Julian Napravnik – McKeen's Hockey

NHL PROSPECTS: 22-23 European Prospect Musings #2 – Prospects coming into focus in the stretch run

Chapin Landvogt — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 16:28:41 +0000

While the NHL All-Star Game has just wrapped up and NHL teams are gearing up for whatever trade deadline transactions they may intend to conduct at the end of the month, most European leagues are in the stretch run for playoff spots, with a few leagues just a half dozen games away from “the best time of the year”. Looking across Europe and even into Russia, there are plenty of interesting prospect notes, but not a whole of stories that have NHL teams licking their chops about a young man who is guiding the fortunes of his respective league, much less his team.

We’d like to take a look at some of the more notable stories that have been developing to this point in the season.

230103 Rögles William Wallinder, 3 januari 2023 i Växjö.
Foto: Jonas Ljungdahl / BILDBYRÅN

Sweden

Coming into the season as a favorite, Rogle has certainly not had the season it was expecting and is currently mired in 11th, yet only four points away from 8th place. The team has nonetheless seen several young draftees grow into bigger, if not chief roles. It was expected that Detroit’s Marco Kasper would grow on last season, and he has, putting up eight goals and 20 points to date. A number of his assists have come on the power play, and he’s had a top nine role pretty much all season. As a third-year pro, Adam Edstrom (NYR) is in the midst of a career season, even if his 12 points to date are only minimally more than what he’s produced the past two years. His role has grown and he’s looking a lot more at home in his 6’8”, 225-pound body.

Another Rangers pick, Oliver Tarnstrom, has taken on a much smaller role, but also suited up for 32 games now while Ottawa’s 2022 3rd rounder Oskar Pettersson has found himself in a Rogle jersey for 21 games, which might have been more had he not spent several weeks playing for the WJC squad. Each has two points in the SHL this year. Buffalo’s SHL recent 7th rounder Linus Sjodin has suited up for 41 games (six points) himself, although this is his second full season in the SHL.

But the real story on the prospect front have been the defensemen William Wallinder (DET) and Adam Engstrom (MON). A recent second rounder, Wallinder was already a contributing regular last season, but his role has grown into that of the team’s go-to player on the blueline. He not only leads all defensemen with 23 points in 41 games but is third on the entire team in scoring. At the same time, Engstrom has wiggled his way into what is basically a top 4 role, contributing 10 points in 32 games along the way. That actually has him 5th overall in the SHL in junior rookie scoring. The world got to see how far he’s come when he put up three points and a +6 at the WJC for Team Sweden. His star is rising considerably on the prospect front.

As should come as no surprise, the top scorers in the league continue to be veterans, with recent Maple Leaf Antti Suomela having led the way most of the season. His 24 goals and 48 points in just 38 games were good for tops and have him producing at a clip that few players have played at in the SHL over the past decade. He is however now trailing UFA and linemate Patrik Karlkvist, who has collected 50 points in 41 contests. Recent San Jose Shark Jonathan Dahlen, who headed back to his heart and hometown team Timra to play his first ever season of SHL play, is sitting 9th in league scoring with 17 goals and 32 points. The 25-year-old had 12 goals for the Sharks just last season.

But all eyes are still on Örebro HK forward Leo Carlsson, who’s coming off a 6-point WJC performance. He’s not blowing anything out of the water with his five goals and 18 points in 34 games, but as usually happens in a top pro league, vets tend to be relied upon more down the stretch run. His name still tops the list of draft eligibles, but we think NHL teams have got to have Axel Sandin-Pelikka ranked among their top 20 prospects for next summer’s event. And we’d advise any and everyone who is stat watching to disregard his mere five points in 22 games and the quiet assist at the WJC. His coaches already trust him. He’s getting PP time and he’s getting time at the end of the game when something is on the line. His understanding of the game, ice usage, and situations is simply something you don’t see much in a player this age.

A teammate of his in Skelleftea and on the U20 club is Zeb Forsfjall. The young man with a slight build has 10 games of SHL play and is looking like a lock for the U18 Worlds this spring. He is the younger brother of 20-year-old Mans Forsfjall who is undrafted but looking like quite the overage option in this summer’s draft, often found on the first line and having put up two goals, 13 points, and a +14 thus far this season. Would be fascinating if the brothers are both selected next summer.

