German Players in North America

[Maverick41]

Bears Release Forward Julian Napravnik | NEWS | Hershey Bears Hockey

www.hersheybears.com

Napravnik has been released - will be interesting where he will sign

There should be various options.
Obviously he has connections to Mannheim, but they just signed Tyler Ennis, so I am not sure if it would be the best spot for him.
Frankfurt could be interesting since he is from this region and they could use him. Same would be true for the DEL bottom dwellers Düsseldorf, Nürnberg or Iserlohn. Bremerhaven did well with bringing Kälble over, so maybe they could also be interested in Napravnik.

I would expect half the league to at least look into this.

 

[Maverick41]

Bears Release Forward Julian Napravnik | NEWS | Hershey Bears Hockey

www.hersheybears.com

Napravnik has been released - will be interesting where he will sign

He has signed with Frankfurt until 2025.

 

[Sanderson]

What's up with seemingy every German NHL-player having a down-year?

Draisaitl is way behind his usual pace, even if he isn't playing badly now. Yes, the team had a horrible start with the system-change and McDavid and Ekholm playing injured, but even now that the team has improved, the production isn't quite what it used to be.

Stützle had a good start points-wise, but his play has been erratic throughout the season. He hasn't taken over a game since November, his goalscoring has vanished, and the last few games he has been largely non-existant.

Peterka showed nice improvements, maybe the only one who actually has been a bit better than before, but lately his scoring-tough has disappeared again

Reichel seemed to show what he could do at the end of last season. This season he started of as center, and he just hasn't shown anything the entire year. Way too passive and away from the net.

Sturm has lost all offense he had last season. Granted the Sharks are atrocious, but they weren't exactly great last year either.

Seider has been fine, but he isn't exactly taking the next step either.

Grubauer looked even worse than last season before he got injured. Not that his team played well at that time, but still.

 

[Maverick41]

What's up with seemingy every German NHL-player having a down-year?

Draisaitl is way behind his usual pace, even if he isn't playing badly now. Yes, the team had a horrible start with the system-change and McDavid and Ekholm playing injured, but even now that the team has improved, the production isn't quite what it used to be.

Stützle had a good start points-wise, but his play has been erratic throughout the season. He hasn't taken over a game since November, his goalscoring has vanished, and the last few games he has been largely non-existant.

Peterka showed nice improvements, maybe the only one who actually has been a bit better than before, but lately his scoring-tough has disappeared again

Reichel seemed to show what he could do at the end of last season. This season he started of as center, and he just hasn't shown anything the entire year. Way too passive and away from the net.

Sturm has lost all offense he had last season. Granted the Sharks are atrocious, but they weren't exactly great last year either.

Seider has been fine, but he isn't exactly taking the next step either.

Grubauer looked even worse than last season before he got injured. Not that his team played well at that time, but still.

I have not watched any NHL games this season, so take the following with a grain of salt, since it is based solely on extended highlight videos, what I read on the various team boards and in news articles.

Sturm seemed to just get going a bit when he got injured. We'll see what happens when he returns, possibly later this month.

Seider seems to struggle a little bit with his diminished role offensively with Gostisbehere taking over is place on the pp. And on top of that I believe he is facing some of the toughest competition of anyone in the NHL. Hopefully he can improve as the season goes on, and maybe even get a taste of the playoffs.

Reichel and Stützle appear to have lost all confidence. Stützle's shooting percentage is atrocious and he is making mistakes all over the ice, that I have never seen from him (and this is only based on highlight videos).
Reichel is not the type of player who thrives on a bad team. According to some Hawks fans he did alright when he got to play with Bedard for a hot minute, but otherwise he has been a non-factor.

I never really worry about Draisaitl. He will go on tear sooner or later, he usually does.

Peterka is in a bit of a scoring slump lately, but seems to be doing alright overall this season. The Sabres are still a very young team lacking consistency, and while this inlcudes Peterka., he has been remarkably consistent by comparison to some of the other members of their young core.

