Lynn Worthy | Post-Dispatch
Sports columnist
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Blues captain Brayden Schenn has foresight as a veteran who’s been around. That showed when Schenn, in the same breath, lauded his teammate and linemate Dylan Holloway and then tried to head off the potentially enormous expectations.
Holloway, one of the bright young stars Blues president of hockey operations Doug Armstrong’s added via offer sheet last summer, turned into a force last season.
With Holloway’s breakout season, now here comes an avalanche of optimism, projections, hopes and, yes, expectations as well. It’s simultaneously exciting and a bit dangerous. Trying to live up to the expansive expectations of others can be a fool’s errand littered with disappointment and criticism.
Schenn seemingly recognizes the potential pitfall and proceeded with caution, but Holloway still seems ready to embrace it all and plow full-steam ahead into this next chapter — expectations and all. It all adds up to intrigue if nothing else.
Holloway, a soon-to-be 24-year-old winger who displays no visible ill effects from offseason oblique/hip surgery, played in 77 games last season and registered 63 points (26 goals, 37 assists).
He primarily settled into a role on the second line centered by Schenn and with Jordan Kyrou on the other wing. Holloway elevated that line to the point where it carried the offensive production for the team for stretches of last season.
Schenn lauded Holloway’s “high work ethic” and “high compete level” along with Holloway’s “dynamic” skillset on the ice that includes skating, puck handling, quick release on his shot, and then Schenn looked into his crystal ball and saw what might come next.
Because Holloway has been so productive at an early stage of his career, he may face backlash if his statistics don’t somehow take a huge leap. Someone will start pounding the table and expecting even more. Someone is bound to get angry if Holloway doesn’t turn into a Leon Draisaitl or Nathan MacKinnon or Mitch Marner by mid-season.
“There’s pressure on all of us, but that’s part of pro sports,” Schenn said. “I don’t think we have to be hard on guys where we expect and demand a completely different Dylan Holloway. I think if he sticks to what he does and how he approaches his day-to-day, doesn’t worry about the results and worries about the day-to-day, he’s going to be fine.”
Holloway, a 14th overall draft pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, and Philip Broberg signed two-year offer sheets with the Blues after they began their careers with the Edmonton Oilers.
For a brief period of time, both were uncertain of their futures. The Oilers could have matched the offers and retained them. Once the Oilers didn’t match, both players were thrust into a new team in a new city and an entirely new situation.
They even had two new coaches within the first few months of his first season with the Blues, thanks to Armstrong firing head coach Drew Bannister and hiring Jim Montgomery in November.
Looking back on last season, Holloway said it really took him month to settle into his new situation. Adjusting to new teammates may have been the easiest part.
“I think it definitely took a couple months,” Holloway said. “It was easy in the room. The guys were so good, so welcoming. Our culture has been unbelievable since I’ve been a part of the Blues. It’s been awesome.”
With that all in the past, it’s another reason Holloway has optimism that he can push himself for an even better season this winter.
“You can’t really put a price on a peace of mind,” Holloway said. “Now that my peace of mind is as good as it has ever been, I feel like that helps on the ice a lot. I definitely have that confidence after a good year last year, but I can’t get complacent. I’ve got to still keep pushing it this year. That all starts in camp.”
Last season marked a big jump in Holloway’s playing time and role. With the Oilers, his average time on ice was 9:35 in 51 games in 2022-23. That increased to 11:22 per game in 38 games in 2023-24. In his lone season with the Blues, Holloway was on the ice for an average of 16:49 per game in his 77 games.
“He’s the full package of what you would want in an organization, “Armstrong said of Holloway. “We learned that after we got him. You don’t know those things until you get them in the room, but he’s a core piece of what we have going and he wants to be a core piece too.”
Montgomery already has considered potential ways to get him on the ice even more this season, like potentially on the penalty kill.
“He has an iron lung,” Montgomery said while discussing the next level for Holloway. “He doesn’t seem like he gets tired. He just keeps skating and skating. He’s the Energizer bunny out there. So I guess for him it’s developing his 200-foot game and continuing to evolve as a dynamic offensive player.”
While outside expectations of Holloway could become daunting based on what he’s already done, he seems decidedly undaunted.
For Holloway, it’s simply been a progression. First he had to make it to the NHL. Then, he had to show he could be a contributor. Then, he showed he could be a player counted on to produce.
As he’s checked each box, his own “lofty” expectations only grow.
“Once you kind of scratch the surface, you can see — oh, I can produce a little bit. I can make plays consistently. Once you start doing that over and over, one of my favorite sayings is ‘There is now limit. The sky is the limit,’ ” Holloway explained.
“So I think it’s never good to put limits on yourself. I try not to do that. I believe a lot of myself. At the end of the day, it all comes down to hard work. I’m going to try and keep pushing myself to be the greatest I can be. Hopefully, that’s to become a really special player.”
It was an understandable and admirable attempt by Schenn to get out in front of the Holloway hoopla, but that might be like getting in front of a moving train at this point.
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Lynn Worthy | Post-Dispatch
Sports columnist
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