There’s a whole bunch more going on across the nation in the SHL, Allsvenskan, and U20 circuit with a number of draft-eligible players getting shifts in pro hockey, but we continue to be very impressed with the J20 Nationell Noah Dower Nilsson, whose 48 points in 28 games means he’s clipping at a 1.78 PPG pace, which is a league-high. It’s only been good enough to get him into one game of SHL action, but the mother club Frolunda is chock full of options and, well, Detroit prospect Liam Dower Nilsson (22 games) looks to be blocking his path to the bigs at the moment.

Boston Bruins fans will be happy to hear that Latvian pick Dans Locmelis isn’t far behind Nilsson in U20 production with 47 points in 35 games, good for 6^th in the league. Lulea would have loved to test him at the SHL level by now, but that won’t be happening as Locmelis is scheduled to begin playing for the University of Massachusetts next fall. Expect this well-schooled and very experienced young man to have an instant impact on college hockey next season.

As the draft approaches, we’ll be spending time at the site with the likes of defenseman Theo Lindstein (22 games for Brynas), Frolunda two-way forward Otto Stenberg, and Danish surprise Oscar Molgaard (31 games and six points for HV71), but we’ll wrap up our look at Sweden with overage defenseman Oskar Asplund. In the midst of his second full season of HockeyAllsvenskan play, the heady two-way 5’11” defenseman already has five goals and 27 points in 39 games. It has earned him two games of SHL play with Skelleftea and overall, he reminds us a bit of former overager Adam Wilsby, who was selected in the 4th round by Nashville in the 2020 draft. Wilsby is currently suiting up for Milwaukee of the AHL. Asplund is even in the same organization.

Joakim Kemell of Finland celebrates after scoring 2-2 during the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship final between Canada and Finland on August 20, 2022 in Edmonton.
Photo: Joel Marklund / BILDBYRÅN /

Finland

The Finnish Liiga is well on its way to the finish line and one of the more astounding trends is that there are few players currently scoring at a PPG pace. Even the league leader Michael Joly has just 49 points in 48 games. Perhaps not surprising in light of that, but astounding nonetheless, is that Joona Ikonen (an undrafted 24-year-old) leads the league in goal-scoring behind Joly’s 21 goals with just 20 markers. Yes, in some cases, individual team scoring is simply spread across more shoulders, but the lack of individual scoring prowess is more akin to what we usually see in the SHL.

What this means is that a few current and former prospects are putting up numbers that are eyebrow-raising to say the least. Former Winnipeg Jets draft pick Sami Niku couldn’t edge out a solid NHL job despite at times outstanding AHL numbers. He was suiting up for the Montreal Canadiens just last season. At age 25, he decided he needed more job security and perhaps one very impressive season in Europe to get his name back into the minds of NHL GMs. Well, his nine goals and 37 points in 46 games for JYP is likely doing the trick while simultaneously making him the league’s top scorer among defensemen. An appearance at the men’s World Championship is all but a lock and then the question will be if Niku gets an offer that has a spot in an NHL line-up somewhat set in stone.

This past week, the Islanders moved arguably their top prospect in Aatu Raty to the Vancouver Canucks as part of the Bo Horvat trade, but his brother Aku Raty (ARI) is having himself a fine season for Ilves with 29 points and a +16 in 41 games. It’s a career best for the 21-year-old and is coming at a time where Arizona is going to want to decide on whether to sign him to an ELC. Really arriving on the scene has been Tampa Bay’s 2021 7th rounder, the 6’2”, 210-pound Niko Huuhtanen. Certainly, his 77 points in 64 games for the Everett Silvertips meant that he was already on the map for most prospect watchers, but he’s reinforced the belief that there’s a pro here with a sense for offensive generation, as his 15 goals and 27 points in 36 games go to show this season. That puts him within the top 40 in league-wide scoring, ahead of i.e., solid Maple Leafs prospect Roni Hirvonen, who himself is doing just fine with 24 points in 46 games for HIFK.

One name you’re not seeing is that of U18 and WJC star Joakim Kemell (NAS), whose 11 points and -14 rating in 32 games have him flying far below expectations. Quite the opposite is the case for Patrik Puistola (CAR), who leads all U23 players with 13 goals and 34 points in 48 games. That not only has him 12th in league scoring but means he’s the clear-cut go-to player for his Jukurit team, something that has to have the Hurricanes brass mighty excited about.