Grubauer situation is just weird. When he was healthy the Kraken gave up barely over 20 shots per game, but apparently a lot of them were of the more difficult variety. It was not just Grubauer who struggled at that time. Now they are routinely giving up 30 or more shots and Daccord is suddenly looking like a Vezina candidate. Grubauer will at most be the backup when he returns, unless Daccord's play falls of a cliff again.

 

[pgfan66]

What's up with seemingy every German NHL-player having a down-year?

Draisaitl is way behind his usual pace, even if he isn't playing badly now. Yes, the team had a horrible start with the system-change and McDavid and Ekholm playing injured, but even now that the team has improved, the production isn't quite what it used to be.

Stützle had a good start points-wise, but his play has been erratic throughout the season. He hasn't taken over a game since November, his goalscoring has vanished, and the last few games he has been largely non-existant.

Peterka showed nice improvements, maybe the only one who actually has been a bit better than before, but lately his scoring-tough has disappeared again

Reichel seemed to show what he could do at the end of last season. This season he started of as center, and he just hasn't shown anything the entire year. Way too passive and away from the net.

Sturm has lost all offense he had last season. Granted the Sharks are atrocious, but they weren't exactly great last year either.

Seider has been fine, but he isn't exactly taking the next step either.

Grubauer looked even worse than last season before he got injured. Not that his team played well at that time, but still.

Draisaitl is mostly playing 2C and away from McDavid. That always drops his totals.

 

[Sanderson]

Draisaitl is mostly playing 2C and away from McDavid. That always drops his totals.

Nah, that has varied a lot in the past. He won the Art Ross and Hart in 19/20, catching fire with Nugent-Hopkins and Yamamoto on his wing. He was ahead of McDavid in scoring even before McDavid got injured that year. They did play together earlier on, but he got ahead when they were seperated, and it remained that way the rest of the season.

Of course he doesn't keep the same pace without McDavid compared to with him, but even for being seperated his totals are rather low. Granted, Edmonton's powerplay is also a bit lacking compared to the last few years.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Nah, that has varied a lot in the past. He won the Art Ross and Hart in 19/20, catching fire with Nugent-Hopkins and Yamamoto on his wing. He was ahead of McDavid in scoring even before McDavid got injured that year. They did play together earlier on, but he got ahead when they were seperated, and it remained that way the rest of the season.

Of course he doesn't keep the same pace without McDavid compared to with him, but even for being seperated his totals are rather low. Granted, Edmonton's powerplay is also a bit lacking compared to the last few years.

What's interesting in this equation is that Bouchard is like 2nd or 3rd among all defensemen in scoring.

 

[Giguere27]

Szuber made his debut tonight for the Yotes - fantastic year for him. Looking at the stats, he already played a really good season in the AHL. At the beginning of the season, probably nobody would’ve expected him making it to the NHL as a 6th-Rounder in his first year overseas.

 

[Maverick41]

A list of some more or less notable German players who will be playing in North America this season outside of the most high profile leagues (NHL, AHL, NCAA, CHL). There are a few goalies missing from this list like Sascha Pitaev. I will add them later.

