German Prospects for the NHL Draft

[Maverick41]

2002 age group has to be recorded breaking for Germany.

F Stuetzle
F Reichel
F Peterka
D Szuber
D Munzenberger
G Tiefensee

Could literally be a starting line for the NT.

Yes, only the 1995 group is close, probably still better at the moment because, they are older and fully developed and Szuber, Münzenberger and Tiefensee are still question marks. Also Draisaitl is still a notch above Stützle.

Going by position I would say:

Goalie: 1995 < 2002
Reich is not bad but Tiefensee definitely has more upside and then there is Bugl who might end up just as good or even better.

Defense: 1995 >= 2002
For now I take the proven J.Müller and F.Wagner over Szuber and Münzenberger, but going forward I expect the 02s to eclipse the older duo, but it is still too early for me to say.

Forwards: 1995 > 2002
Yes, for me Draisaitl tips the scale in favor of 1995. He is still on another level than anyone else and while Peterka and Reichel seem likely to become the 3rd and 4th best player in this comparison, right now I have Nico Sturm ahead of both by a hair, and the difference between the other of Reichel and Peterka and the 3rd of the 1995 group, probably Kahun is not big enough to tip the scales in their direction.

So, overall I would still go with 1995, but I expect 2002 to take over in a couple of years.
If you go by potential 2002 is already number 1 in my book, but they still have to acutally get there.

I did a comparison once of all the birth years, not just looking at the top 6, but a full roster (12F, 8D, 3G). I think I might revisit this and look how the groups have progressed since then.

 

[pgfan66]

Rio Kaiser has signed a pro deal in Berlin. Doesn’t sound like the OHL is an option.

 

[Maverick41]

Maybe it's the heat, but after @smitty10 brought up how good the 2002 birth year has been, I went back to my previous rankings I did of all the birth years from 1990 forward, and decided to go back even further.
I have started over and just finished with the years 1971-1980. So far the rankings look like this:

Rank	Overall	Goalies	Defense	Forwards	Standout Players
1​	1974	1980​	1976​	1978​	1971 - D.Kunce, T.Kienass
2​	1979	1978​	1974​	1974​	1972 - J.Benda, A.Loth
3​	1980	1974​	1977​	1980​	1973 - M.Lüdemann, R.Hock, J.Molling
4​	1977	1979​	1971​	1979​	1974 - S.Ustorf, S.Felski, M.Seliger, M.Ancicka, F.Brännström, H.Smazal, C.Straube
5​	1978	1971​	1979​	1977​	1975 - T.Boos, A.Serikow
6​	1971	1977​	1972​	1972​	1976 - S.Butenschön, E.Goldmann, T.Martinec, F.Keller
7​	1976	1975​	1980​	1975​	1977 - J.Hecht, K.Kathan, A.Renz, P.Fical, J.Ficenec, N.Pyka
8​	1972	1973​	1973​	1971​	1978 - M.Sturm, B.Blank, A.Morczinietz, N.Mondt, R.Francz
9​	1975	1972​	1975​	1976​	1979 - S.Goc, D.Kreutzer, O.Jonas, V.Aab, T.Dolak, M. Bakos
10​	1973	1976​	1978​	1973​	1980 - R.Müller, E.Lewandowski, P.Köppchen

This is just my initial ranking of these years. Once I have finished my initial rankings of all the years, I will go back and make a some adjustments.

For every year I choose 3 goalies, 8 defensemen and 12 forwards and assign each of them a score.
The average scores then determine the rankings.
Especially with these earlier years I may overlook some players, since back when they were playing I mostly watched the national team at the big tournaments and little else, so my choices beyond the national team players are just based on stats I found.

I may start a separate thread for this once I am a little further along.

 

[pgfan66]

Cologne and Iserlohn will open the U20 preseason today and Cologne will play 2 more games against Bietigheim before any other teams even play their first game. Just went and took a look at their roster on Eliteprospects and noticed both Max Hense and Mathias Pape are there. Hadn't heard anything about that before but it makes a lot of sense both for the players and the team. Really excited to see what they can do. They have a legitimate shot at becoming the top pairing for Cologne sooner rather than later, assuming that Tropmann will spend a fair bit of time in Bad Nauheim or even the DEL.

It's interesting to see in general that Cologne's D group is mostly 06s, with two 04s (Grasmik and Grunewald) and two 05s (Tropmann and Vladelchtchikov). I think Grunewald could get quite a few games with Bad Nauheim too if he stays healthy.