When it comes to Finland’s top junior league, there are not many NHL-drafted players currently plugging away at it, but Buffalo’s Viljami Marjala is second in league scoring with 48 points and a +29 in 31 games. He’s also put up two points in four games for Liiga club TPS and it’s felt he’ll conclude the season with the big club one way or another. You may remember that Marjala spent the past two seasons with the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL. It was felt Nashville went a very safe route in picking all-round defenseman Kasper Kulonummi in the 3rd round last summer. His 39 points in 33 games has him second to teammate Leevi Sorvali (42 in 39 contests) league-wide in defenseman scoring. He’s seen 5 games of Liiga action for Tappara this season, which - in case you hadn’t heard - is Finland’s most hockey-crazy town.

True prospect fans will surely be wondering what 2024 top prospect Aron Kiviharju has been up to in recent weeks. Many had hoped to see him on this winter’s WJC squad, but the season has seen a more conservative approach. Having just turned 17, Kiviharju has gotten into 14 games of Liiga action (two assists and a +1 rating) while only being able to suit up for 20 U20 league games this year, in which he’s impacted play fairly considerably with a 1-16-17 and +11 statline. All fine, but not screaming superstar just now. Still, the U18 Worlds is where he’s expected to show the international scouting community just how far he’s come.

Germany

The DEL has been of special interest this year, but not so much due to any particular up-n-coming young players making noise.

No, it’s been all about a certain prospect making a major comebokk on the prospect scene. Oh yes, that play on words just couldn’t be skipped out on as former St. Louis Blues 1st rounder and current Carolina Hurricanes asset Dominik Bokk has spent all season letting the hockey world know he is not to be forgotten after, well, pretty much having gone forgotten in the Hurricanes organization. As we mentioned in the fall, he’s been playing for league newbie Frankfurt Lions after having won the championship with Berlin last season, with whom his cameo had little to do with Berlin’s fate when all was said and done. Now he’s spent most of the season leading the entire DEL in scoring, currently coming in at 24 goals and 49 points in 43 games. He’s doing it for a team that entered the year with but an outside shot at the playoffs and it has to be clear to anyone watching that he’s technically and physically a number too good for this league, one filled with former NHL and AHLers. His scoring has often been timely, and he’s constantly been able to create and make his teammates better.

If he hasn’t renewed Carolina’s interest, there must be a few teams out there wondering if this is your classic case of a late bloomer. Once the DEL year is over, he’s basically a lock for the men’s WC tournament, which will surely make him one of the more interesting viewings from an NHL standpoint. Or could he be part of a trade deadline package before that?

Unfortunately, Bokk was caught in an awkward check this weekend and will miss the remainder of the regular season with a shoulder injury.

What’s also been noteworthy this year is the goaltending position. Primarily young, German-born goaltenders have found themselves getting plenty of ice time and holding their own in the process. Yes, 26-year-old Maxi Franzreb is making the most of the season, getting more starts than any U27 goaltender and shining brightly with a 2.28 GAA and .925 save percentage. Mirko Pantkowski (24) has become a full-fledged starter himself, going 21-15 thus far for Cologne. But the kids really opening eyes are Arno Tiefensee (20), Florian Bugl (20), Tobias Ancicka (21), and - in a cameo appearance - Daniel Allavena (23), who went 4-1 over an emergency 5-game stretch for Munich. For the other three, Ancicka has 30 starts for Berlin as the go-to number 1 in goal, Bugl has gone 15-7 for Straubing since having initially filled in for the injured starter, and Tiefensee is way up there in the league with a 2.17 GAA, .919 SV%, and 10-5 record for Mannheim.

This century simply hasn’t witnessed this many German goalies successfully carrying this much responsibility in goal in Germany’s top league. And as everyone knows, NHL history is full of goaltenders signed out of Europe as free agents in their mid- to late 20s. Some of whom have ended up having successful careers, so these are names you’re going to want to have in the back of your mind moving forward. Also, if you’re wondering who the next minor league UFA signings á la Julian Napravnik and Kai Wissmann may be, two Ingolstadt Panthers have arrived on the scene this year in a big way, both quite unexpectedly. Defenseman Leon Huttl is just 22 and of average size, but his 19 points in 45 games have been accompanied by a +21 rating and he’s been effective in all three zones for a team that has experienced major injury hits to every position. Up front, Polish-born Wojciech Stakowiak has been the team’s fully unexpected all-everything contributor. Now 23, he was coming off of five- and six-point seasons, but now has 15 goals, 31 points, and a +16 in 46 games, finding himself on the ice in all key situations.

