I already posted a period-by-period report on the final game against Czechia, so I will just give a quick recap and then talk about the tournament overall.
It was the 4th game in 4 days for most of the kids and as one would expect the game got progressively worse for all of them as they grew more tired and while the will to compete was there, their legs just would not cooperate, by the end of the game. Still there were some notable positives and I will get to those, but first I want to focus on the biggest negative that I noticed all through the tournament. Almost every player on this team struggled with cleanly executing and even more so receiving a pass, especially when the passes were crisp and came with some speed at them. I lost count of all the times even good passes just bounced of the stick of the target player thus denying an odd man rush, a breakaway or just a clean zone exit or entry. That was such a difference compared to the other teams.
I always like focus more on the positives which may lead to the impression that these kids are better than they are, so before I get into the player reviews, let me preface those with this.
I don’t think that a single one of these kids right now looks like a candidate for a high draft pick. There are some with the potential to get there, but even the best of them would need some really strong development, and/or a growth spurt.
I will only go into detail for the most promising/intriguing players but one big positive overall is that the depth looks decent. Meaning the worst players on this team were much better than the worst players on most other U17 teams I watched in the past years.
I am going to do this alphabetically, so this is no ranking.
Carlos Händel:
In the first game I was impressed that he did not look out of place as a 2007 born player. Now that the tournament is over, I can say he looked pretty good regardless of his age. In the first game I had some questions about his decision making, but in the other three games that was actually one of his biggest strengths. He plays a smart, solid two-way game with a lot of room for improvement. I am sure he will only get better and has fairly high ceiling. He will probably not become a physically imposing player but he should have enough size to not be held back by it.
Max Hense:
He almost has all it takes to become a legit NHL prospect. Except the footspeed (to be clear his top end speed is not terrible, the real problem is his quickness, and agility). He improved slightly over the course of the tournament. Not that he got much faster, but he got better at anticipating where to go. And overall, his positioning got better. Maybe he had to get used to the smaller ice surface or maybe he had to get used to the speed of the game at this level, possibly a bit of both.
Still, I would like to see him get a little quicker. He has the size, decent stick work, rarely panics, his outlet passes were a bit hit or miss, but that was not just on him as many forwards had issues receiving even good passes cleanly. His decision making was mostly very good (there were some gaffes here and there).
Max Herzog:
This dude confounds me. I can find almost nothing wrong with his game. It’s like he can do everything, but he doesn’t do it all the time. In pretty much every game there were stretches where he sort of disappeared, or at least I did not notice him, only to suddenly show up doing something special, whether it was scoring a goal, backchecking and breaking up a cross ice pass on a 2-1 for the other team, maintaining puck possession against three opposing players while his teammates completed a change, finding a teammate with a smart pass to set them up for a scoring chance, basically anything you can think of I saw him do at least once. If he ever figures it all out and becomes more assertive and starts taking over games, watch out.
Maximilian Merkl:
One of my biggest risers in this tournament. I barely had him on my radar before, but he showed some serious offensive potential, and while his defensive game was not quite on that level, it’s not like he was a constant liability. Merkl is a very good skater and has good awareness about when he can join or initiate the rush. Multiple times he carried the puck from the defensive zone into the offensive zone gaining zone entry with ease. He also has one of the better shots among our defensemen and unless some of the others he is not afraid to use it. I’m definitely keeping an eye on this kid.
Lennart Neiße:
I had never even really heard of him before and was initially skeptical if he was up for this. It did not always look pretty, but he did quite well at keeping the puck out. However, to be fair to both Eder and Stuhrmann, Neiße got a lot more support in his games than those two got in their respective starts. He was very good at swallowing up pucks and denying rebound on high shots, but struggled a bit with rebound control when the shots hit his pads.
Matthias Pape:
I might still like him a little more than Hense, but that is incredibly close although they are very different players. Pape skates well, has very good and active stick defensively, and is a good puckhandler for a defenseman. Many times, he used skill plays, that were at times quite risky, to maintain puck control in his own end and start the transition out of the defensive zone. But while those plays seemed risky at times, he pulled them off almost every time. He might struggle at the next level if he doesn’t add some more strength, but for now he can manage.
Tobias Schwarz:
Another big riser for me. I had him as a bit of filler on my list so far, but he really impressed me with his rushes. He has good speed and decent quickness while also having the physical ability to shield the puck and take the puck to the net like a power forward. His stick and puck skills are not bad, but could use further improvement if he wants to be a legit NHL level prospect. Like everybody he made a few mistakes along the way, but overall, his game was a clear net positive for the team on both the offensive and the defensive end. Another one to keep an eye on.
Dustin Willhöft:
Boy, do I hope he grows a few more inches. There are a few things to worry about beyond his lack of size, but that is the biggest question mark at the moment. If he gets to at least 5’10’’ I am pretty sure he will garner some NHL interest for the 2025 draft. He only played in 3 of the games and his weakest game came against Switzerland. Against the top teams of USA and Czechia he had his strongest games and when most other forwards struggled to create any offense, he created something almost every time he stepped on the ice. His speed is amazing. At one point against Czechia, he created a chance on a play that left him behind the Czech goal, and unfortunately his teammates messed up and the Czechs came back with a counter attack, and even though he was the furthest away, he was the first one back helping to turn a 3-on-1 for the Czechs into a 3-on-3 and denying them a great chance. Besides the obvious lack of size there are a few warts to his game. He does not utilize his linemates as well as he could, and sometimes seems to get tunnel vision. At times he also seems to have disconnects between his brain and his body, when he either can’t process the game as quickly as his body wants to play it, or when he thinks so far ahead that he forgets to actually do the steps in the right order. He is a real buzzsaw out there, and he is not some small perimeter player. He goes into the board battles and sometimes even comes out with the puck thanks to his quick feet and hands, but most of the time he is just too easily muscled off the puck.
Others:
Maximilian Brunner was similar to Willhöft in the sense that he is a smaller player, but he is even more fearless and plays actually quite physical. He is a little less skilled than Willhöft, but still a very intriguing player who needs a little growth spurt.
I was very interested to see Eden Hofverberg for the first time, and was quite happy with what I got to see. He was one of the more physical players on the team, delivering a few hits and winning some board battles. He showed decent speed and some flashes of skill. Right now, I don’t think I see much of chance for a NHL career, but he could make it to the DEL and not just for a couple of years as an U23 player.
Ok, I will leave it at that. I am tapped out and need some rest. I hope some of you find this interesting.
Sure, I am far from slovenian TV guy (Andrej Stare) who has near 5000 excel sheets of various stats, but truth to be told, he is doing it for all sports not just hockey.