Pos	Name	Team	Competition	Age
C	Albert Arel	Delta Hockey Academy U18 Prep	CSSHL U18	16​
D	Altvater Maximilian-Constantin	Hoosac School	USHS-Prep	17​
D	Arnolt Lukas	King's-Edgehill School U18	CSSHLE U18	15​
D	Baron Arthur	Somang Hockey	USPHL Premier	17​
C	Carlin Liam	Valley Jr. Warriors 14U AAA	EP Cup Series 14U	14​
F	Faupel Jan-Felix	Campbell River Storm	VIJHL	18​
C	Garthe Noah	Burlington Cougars	OJHL	18​
F	Habeck Lennard	Rochester Grizzlies	NA3HL	19​
F	Hünten Tom	Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 15U	15U AAA	15​
F	Köppel Maximilian	RINK HA Kelowna U17 AAA	CSSHL U17 AAA	15​
D	Köttstorfer Kilian	Florida Alliance 14U AAA	T1EHL 14U	13​
D	Kukuk Moritz	Cowichan Valley Capitals	BCHL	19​
D	Lichtenberger Matthew	Boston Advantage 18U AAA	18U AAA	17​
F	Loyal Luis	Atlantic Coast Academy 18U AAA Varsity	18U AAA	17​
D	McCrae Malcolm	Cambridge Hawks U16 AAA	ALLIANCE U16	15​
F	Oswald Maximilian	New Jersey Rockets	USPHL Premier	18​
D	Pellizzari Liron-Alec	Delta Hockey Academy U18 Prep	CSSHL U18	15​
G	Pfab Noah	Hershey Cubs	USPHL Premier	17​
F	Schiffer Jan	Minnesota Moose	NA3HL	18​
F	Schmidt David	Hoosac School	USHS-Prep	16​
F	Schneider Elias	CDA Hockey Academy 18U Prep	CSSHL U18	18​
D	Schöps Tim	RINK HA Kelowna U17 AAA	CSSHL U17 AAA	16​
D	Smith Noah J.	Seacoast Performance Academy 18U	18U AAA	16​
F	Switzer Jaden	Ottawa Valley Titans U16 AAA	HEO U16	15​

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

A list of some more or less notable German players who will be playing in North America this season outside of the most high profile leagues (NHL, AHL, NCAA, CHL). There are a few goalies missing from this list like Sascha Pitaev. I will add them later.

Pos	Name	Team	Competition	Age
C	Albert Arel	Delta Hockey Academy U18 Prep	CSSHL U18	16​
D	Altvater Maximilian-Constantin	Hoosac School	USHS-Prep	17​
D	Arnolt Lukas	King's-Edgehill School U18	CSSHLE U18	15​
D	Baron Arthur	Somang Hockey	USPHL Premier	17​
C	Carlin Liam	Valley Jr. Warriors 14U AAA	EP Cup Series 14U	14​
F	Faupel Jan-Felix	Campbell River Storm	VIJHL	18​
C	Garthe Noah	Burlington Cougars	OJHL	18​
F	Habeck Lennard	Rochester Grizzlies	NA3HL	19​
F	Hünten Tom	Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 15U	15U AAA	15​
F	Köppel Maximilian	RINK HA Kelowna U17 AAA	CSSHL U17 AAA	15​
D	Köttstorfer Kilian	Florida Alliance 14U AAA	T1EHL 14U	13​
D	Kukuk Moritz	Cowichan Valley Capitals	BCHL	19​
D	Lichtenberger Matthew	Boston Advantage 18U AAA	18U AAA	17​
F	Loyal Luis	Atlantic Coast Academy 18U AAA Varsity	18U AAA	17​
D	McCrae Malcolm	Cambridge Hawks U16 AAA	ALLIANCE U16	15​
F	Oswald Maximilian	New Jersey Rockets	USPHL Premier	18​
D	Pellizzari Liron-Alec	Delta Hockey Academy U18 Prep	CSSHL U18	15​
G	Pfab Noah	Hershey Cubs	USPHL Premier	17​
F	Schiffer Jan	Minnesota Moose	NA3HL	18​
F	Schmidt David	Hoosac School	USHS-Prep	16​
F	Schneider Elias	CDA Hockey Academy 18U Prep	CSSHL U18	18​
D	Schöps Tim	RINK HA Kelowna U17 AAA	CSSHL U17 AAA	16​
D	Smith Noah J.	Seacoast Performance Academy 18U	18U AAA	16​
F	Switzer Jaden	Ottawa Valley Titans U16 AAA	HEO U16	15​

This is QUITE the list!

We just saw Noah Smith at the Hlinka, if I recall correctly.

And Switzer's father Derek played 16 years of lower level pro hockey in Germany (pretty much all over the place).

And gotta think Kukuk is looking to go the college route with his choice of the BCHL.

***
Should any wonder, the Elias Schneider above is not the one playing for Berlin who was part of the promotion to the A group at the U18 level.

 

[Maverick41]

This is QUITE the list!