We already chronicled how a number of U21 players had started getting a shot to kick off the season and we must say, it hasn’t stopped. The number of players 21 and under who have gotten a shot in the DEL this season has been astounding, with 16-year-old defenseman Max Merkl (Nuremberg), 17-year-old defenseman Paul Mayer (Mannheim), and 18-year-olds Edmund Junemann (Düsseldorf) and Lukas Ullmann (Ingolstadt) having basically come out of nowhere to get into a handful of games. With injuries on the blueline, Ingolstadt even reacquired 18-year-old defenseman Niklas Hubner out of Finnish juniors, and he’s suited up for each of the last seven games. We commented some years ago about how particularly the SHL was able to regularly churn out players aged 16-21 who were taking fairly regular shifts. The DEL knew it had to follow suit in order for the quality of players to increase and provide the nation with more quality depth. Just that seems to be happening as we write.

Russia

The Matvei Michkov watch has been gaining momentum since he was loaned out to HK Sochi. After just three scoreless games with St. Petersburg and then an eye-popping 10 goals and 14 points in 12 games with SKA’s VHL outfit, Michkov found himself in the show on a scoring line with a Sochi team that had an offensive role to offer. The result has been five goals and nine points in 17games, with three of those points coming in the two most recent games. All things Russia continue to be taboo, but in a time where Connor Bedard is running away with the first overall pick status, the hockey world has got to be back to asking whether Michkov isn’t still the second-best option at this summer’s draft?

Like with the Finnish Liiga, players clipping at a PPG pace are hard to come by in the KHL this year. Former NHLer Dmitri Jaskin is back to his scoring ways though, leading the league with 33 goals (3^rd with 50 points) in 59 games, closely followed by German national Brooks Macek, who has 31 in 52 games. At the same time, impending 26-year-old free agent Marat Khairullin is having a career year for SKA with 25 goals and 50 points, blowing his previous high of 32 points out of the water. Will he be sought after like Andrey Kuzmenko was last offseason?

Pleasantly though, several NHL prospects are making some real noise with career years. It simply must be pointed out that Carolina’s 21-year-old defensive prospect Alexander Nikishin, who measures in at an imposing 6’4” and 216 pounds, leads ALL defensemen in scoring with 10 goals and 49 points in 57 games. It’s basically a season for the ages in a league still dominated by older veterans. The question is when and if he’s coming over and just how his game will translate. But he’s clearly the NHL asset with the most traction in Europe this season. Almost just as impressive is the work being put in by Colorado’s Nikolai Kovalenko , who checks in at 6th overall in league scoring with 19 goals and 48 points in 50 games. A chip off the old block, it’ll be interesting to see if Colorado feels Kovalenko’s work is in line with an ELC this offseason.

Two other highly touted prospects keeping things extremely fascinating are New Jersey’s Arseni Gritsyuk (21) and Minnesota’s Marat Khusnutdinov (20). Whereas Gritsyuk pretty much arrived on the scene last season with 22-16-38 in 52 contests, he’s now heading towards the playoffs with Omsk sporting 13-21-34 numbers as more of a set-up man for Reid Boucher (25 goals) and Vladimir Tkachev (20 goals). It’s Khusnitdinov who is truly arriving this season as his 11-26-37 and +12 statline for SKA marks a true step in development, far outweighing anything done the past three seasons, where he already showed some glimpses of what was to come. Hard to imagine that GM Bill Guerin won’t be looking to get him over to North America for next season.