With Tropmann, Hense and Pape, Cologne is definitely a team to watch for the NHL draft.

Other players to watch: Max Ziergiebel is the lone 07 on the roster, 06 Philipp Nuss joins the team after a year with the Delta Academy (albeit after a very unremarkable season there) and 05 Danish national Philip Rubin joins the team after a year in Malmö (which was equally unremarkable as Nuss's stay in Canada).

 

[Maverick41]

Cologne and Iserlohn will open the U20 preseason today and Cologne will play 2 more games against Bietigheim before any other teams even play their first game. Just went and took a look at their roster on Eliteprospects and noticed both Max Hense and Mathias Pape are there. Hadn't heard anything about that before but it makes a lot of sense both for the players and the team. Really excited to see what they can do. They have a legitimate shot at becoming the top pairing for Cologne sooner rather than later, assuming that Tropmann will spend a fair bit of time in Bad Nauheim or even the DEL.

It's interesting to see in general that Cologne's D group is mostly 06s, with two 04s (Grasmik and Grunewald) and two 05s (Tropmann and Vladelchtchikov). I think Grunewald could get quite a few games with Bad Nauheim too if he stays healthy.

With Tropmann, Hense and Pape, Cologne is definitely a team to watch for the NHL draft.

Other players to watch: Max Ziergiebel is the lone 07 on the roster, 06 Philipp Nuss joins the team after a year with the Delta Academy (albeit after a very unremarkable season there) and 05 Danish national Philip Rubin joins the team after a year in Malmö (which was equally unremarkable as Nuss's stay in Canada).

I knew about Hense joining Cologne, but I didn't know Pape did as well. Thanks for the update.

Ziergiebel is one of the many 07s that would stand out much more in a different group. With the 07s he may not even play in the U17 national team this season, or at least not consistently.

 

[pgfan66]

I knew about Hense joining Cologne, but I didn't know Pape did as well. Thanks for the update.

Ziergiebel is one of the many 07s that would stand out much more in a different group. With the 07s he may not even play in the U17 national team this season, or at least not consistently.

Interestingly, Hense played today despite being on the Hlinka roster. Will he join the team late or do they all just meet an hour before game time?

Whatever the answer may be, I'm a big fan of Hense-Tropmann as the top pairing. Also great to see Ziergiebel centering the top line with Gaidel and Kopietz on his wings.

 

[Huusko]

I just noticed that this young German-Czech player (son of Radek Krestan) will play in Sweden this year for HV71 U16:

Tobias Krestan at eliteprospects.com

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Tobias Krestan, 2008-01-04 Hanau, GER Germany. Most recently in the J18 Region with HV71 J18. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

Any chance he will play for the German teams in the future?

 

[Maverick41]

I just noticed that this young German-Czech player (son of Radek Krestan) will play in Sweden this year for HV71 U16:

Tobias Krestan at eliteprospects.com

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Tobias Krestan, 2008-01-04 Hanau, GER Germany. Most recently in the J18 Region with HV71 J18. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

Any chance he will play for the German teams in the future?

I think there is a good chance. He is listed as one of the players attending a training camp for the U16 team in Füssen at the moment. And I expect him to be part of the U16 roster that will play a tournament in Austria in mid-August.

 

[pgfan66]

I think there is a good chance. He is listed as one of the players attending a training camp for the U16 team in Füssen at the moment. And I expect him to be part of the U16 roster that will play a tournament in Austria in mid-August.

I think the question was if he’d play for Germany vs. Czechia. But given that he was born in Germany and grew up there with the exception of playing at the Red Bull academy, with his Czech-born dad having spent many years in Germany as a player and even coach for the DEB, I’d think he’s guaranteed to play for Germany when he gets the chance.

 

[Huusko]

Thanks for your comments. I wish there would be more young Germans trying to find a spot in one of the junior teams in Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Czech Republic. And sad to see that this year only 1 German player moved to CAN to play in the CHL.

 

[Maverick41]

Thanks for your comments. I wish there would be more young Germans trying to find a spot in one of the junior teams in Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Czech Republic. And sad to see that this year only 1 German player moved to CAN to play in the CHL.

I think I made a post to this effect a while back but, Sweden seems to become a more popular destination in recent years. With Krestan going to Sweden, the 08s alone may end up with 3 interesting prospects playing in Sweden this year.
While I still haven't found anything official, and the DEB has made some mistakes in the past, but on their roster for the U16 camp they listed Växjö Lakers as the team for Darian Rolsing, possibly our top d-prospect for the 2026 draft.
And then there is Aurelius Pizka who has played in Sweden last season and will probably stay there this season.

