably 4 years.

This is a fireable offense… this is disgusting.. i f’n loved these guys, and Cotter??? Wtf this is crap, idgaf what he is thinking, Holtz had 16 goals on limited time.. bs im pissed.. 😡 so annoyed

Mind boggling. Should have been either Holtz or Schmid not both of them.

Alright you know who Cotter Reminds me of? Miles Wood, who we already had on our roster a year ago and could have signed for cheap

This trade is stupid on fitzs part. He is useless and by far the the worst gm in the nhl.

Holtz scores atleast 30 next year and schmid plays 30 games

holtz didnt make the international team he had no value,, schmid was blocked and didnt take the net this past year he had his chance, not a great return but definently freeing up roster spots for other moves, this is just part 1, and the guy they got is alright and where holtz would be playing cuz we getting someone else in the top 6

Good trade. Holtz a bust

What did Holtz contribute? He's slow, hes atrocious on the defensive end, he get run off the puck, he is constantly out of position, and he has a low hockey IQ for the NHL. Whenever something like this happens, home team fans want to romanticize the player/prospect that they are losing but never take into account the mountain of downsides that the player has, and Holtz has a metric ton. Idc how young he is. He either doesn't get it or he can't gel with the skill players that we have on roster. He has an above average shot, so what. If he's never in a position to use that shot, it's entirely worthless. He clearly doesn't fit with the vision of the team that Fitz has and he tanked his value by playing like absolute garbage. Cotter has more points in less games, hes physical, and he holds onto the puck(from all of the things I've seen from him). If Keefe can develop him into a solid role player, which I absolutely believe he can, it's a win in getting anything back at all for Holtz. Multiple teams turned down packages involving him because he doesn't have it. As for Schmid, the nostalgia of the rags series is great, but since then, his play has been absolutely manic. He can not establish any baseline of solid play and looks like Mackblack 2.0. Let the season play out and then judge the moves. This is a solid start to what this team needs to be.

Holtz was so useless for NJ that we had to package Akira with him. Stop making out as Holtz did anything useful. Most useless player on the ice.

Stop it Holtz was a bottom six forward at best and was suppose to be more then he is now and has not turned into that player everyone thought and he got traded for another bottom six Schmid is now lost behind a back log of goalies and yes he had a flash in the pan with the ranger series being the thing but he is not the next great goalie. Holtz had his chance to be a top six and didn’t prove it. It was a third liner for third liner with a career back up thrown in. After Monday you will forget about these guys. Holtz was a bust

Fitzgerald got Cotter. And for that he got rid off Wood, who is a better player, just a year ago. Genius!!! Fitzgerald is incapable of making trades. He hasn't made a single win trade for the Devils in 4 years!! All he can do is sign free agents by throwing money at them🤡. Fitzgerald is by the worst GM in the history of the NHL

FIRE Jersey JOKE Tom Fitzgerald 🤡 🗑 🔥 🔥 🔥

Your kidding right… this is Holtz and Schmid for Marchaseault right…!!!