Out of the nation’s second tier league, VHL, there are three players who have caught our eyes as being noteworthy. Up front, Detroit’s 2022 2nd rounder Dmitri Buchelnikov, who can be quite the wizard with the puck on his blade, has 14 goals, 27 points, and a +9 in just 32 games. He’s also chipped in 12 points in four MHL contests as well as two points in 10 KHL games for St. Petersburg. In short, he’s having a wildly successful DY+1 season. On the defensive side, we let you know that we’d be closely watching LA Kings’ draft pick Kirill Kirsanov and he hasn’t disappointed in a developmental capacity. After starting off on fire, his overall game has leveled out to a sound 13 points and +13 rating in 28 games, but he’s been a PPG player in five MHL games and has gotten his feet wet in nine KHL contests (one assist, -5 rating). The 6’1”, 198-pound defender is right on track in his development. The league is also playing host to a 23-draft prospect who has been gaining traction. Alexander Rykov is a mid-sized forward who has 11 points in 20 games for Chelyabinsk and has even gotten into six KHL games (no stats) for Traktor. He’s exactly the type of player we’d have loved to see at the U18 Worlds this spring.

Another young man we’d like to make mention of is 19-year-old forward Nikita Grebyonkin. After a very impressive draft year in the junior circuit MHL, collecting 77 points and a +42 in 67 total games, Grebyonkin has spent the majority of this season loaned out to Amur Khabarovsk with whom he’s put up nine goals, 23 points, and a +3 in 40 games. Already a fan favorite for the club’s faithful, Grebyonkin is generally a player who just hasn’t played in a spotlight location. What we’re seeing is an astute 5^th pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs whose slick style and 6’2”, 180-pound frame is looking very promising moving forward. That said, his skating is that of a later round draft pick.

The notes are currently minimal on both the NHL and prospect fronts in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Switzerland, but there are a few player situations developing there that we’ll look to highlight in the next edition. The upcoming playoffs will surely give us much to muse about as the spring rolls around.

GERMAN PROSPECT MUSINGS 2022 #1 – Weak draft group, Rossmy’s late season surge, Germany host U18 World Championship, and more

Chapin Landvogt — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 18:03:29 +0000

Bennet Rossmy. Photo by Dan Hickling, Hickling Images

German Prospect Musings

The DEL season has now concluded and there are ultimately few surprises in the grand scheme of things. The reigning champion Eisbären Berlin, featuring draftees Dominik Bokk and Johan Södergran as well as overage draft-eligibles Tobias Ancicka and Bennet Rossmy, can be found at 1st overall while Krefeld is the team that finished last, meaning it will be relegated if the Frankfurt Lions of the DEL2 manage to win the DEL2 championship, for which they are still in the running. Many factors led to the last place finish for a Krefeld team that entered the season with a ton of established European pros and former Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Jeremy Bracco, who did become the team’s top scorer. Saddening is that no DEL team was more ready and willing to provide ice time to youngsters, including regular shifts for WJC performers Alexander Blank, Justin Volek, Maciej Rutkowski, and Nikita Quapp, who of course is a Carolina Hurricanes prospect.

Quapp did end up seeing a bit of ice time this year but cannot claim to have been more than average behind a porous defense, one that had for several stretches of the season only had four or five bodies, with the top three long since lost to injury. In fact, his 4.04 GAA and .875 save percentage tell a much different story. His teammate Blank has, however, - in conjunction with his outstanding WJC performance - become the nation’s top overager on the draft front and perhaps its best prospect available for this draft. Should the team truly be relegated, which would be as unfathomable for the German ice hockey scene as seeing Modo or HV71 or Djurgarden drop down in Sweden, both young men will definitely be playing their ice hockey elsewhere next season.

What the DEL season did show was teams getting hit by Covid at various junctures and a ton of rescheduled games, which often led to 4-game weeks for several teams. This led to a situation where any number of teams could look like world-beaters on one evening, and juniors the next. Powerhouses such as Mannheim and Munich each suffered through various losing streaks and the odd blowout loss along the way.

Poor year on the prospect front

Despite all the thin line-ups and number of games that saw junior-aged players dressed (if for no other reason than) to prevent the team from having to forfeit a game, several players did manage to gain considerable ice time and throw their name into this summer’s draft hat. In addition to Blank, Munich’s Filip Varejcka and Maks Szuber each assumed much larger roles with more considerable ice time than anyone would have imagined coming into the season. It’ll be Szuber’s third go at it despite first turning 20 in August. For Varejcka, who has never quite been able to obtain draft consideration, it’s his last shot at age 21. A host of other young men saw some time with the DEL club, including Sebastian Cimmermann and Thomas Heigl, but the biggest disappointment this season has been Germany’s top overall prospect for this year’s draft, Julian Lutz.

