Dylan Holloway Is Answering the Blues’ Most Important Offseason Question One Shift at a Time

The numbers Dylan Holloway has posted since the Olympic break do not fit neatly into any narrative that was being written about the St. Louis Blues two months ago. Since returning from the break and injury, the 24-year-old has 12 points in eight games and a plus-13 rating that leads the entire team by a margin that is not close. A 20% shooting rate on 25 attempts. A points-per-game rate of 1.50 that, sustained over a full season, would place him among the most productive forwards in the Western Conference.

These are not the numbers of a complementary player finding his footing. They are the numbers of a difference-maker operating at the peak of his game.

What makes Holloway's post-break explosion significant beyond the raw totals is the context in which it is happening. The Blues have the best goals-against rate in the NHL since the break at 1.75 per game, and that defensive dominance has rightfully drawn attention. But the offensive engine driving wins has been Holloway. His 12 points are the most of any Blue over the stretch. His plus-13 is almost surreal on a team that carried a minus-45 goal differential into the break — a number that reflects months of hockey where this roster was consistently on the wrong end of even-strength battles.

With his increased production, the coaching staff has rewarded him by giving Holloway a small uptick in ice time. Holloway is averaging 18 minutes per game post-break, up from 17:46 on the season, and he is making every shift count in a way that has changed how opposing coaches have to think about defending St. Louis. The even-strength production has been the backbone of it with all 12 of his post-break points have come at five-on-five, which matters enormously on a team whose power play has converted at just 7.1% since the break.

In a very real sense, Holloway has become the Blues' power play. When the man advantage has failed to generate, his even-strength dominance has filled the void.

The broader implication of this run is significant for how Doug Armstrong and Alexander Steen approach the offseason. The Blues head into the summer with legitimate questions to answer about their goaltending situation, about their defensive depth, about the development timeline for young pieces like Dalibor Dvorsky and Otto Stenberg, not to mention the prospects still working their way through the system. 

The Blues have a top-six forward capable of driving play at even strength, has continued to build chemistry with Robert Thomas and Jimmy Snuggerud, and is posting point-per-game production when given the opportunity and the linemates. It might be a hot streak from Holloway, but this is not a minor thing to know heading into a pivotal offseason. It is, in fact, one of the more valuable pieces of information this lost season has produced.

St. Louis may not make the playoffs. However, if this stretch of hockey has done one thing beyond give the fanbase something to feel good about in March, it has put a name at the top of the list of reasons for optimism heading into next year. That name is Dylan Holloway.