We just saw Noah Smith at the Hlinka, if I recall correctly.

And Switzer's father Derek played 16 years of lower level pro hockey in Germany (pretty much all over the place).

And gotta think Kukuk is looking to go the college route with his choice of the BCHL.

***
Should any wonder, the Elias Schneider above is not the one playing for Berlin who was part of the promotion to the A group at the U18 level.

Yeah, I considered mentioning that, because when I first read the name I did a double take, but then I remembered there was another guy by this name just a year or so older, but then I thought people will figure it out.

I liked Switzer with the U16 team. Him and Pellizzari are two of the most interesting ones on the list for me. Two other ones from that 2009 birth year, Tom Hünten and Maximilian Köppel, I was originally looking forward to watching them here this season, but now I'll just have to wait and see how they do in North America.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Yeah, I considered mentioning that, because when I first read the name I did a double take, but then I remembered there was another guy by this name just a year or so older, but then I thought people will figure it out.

I liked Switzer with the U16 team. Him and Pellizzari are two of the most interesting ones on the list for me. Two other ones from that 2009 birth year, Tom Hünten and Maximilian Köppel, I was originally looking forward to watching them here this season, but now I'll just have to wait and see how they do in North America.

BTW, Max Oswald played DNL hockey with Landshut last year. Actually, he's been playing with Landshut his whole career.

It's not listed at EP but I'd assume he's either Veit's brother or a cousin.

Not quite sure what the motivation would be to play for Jersey in the USPHL although it's a gigantic league and many of those kids do go to various college programs, albeit lower levels (even club hockey).

 

[Maverick41]

Jacob Ficenec is also playing in the BCHL this season.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Jacob Ficenec is also playing in the BCHL this season.

Interesting.

No pro play to date, so it would seem we now know what path he's looking to take.

 

[pgfan66]

Interesting.

No pro play to date, so it would seem we now know what path he's looking to take.

Pretty sure the path he's looking to take first and foremost is North America, but he wasn't good enough for the CHL let alone pro games.

 

[KerbanHockey]

Great news: David Lewandowski is joining the Saskatoon Blades from the WHL. He hasn't gotten much ice time lately in the DEL, and I was already a little worried he might stay there and only get 5-8 minutes per game instead of going the CHL route. In my opinion, it's absolutely the right decision. I think he can play a bigger role there and get a lot more ice time, while also receiving great coaching. His time in Düsseldorf was still very valuable for him, with the preseason and seven regular season games played, especially competing against men.

Norwin Panocha, on the other hand, was released from the Prince Albert Raiders. Some sources say it's very likely he'll go to the DEL, while others say he might find a team in the QMJHL or take the USHL route.

What do you guys think about it?

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

The news about Lewandowski is very fascinating and as soon as he showed up on that DEL roster, we pretty much knew the clock was ticking. If he didn't start scoring in a relatively short period of time, the decision to cross the pond was gonna be inching closer.

It didn't take long.

Panocha's journey is disappointing. There's a very good player in there, but something has gotten him off track since about the 10-game mark of last season. Whatever the decision is, he needs to be somewhere where he's playing, like in all possible situations.

I'm sure Buffalo is counseling him.

 

[KerbanHockey]

So, Panocha found a new club in the Green Bay Gamblers. I'm happy that he stayed in NA, because he should get a good amount of ice time there. Hopefully he can get back on track, especially with the world juniors only being about two months away.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

So, Panocha found a new club in the Green Bay Gamblers. I'm happy that he stayed in NA, because he should get a good amount of ice time there. Hopefully he can get back on track, especially with the world juniors only being about two months away.

Good to see.

Even though it could have been any USHL team for any number of reasons, gotta think it's no coincidence that the Gamblers pick up Panocha after a real nice season with Julian Lutz.

 

[Maverick41]

Good to see.

Even though it could have been any USHL team for any number of reasons, gotta think it's no coincidence that the Gamblers pick up Panocha after a real nice season with Julian Lutz.