Willhöft and Händel, two of our best 07s are also playing in Sweden.
Nikita Müller (06) just returned to Germany after a year in Sweden (he joined Cologne).
Maximilian Brunner (06) is also a notable prospect playing in Sweden.

Another prospect, I feel gets underrated (although I would have to see more of him to really figure out how good he is), who played in Sweden last season is Noah Garthe (late 05). From what I have seen of him, only Sumpf can keep up with him skill wise among the 05s.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

I just noticed that this young German-Czech player (son of Radek Krestan) will play in Sweden this year for HV71 U16:

Tobias Krestan at eliteprospects.com

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Tobias Krestan, 2008-01-04 Hanau, GER Germany. Most recently in the J18 Region with HV71 J18. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

Any chance he will play for the German teams in the future?

Oh yes, he's absolutely on the map for the German program.

His father not only had a fairly elaborate career in Germany, foremost as a decent scorer in the country's second league, but has been coaching there for several years now, having even taken over the U15 team for the RB Juniors program in Salzburg last season (granted, that's Austria, but a very important site for a row of Germany's top talents).

He's quite integrated in the German ice hockey scene.

As I understand it, Tobias thoroughly views himself as "German" and a candidate for Germany's national teams.

***
EDIT: I see I'm very late to the party on this one.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Thanks for your comments. I wish there would be more young Germans trying to find a spot in one of the junior teams in Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Czech Republic. And sad to see that this year only 1 German player moved to CAN to play in the CHL.

And even Sumpf is half Canadian and doesn't count there as an import player. That move was engineered of his party's own accord.

In general, with the exception of some of the really small but passionate hockey countries like Latvia and Slovenia, I'd go so far as to say the current trend is that it's in the interest of most of the European federations that their junior players remain at home.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

While I still haven't found anything official, and the DEB has made some mistakes in the past, but on their roster for the U16 camp they listed Växjö Lakers as the team for Darian Rolsing, possibly our top d-prospect for the 2026 draft.

You're correct. Unless there's a wrench in the plans, you can expect him to be with Växjö this season.

Willhöft and Händel, two of our best 07s are also playing in Sweden.
Nikita Müller (06) just returned to Germany after a year in Sweden (he joined Cologne).
Maximilian Brunner (06) is also a notable prospect playing in Sweden.

Another prospect, I feel gets underrated (although I would have to see more of him to really figure out how good he is), who played in Sweden last season is Noah Garthe (late 05). From what I have seen of him, only Sumpf can keep up with him skill wise among the 05s.

As a sidenote, Garthe and Brunner played together last season for Lidingö, which featured 10 import players.

Garthe's 28 points in 34 games were good for second on the team.

Another clear similarity to Sumpf is that he too is half Canadian and could, like Sumpf, theoretically go the CHL route without counting as an import player.

 

[pgfan66]

You're correct. Unless there's a wrench in the plans, you can expect him to be with Växjö this season.



As a sidenote, Garthe and Brunner played together last season for Lidingö, which featured 10 import players.

Garthe's 28 points in 34 games were good for second on the team.

Another clear similarity to Sumpf is that he too is half Canadian and could, like Sumpf, theoretically go the CHL route without counting as an import player.

Playing for Lidingö J18 as a U18 player: Not a good sign. At least not if the goal is to become a CHL-level player.

 

[Maverick41]

I noticed a couple of notable moves of German junior players before this season and thought I would make a list.

G - Leon Willerscheid (2005): Kölner Junghaie U20 ---> Jungadler Mannheim U20

D - Max Hense (2006): Krefelder EV 1981 U20 ---> Kölner Junghaie U20
D - Rio Kaiser (2006): Red Bull Hockey Juniors ---> Eisbären Berlin
D - Fabio Kose (2007): EHC Straubing U17 ---> EV Regensburg U20
D - Nikita Müller (2006): Strömsbro IF J18 (SWE) ---> Kölner Junghaie U20
D - Lua Niehus (2005): Jungadler Mannheim U20 --> Löwen Frankfurt
D - Norwin Panocha (2005): Eisbären Juniors Berlin U20 ---> Chicoutimi Saguenéens (CAN)
D - Matthias Pape (2006): Krefelder EV 1981 U20 ---> Kölner Junghaie U20
D - Darian Rolsing (2008): Jungadler Mannheim U17 ---> Växjö Lakers J16 (SWE)

