The St. Louis Blues 2024-25 season has been one of accomplishments, but a certain newcomer has become a force in the NHL since the campaign began back in October. Overall, Blues fans everywhere should be excited over the team’s direction, knowing the retool is reaching its next phase and that the playoffs are a reality.
Yeah, there’s still work to be done, but there’s a lot of optimism for the near future, and one forward in particular has been a driving force. No, it’s not Jordan Kyrou, despite his outstanding play recently, or even the great Robert Thomas.
As implied earlier, this player is a newcomer named Dylan Holloway, who recently earned the Third Star of the Week award. Yeah, that’s not a bad look at all when you think of it. And is it just me, or is this becoming something of the norm for Holloway, who is third on the team in points after appearing in 72 games?
Dylan Holloway has been one of the driving forces for the St. Louis Blues
So, just how good has Holloway been? Overall, he’s got 58 points and 23 goals, with the latter number ranking second on the Blues, behind only Jordan Kyrou, who has 30. But, Holloway brings even more to his game than Kyrou, evidenced with his 154 hits and 32 takeaways, allowing him to be a driving force both when his team has and is chasing the puck.
This past week, Holloway ended up with two goals and seven assists, good for nine points and 1.8 points per game. Yeah, and when you adjust that number to 82 games, you end up with between 147 and 148. That won’t happen this season, but why not get a little ambitious right now, considering how good both Holloway and the Blues are playing.
The feat has allowed Holloway to, rightfully, might I add, see a slight increase in ice time to roughly 18:25 in each of the last two contests. And if he keeps making the same kind of impact, look for that ice time to grow even more.
Dylan Holloway has evolved well despite some turmoil in Arch City
In the span of one calendar year, Holloway saw himself playing under three different head coaches, and that’s not always an easy atmosphere for such a young player to play good hockey in. Still, Holloway seemed to have gotten better with each new coach he played in front of, and took off once Jim Montgomery left the Boston Bruins for the Midwest.
Now, he’s got a chance to help lead the Blues to their first playoff appearance in a few seasons. And in a worst-case scenario, he played a major role in making this team relevant once again. Relevance is the first prerequisite in a championship window that is slowly opening, and now, it’ll be up to Holloway and the other youngsters leading this team to take the next step.
The Blues have won six straight following what was a big win over the Nashville Predators, so Holloway and Company have this group in the driver’s seat.