It’s no real fault of his own. Lutz was injured right before the season began and despite being known as a fitness nut and winner of many internal fitness competitions within the Red Bull organization, couldn’t make it back into the line-up until several weeks ago. Coming back has been a slow process and his 1-2-3 and +3 scoreline in 13 games isn’t screaming “Yes, I’m a top 90 pick”, but simply being back has given his draft chances quite the boost. What we’ll now have to see is just how far Munich goes this spring, as Lutz is eligible for the U18 Worlds being hosted right here in Germany (more on that later). When healthy, the DEL club has more than enough organizational depth to do without Lutz, but will he become integral enough to a go at the championship to dispatch him to the U18 team?

We may know very soon.

Another young man who was thought to spend his initial draft year in the DEL was 17-year-old Luca Hauf. Yes, he got into 12 games with the aforementioned last place club but had zero points and a minus rating. It was a step too much for him. He continued to ravage the nation’s 3rd league to the tune of 32 points in 25 games and the nation’s junior league with 14 points in four games, but most interesting has been his three points and +2 in seven DEL2 contests with the Frankfurt Lions. Yes, that’s right, with the one team that could replace Krefeld in the DEL next year. His spring in the DEL2 will also determine if he’ll be able to participate in the U18 worlds.

Both Lutz and Hauf would be 2/3rds of U18 Germany’s first line.

A couple of other top candidates for the big tourney are Moritz Elias and Leo Hafenrichter. Fans of CHL leagues will recognize those names right away, as both were drafted by and began the season with a WHL and OHL club, respectively. Both returned. Both have since been playing regularly in the DEL2. Neither has done much in the point production department, but each has been an integral part of some interesting playoff success.

Elias’ Heilbronn Falcons knocked off the Dresden Loewen, who had spent much of the season in first place and finished 2nd overall. Kassel was a huge favorite coming into the season, but Hafenrichter’s Bad Nauheim just took them out in seven games. It’s doubtful that either team will survive the next round of the playoffs, so there really should be no danger of missing out on the U18 tournament. Both will be needed for their skillset, but also their knowledge of North American players, seeing as how Germany will be in a group with both Canada and the USA.

Lastly, we’d like to mention Roman Kechter, who plays in Sweden for Rögle BK, the same club top prospect Marco Kasper is playing for. As opposed to Kasper, whose name is popping up everywhere as a 1st round option for the draft, Kechter has taken a fairly large step back in his prospect status this season after having gained 21 games of DEL experience as a 17-year-old last season. That making his way into the SHL shouldn’t be expected was clear, but Kechter has played a bit of a menial role for the club’s U20 team, collecting 15 points in 31 games. Granted, he just turned 18 in mid-February and will have not only the Swedish junior playoffs to build his status with, but also the tournament in Landshut and Kaufbeuren. Of course, Kechter is currently seen as a Swedish prospect.

All things considered, the top names for first year eligible German prospects are going to need to make use of a big season-concluding tournament in order to really make themselves into possibilities for the draft. At this juncture, only Lutz seems to be a sure-fire pick and even that will be mostly based on what he did last season.

Late season splurge

Rossmy, Germany’s U18 captain last spring, was basically the top first year eligible prospect in Germany last season aside from Haakon Hänelt, a Washington Capitals draft pick who has come to play all of seven games for the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL. But Rossmy spent the bulk of this season showing the NHL scouting community that they were right to take a wait and see approach in drafting him. He wasn’t able to produce in the DEL in over twenty games from the Eisbären Berlin and his DEL2 play didn’t see him chip in at the level he did just last season as a 17-year-old.

Well, something went click in this year’s relegation round, when it mattered most. There he exploded for four goals, 11 points, and a +8 rating in just five games. Once the class was retained for his Lausitzer Foxes, Berlin called him back up and he promptly scored his second DEL goal of the season in a 5-1 victory over Augsburg. To jog your memory, the 6’3”, 195-pound winger was part of Germany’s U20 team this winter and will spend the rest of the season with 1st place Berlin, which starts its playoff run this week.

Junior champions decided

The junior season has concluded in Germany’s top three junior circuits, namely the DNL (U20), U17, and U15, and it’s been a dandy of a season for a bunch of young people have missed out on championships over the past two years, particularly with respect to the DNL.