F - Kevin Bicker (2005): Jungadler Mannheim U20 --> Löwen Frankfurt
F - Linus Brandl (2005): Jungadler Mannheim U20 --> Straubing Tigers
F - Raphael Jakovlev (2005): EV Landshut U20 ---> Kölner Junghaie U20
F - Luca Kinzel (2005): HC Davos U17 (SUI) ---> ESV Kaufbeuren U20
F - Timo Kose (2007): EHC Straubing U17 ---> EV Regensburg U20
F - Tobias Krestan (2008): Red Bull Hockey Academy U16 ---> HV71 J16 (SWE)
F - Timo Ruckdäschel (2005): Red Bull Hockey Juniors/EHC München ---> Grizzlys Wolfsburg
F - Elias Schneider (2007): Starbulls Rosenheim U17 ---> Eisbären Juniors Berlin U20
F - Julius Sumpf (2005): Red Bull Hockey Juniors ---> Moncton Wildcats (CAN)

If anybody knows about ones I missed, let me know and I will add them.

 

[pgfan66]

I noticed a couple of notable moves of German junior players before this season and thought I would make a list.

G - Leon Willerscheid (2005): Kölner Junghaie U20 ---> Jungadler Mannheim U20

D - Max Hense (2006): Krefelder EV 1981 U20 ---> Kölner Junghaie U20
D - Fabio Kose (2007): EHC Straubing U17 ---> EV Regensburg U20
D - Nikita Müller (2006): Strömsbro IF J18 (SWE) ---> Kölner Junghaie U20
D - Matthias Pape (2006): Krefelder EV 1981 U20 ---> Kölner Junghaie U20
D - Darian Rolsing (2008): Jungadler Mannheim U17 ---> Växjö Lakers J16 (SWE)

F - Raphael Jakovlev (2005): EV Landshut U20 ---> Kölner Junghaie U20
F - Timo Kose (2007): EHC Straubing U17 ---> EV Regensburg U20
F - Tobias Krestan (2008): Red Bull Hockey Academy U16 ---> HV71 J16 (SWE)
F - Elias Schneider (2007): Starbulls Rosenheim U17 ---> Eisbären Juniors Berlin U20
F - Julius Sumpf (2005): Red Bull Hockey Juniors ---> Moncton Wildcats (CAN)

If anybody knows about ones I missed, let me know and I will add them.

Appreciate the list! They’ve been discussed already but Rio Kaiser to Berlin and Norwin Panocha to Chicoutimi are relevant too.

 

[Maverick41]

Appreciate the list! They’ve been discussed already but Rio Kaiser to Berlin and Norwin Panocha to Chicoutimi are relevant too.

Thanks, I totally forgot about Panocha, probably because he is not listed on the Chicoutimi roster on eliteprospects yet.
Kaiser I did remember, but for some reason just skipped past him.

I am sure there are some others who signed pro contracts for new teams, that I also missed, I will double check that.

EDIT: I added some more of the older transfers that were discussed before (Bicker, Brandl, Niehus etc.)

 

[pgfan66]

Will be interesting to see if Mayer actually spends some time in Bietigheim instead of the Jungadler this season…

https://x.com/adlermannheim/status/1692207343520383200?s=46&t=XnaAN-YM3_Cb37BmHg0f_A

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Will be interesting to see if Mayer actually spends some time in Bietigheim instead of the Jungadler this season…

https://x.com/adlermannheim/status/1692207343520383200?s=46&t=XnaAN-YM3_Cb37BmHg0f_A

It would be. Anywhere other than "just" the DNL is the logical next step this season, especially in light of long-term expectations/hopes.

 

[Maverick41]

It would be. Anywhere other than "just" the DNL is the logical next step this season, especially in light of long-term expectations/hopes.

He is playing pre-season games for Bietigheim, which could be an indicator that they expect him to be a part of their team this season.
With the start of the season less than 2 weeks away, I would guess there won't be a whole lot of roster movement, it looks like they are pretty much set.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

With the start of the season less than 2 weeks away, I would guess there won't be a whole lot of roster movement, it looks like they are pretty much set.

