Think he announced that he intended to go to free agency. Would have been nice to have him but given we brought in ZAR, I can't complain too much.
He didn't announce anything. In the last interview he gave to a Maine local TV station in March he said he was still talking with the Penguins, and maybe he signs, maybe he doesn't. I'm sure it'll play out either way over the summer, but I don't think it's something worth losing too much sleep over if he doesn't sign.Think he announced that he intended to go to free agency. Would have been nice to have him but given we brought in ZAR, I can't complain too much.
What is Tiffels ceiling? can he be another Guentzel for us? aka top 6 guy who can score and setup.
Definitely not Guentzky. But a Rust/Hagelin type player? If everything goes well.
Kid can fly and you can tell hes been coached well. ie. defensive awareness
Really nice to see him in this tourney and get a little taste of what we might have in him.
No reason for him to sign now. Might as well wait until August.
If Tiffels permanently moves to C and focuses on his defense he could become another Marcel Goc. For this tournament Goc serves as studio analyst for German TV, and he too praised Tiffel's skating, two-way play and overall composure. Which were exactly his own strengths as an NHL player.
Sturm had a real good hunch keeping Tiffels on the roster over much more established pros. Yesterday his three shootout selections were all only 21 years old: Kahun, Draisaitl and Tiffels. He's not afraid to go with youth, and it helped both the team and raised Tiffels' profile a lot. He has been playing in North America for 5 years now. I think nobody outside of Cologne, Mannheim (where he played youth hockey) and Pens fans knew this kid before this month. Dominik Kahun is Germany's top scoring forward with 7 points in 7 games. He's probably going to get some looks now, too. He had back-to-back great DEL playoffs for Munich and is a quick and shifty little guy.
Fun trivia: apparently Draisaitl and Tiffels are best buddies since childhood. Both born and raised in Cologne, Draisaitl said yesterday they'd known each other basically since birth. So... Draisaitl to Pittsburgh E4.
Fun trivia: apparently Draisaitl and Tiffels are best buddies since childhood. Both born and raised in Cologne, Draisaitl said yesterday they'd known each other basically since birth. So... Draisaitl to Pittsburgh E4.
It seems like most German NHL players are either from Cologne or Bavaria. Are those the hockey hotbeds? Like the Massachusetts & Minnesota of Germany.
Good enough for me if he can be a Rust type.
Absolutely. Would be solid for a 6th rounder
Fun trivia: apparently Draisaitl and Tiffels are best buddies since childhood. Both born and raised in Cologne, Draisaitl said yesterday they'd known each other basically since birth. So... Draisaitl to Pittsburgh E4.
Pretty much, yes. There are many smaller towns in Bavaria with lower-tier clubs that produce the mass of German hockey players. Sturm, Schubert, Sulzer, Greiss, Holzer, Kühnhackl, Grubauer, Rieder and Wiederer are all Bavarians developed by 2nd tier clubs like Landshut, Kaufbeuren or Rosenheim.
The Rhineland would be the second stronghold but there development is more focused on a few elite junior programs (Draisaitl and Tiffels are from Cologne, Ehrhoff is from Krefeld, Greiss transferred from Bavaria to Cologne's junior program at age 16).
Baden-Württemberg in the southwest would be #3, with a mix of a big market program in Mannheim (Hecht, Wolf) and smaller clubs in and around the Black Forest (e.g. Seidenberg and Goc).
The rest of the country is more or less a hockey wasteland, at least in terms of player development. But if you want to have a chance at a serious career you have to move to one of the big programs in your mid-teens either way, unless you're from Bavaria.
So, obviously I hope we pick 31st in Round 1 next month. Thinking about the draft a little bit, is there any chance a guy like Pierre-Olivier Joseph could be available at the end of Round 1?
I heard Craig Button speaking about him yesterday and he compared his upside to that of Mattias Ekholm, which to me is huge praise.
I also like the fact he played with Sprong in Charlottetown, which also means Pens scouts were there to watch him a fair amount one would suspect.
Anyway, could Joseph be an option for us? Or is that a pipe dream and he will be long gone before we select?
Ideally, I'd like to select a puck-moving defenseman (preferably one who can play either side), a big power forward or a skilled center with our first pick.