Years ago, they were also the team Kevin Reich and Marc Michaelis were playing for and Lean Bergmann spent a season there as well, I believe.
Seems like a popular destination for Germans who play in the USHL.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Years ago, they were also the team Kevin Reich and Marc Michaelis were playing for and Lean Bergmann spent a season there as well, I believe.
Seems like a popular destination for Germans who play in the USHL.

I definitely see a pattern here.

 

[pgfan66]

Probably really irrelevant but Marcel Tabert, whom I really liked in his few games in Cologne, is back for another year at the Atlantic Coast Academy.

 

[Maverick41]

I started to create this list almost two years ago, but never finished it. I just remembered today and thought I update and finish it.
I was pretty surprised to see Seider as the quickest to 50 points, ahead of Draisaitl and Stützle. Of course he started his NHL career a little older than those two. And I am impressed that Stützle made it to 250 point still ahead of Draisaitl. But after hitting 300 points is when Drai really took off.

German player NHL milestones​

Fastest to 50 points:

1. D – Moritz Seider – 82 games
2. F – Leon Draisaitl – 85 games
3. F – Tim Stützle – 91 games
4. F – Jochen Hecht – 92 games
5. D – Uli Hiemer – 101 games
6. F – JJ Peterka – 102 games
7. F – Dominik Kahun – 105 games
8. F – Marco Sturm – 109 games
9. F – Tobias Rieder – 119 games
10. D – Christian Ehrhoff – 142 games

Fastest to 100 points:

1. F – Tim Stützle – 146 games
2. F – Leon Draisaitl – 156 games
3. D – Moritz Seider – 172 games
4. F – Jochen Hecht – 183 games
5. F – Marco Sturm – 239 games
6. F – Tobias Rieder – 257 games
7. D – Christian Ehrhoff – 276 games
8. D – Uwe Krupp – 318 games
9. D – Dennis Seidenberg – 338 games
10. F – Marcel Goc – 371 games

Fastest to 150 points:

1. F – Tim Stützle – 188 games
2. F – Leon Draisaitl – 205 games
3. F – Jochen Hecht – 280 games
4. F – Maro Sturm – 350 games
5. D – Christian Ehrhoff – 369 games
6. D – Uwe Krupp – 413 games
7. D – Dennis Seidenberg – 466 games
8. F – Marcel Goc – 482 games

Fastest to 200 points:

1. F – Tim Stützle – 229 games
2. F – Leon Draisaitl – 206 games
3. F – Jochen Hecht – 344 games
4. F – Marco Sturm – 445 games
5. D – Christian Ehrhoff – 462 games
6. D – Uwe Krupp – 512 games
7. D – Dennis Seidenberg – 627 games

Fastest to 250 points:

1. F – Tim Stützle – 287 games
2. F – Leon Draisaitl – 305 games
3. F – Jochen Hecht – 413 games
4. F – Marco Sturm – 524 games
5. D – Christian Ehrhoff – 548 games
6. D – Uwe Krupp – 633 games
7. D – Dennis Seidenberg – 847 games

Fastest to 300 points:

1. F – Leon Draisaitl – 343 games
2. F – Jochen Hecht – 482 games
3. F – Marco Sturm – 584 games
4. D – Christian Ehrhoff – 662 games

Fastest to 400 points:

1. F – Leon Draisaitl – 407 games
2. F – Jochen Hecht – 680 games
3. F – Marco Sturm – 738 games

Fastest to 500 points:

1. F – Leon Draisaitl – 475 games

Fastest to 600 points:

1. F – Leon Draisaitl – 544 games

Fastest to 700 points:

1. F – Leon Draisaitl – 614 games

Fastest to 750 points:

1. F – Leon Draisaitl – 641 games

Fastest to 800 points:

1. F – Leon Draisaitl – 683 games

 

[pgfan66]

Just noticed Marcel Tabert’s time in North America appears to be over once again. He’s now in Landshut in the DNL, scoring at a point per game through 4 games.

 

[pgfan66]

Liron Alec Pellizzari had decent numbers at Delta but is now in Augsburg, already played his first U17 and DNL games.