True, but as we all know... much can happen within the course of a season. I always take the starting rosters to kick off a season with a certain grain of salt, especially below the top leagues and with respect to U20 players.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Most every ‘06 I have such little hope for. Merkl is the only real interesting kid this year unless someone comes out of nowhere, Seeger is my bet if there was one.. and Hopefully Merkl gets a good chunk of games in the DEL this season with legit play time.

I just want to skip to next year, because I get more and more exited about the class every time I check on them.

 

[Maverick41]

Most every ‘06 I have such little hope for. Merkl is the only real interesting kid this year unless someone comes out of nowhere, Seeger is my bet if there was one.. and Hopefully Merkl gets a good chunk of games in the DEL this season with legit play time.

I just want to skip to next year, because I get more and more exited about the class every time I check on them.

I feel you. I have been looking for some positives about the 06s, and there are a few that have moved up in my estimation.
Maybe there will be some late bloomers in this group that will end up having a great career at home. However, I don't see a lot of (or any) NHL upside among them. At least not for the draft, maybe somebody will earn themselves a camp invite or even a contract a few years down the road.

Focussing on the positives:
Goalies are always a bit weird and I am still fairly high on Lennart Neiße, but there are also a few other goalies I would not write off completely.
I have not seen Tim Schütz play in a while. I was pretty high on him last season and still have some hope. Elias Pul has been a nice surprise since the second half of last season. If he can build on that he may well be the top 06 forward or even player overall.
Nick Maul has progressed nicely and moved up in my estimation. I don't know if I was too low on him before or if he just took a big step in his development, but while I am still not entirely sold, his recent trajectory looks promising.

Again, as far as the NHL is concerned I have little to no hope for any of them, but as much as want us produce at least one NHL player (not just draft pick) every year, it is also important to have good players for the DEL, and there are still a bunch of these kids who could turn into DEL regulars and even national team players.

Forgetting about the NHL for a moment, I still like Schams and Hense on defense and guys like Seidl, Brunner, Kerbel and Schwarz on offense, plus the 2025 eligible Seeger, who you already mentioned. And if you want to know my dark horse to make some noise this season I'd go with Lenny Boos. I am still a bit shocked he has not played for any of the national teams yet, at least as far as I am aware.
His numbers have always been good, and when I have seen him play (admittedly only a couple of games), he did not look any worse than many of the guys who made the U17 team last season.

 

[pgfan66]

Most every ‘06 I have such little hope for. Merkl is the only real interesting kid this year unless someone comes out of nowhere, Seeger is my bet if there was one.. and Hopefully Merkl gets a good chunk of games in the DEL this season with legit play time.

I just want to skip to next year, because I get more and more exited about the class every time I check on them.

I feel you. I have been looking for some positives about the 06s, and there are a few that have moved up in my estimation.
Maybe there will be some late bloomers in this group that will end up having a great career at home. However, I don't see a lot of (or any) NHL upside among them. At least not for the draft, maybe somebody will earn themselves a camp invite or even a contract a few years down the road.

Focussing on the positives:
Goalies are always a bit weird and I am still fairly high on Lennart Neiße, but there are also a few other goalies I would not write off completely.
I have not seen Tim Schütz play in a while. I was pretty high on him last season and still have some hope. Elias Pul has been a nice surprise since the second half of last season. If he can build on that he may well be the top 06 forward or even player overall.
Nick Maul has progressed nicely and moved up in my estimation. I don't know if I was too low on him before or if he just took a big step in his development, but while I am still not entirely sold, his recent trajectory looks promising.

Again, as far as the NHL is concerned I have little to no hope for any of them, but as much as want us produce at least one NHL player (not just draft pick) every year, it is also important to have good players for the DEL, and there are still a bunch of these kids who could turn into DEL regulars and even national team players.

Forgetting about the NHL for a moment, I still like Schams and Hense on defense and guys like Seidl, Brunner, Kerbel and Schwarz on offense, plus the 2025 eligible Seeger, who you already mentioned. And if you want to know my dark horse to make some noise this season I'd go with Lenny Boos. I am still a bit shocked he has not played for any of the national teams yet, at least as far as I am aware.
His numbers have always been good, and when I have seen him play (admittedly only a couple of games), he did not look any worse than many of the guys who made the U17 team last season.

Agree with both of you. Merkl is the one I have the highest hopes for at this point and I hate that he’s in the Oberliga right now. Up front, I’m also highest on Pul and have some hopes for Maul. Most likely no NHL picks but for the DEL and national team, these guys are still decent (all the ones @Maverick41 mentioned). I even have some hope for Ficenec.