:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69140414/usa_today_15741251.0.jpg)
This just in, from the Edmonton Oilers’ official — yes, you read that right — Twitter account:
The #Oilers have signed forward Dylan Holloway to a three-year entry-level contract!
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) April 16, 2021
The 2020 14th-overall pick just completed his second @NCAAIceHockey season with @BadgerMHockey, tallying 35 points in 23 games. #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/CarpNl7ED3
Tidy. Of course this was to be expected, and but for a recent thumb injury we might have seen the Dylan Holloway era begin in real fashion before the end of the season.
Holloway has enjoyed a phenomenal D+1 year in which his NHLe exploded from 15 to 57 per Hockey Prospecting’s Byron Bader’s model:
As noted below, Dylan Holloway's jump in production this year is exceptional and very rare, especially considering where he was at the draft. A jump like this is almost unheard of, in any league, not just the NCAA. He could look pretty good on McDavid's wing in a year from now. https://t.co/nFQzwfx7YS pic.twitter.com/wwy7nZQbpz
— Byron Bader (@ByronMBader) March 6, 2021
It’s insane stuff. I’d bet even the most optimistic Holloway fan would have struggled to predict it. We had him at #9 in this year’s T25 U25 — in large part because of my staff-low #14 which is appears to have aged like milk at the beach — but Holloway’s probably put himself in the conversation for the organization’s top prospect at forward. There are a few guys in Bakersfield who might have something to say about that, but Holloway’s season was really, really, impressive either way.
Holloway spoke to the media this afternoon, shortly after signing the deal:
LIVE | Dylan Holloway speaks with the media after signing his entry-level contract with the #Oilers earlier today#LetsGoOilers https://t.co/rDsiLymh4i
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) April 16, 2021