Nobody likes to admit when they're wrong, whether it's on the modern dating scene or in a home argument. That means swallowing your pride and admitting defeat. That might go against the All-American principle of not giving up. However, the Vegas Golden Knights did exactly that on Thursday.
They waved the white flag on the Alexander Holtz trade that sent Paul Cotter to the New Jersey Devils. They put Alexander Holtz and Cole Reinhardt on waivers after acquiring Nic Dowd from the Washington Capitals.
Alex Holtz and Cole Reinhardt have been put on waivers, per @FriedgeHNIC
— Danny Webster (@DannyWebster21) March 5, 2026
This season, Holtz has only three goals and six assists in 28 games. Overall, he's had a disappointing Vegas residency after putting up good numbers in 2023-24 with the Devils (16 goals and 12 assists), scoring seven goals and 14 assists in two years. Reinhardt has been quiet himself in 2025-26, scoring three goals and four assists in 44 games.
With the latest move, it's time that we all admitted that we were wrong about the former first-round pick. What started as a promising deal devolved into absolute debauchery, leaving fans to call for his head. Yeah, I know it's tough. But if you look at what went wrong during his stay, you'll understand why.
What went wrong with Alexander Holtz during his Vegas Golden Knights residency?
Overall, the trade wasn't heavily favored in New Jersey's corner. Paul Cotter himself has been relatively quiet in 2025-26, scoring six goals and five assists. But the previous season saw him break out for 16 goals and six assists. Certainly, that's easy enough for Holtz to eclipse, right?
Looking at the points, you'll see that it heavily favors his New Jersey tenure. But scoring isn't the only thing telling the story here. It's also the giveaways that have been a problem.
Holtz had 55 giveaways during his Golden Knights residency, 26 more than he had in his three seasons with the Devils. The Stockholm native also had a shooting percentage of 7.1, compared to his 12.3% with the Devils. Add in poor backchecking and a tendency to flinch offensively and the former first-round pick has been one of the biggest disappointments around.
The one saving grace from the Paul Cotter-New Jersey Devils trade is... Akira Schmid?
Ironically, Akira Schmid's 2025-26 season has been good enough to consider this trade a wash. He's been the team's best goaltender this season, putting up a GAA of 2.56 and two shutouts. However, it doesn't undo the fact that the Swedish forward has vastly underperformed with the Golden Knights.
Holtz was given the keys to the Porsche, only for him to crash it on the next subdivision curb. When the Golden Knights acquired him, the expectation was that he'd be an everyday winger who provided goals from the position. With Pavel Dorofeyev also anchoring the group, there was no way that this could fail...
...Except it did. Lo and behold, the 24-year-old experiences a fall from grace not seen in today's society. Consequently, he's proven everyone wrong (myself included) and not in a good way.