That’s where we’ll start as this end result was the season’s biggest surprise. The new champion is the Eisbären Berlin Juniors and despite the DEL team’s many achievements, it’s the first ever title in four attempts for the boys from the German capital. Adding to the nuance was that Berlin had to defeat Cologne in a Best-of-Three series, one that featured three very hard-fought battles ending 4-3 in OT, 5-3, and then 3-2. In fact, it’s the first time since 2010 that a team other than the Mannheim Jungadler had won the title. In total, Mannheim has taken the prize 17 times in the league’s 20-year history. Cologne had disposed of Mannheim rather convincingly in the semifinals with results of 3-0 and well, 3-0. Quiet for Mannheim in those losses were both Ralf Rollinger and Luigi Calce, who have spearheaded the team’s attack and are draft eligible for the first time this year.

The top scorer of the playoffs was Pascal Steck (member of last spring’s U18 team in Texas) with 3-8-11 in five games, but Berlin’s Kevin Handschuh proved the hero with the game-winner in the final and his league-leading 8th tally. The league’s top scorer this season was Veit Oswald, with 28-23-51 in 31 games, a player you can count on seeing at the upcoming U18 Worlds. First turning 18 on August 31st, he’ll be one of the youngest players technically available in this summer’s draft.

Mannheim did however wrap up the championships at the U17 and U15 levels, continuing to lead the nation’s charge in prospect development. Names we’ll be following very closely in the coming years are Kevin Bicker, Linus Brandl, Lua Niehus, Max Herzogs, twins Gustav and Rihards Griva (GER-LAT dual citizens), and newly acquired defenseman Paul Mayer. These are all players who are first draft-eligible between 2023-25, but the younger guys have already been getting considerable ice time with the higher league teams.

Germany hosting U18 Worlds

The last time Germany hosted the U18 Worlds was in 2011, when the JT Miller and Seth Jones-led USA defeated the Mika Zibanejad-led Team Sweden in a thrilling 3-2 overtime dual. That tournament also featured a line for Russia that set all tournament scoring records, namely Nail Yakupov and Nikita Kucherov flanking Mikhail Grigorenko.

There’ll be no Team Russia or Belarus at this year’s tourney and that means there will only be eight teams. The scouting community was licking its chops to see no less than Slovakia added, but the Slovaks are hosting the D1B U18 Worlds and that just couldn’t be pushed off for a number of financial and organizational reasons. For Germany, that will stiffen the competition with little time to prove itself. The good news is that no-one will be relegated, and each team is making the playoffs. That makes the preliminary round a warm-up and jostling for initial playoff opponents. Otherwise, it’s clear as day that Germany will be an underdog, even with Latvia also participating in the tournament. The Latvians have traditionally been a nightmare for the German squad at this event.

For now, Germany is holding a camp consisting primarily of DNL and Red Bull Academy junior players. The big name on the team is, of course, Lutz, but no less than goaltenders Philip Dietl and Leon Willerscheid, defensemen Leo Hafenrichter, Niklas Hübner, and Michael Reich, as well as fellow forwards Moritz Elias and Luca Hauf spent time this season playing DEL or DEL2 hockey. In addition, forwards Daniel Assavolyuk and Philip Krening spent the season with RB Hockey Juniors in the AlpsHL while Nikita Krymskiy spent the entire season playing Oberliga hockey. There is some verifiable pro experience on the team.

In addition, coach Alexander Dück’s U18 squad will play several test games against the nation’s U17 team, which features players such as defensemen Mayer, Niehus, and Alex Vladelchtchikov as well as forwards Bicker, Brandl, Noah Samanski, Julius Sumpf, and Paul Vinzens. There are many involved in Germany’s junior ranks who feel this wave of players trumps many of the current, older candidates. As such, the opportunity is there for several underagers to still be a part of the upcoming U18 Worlds. And that’s taking into account that Willerscheid and the highly touted Edwin Tropmann are 2005-born players who are already currently in the U18 camp, meaning their spot on the team is basically chiseled into stone.

Prospect tidbits

The season ended disappointingly for the RB Hockey Juniors of the AlpsHL. The team started the year strongly and then saw things get tougher once all the players returned from the canceled WJC. In the pre-playoffs, the team quickly lost its best-of-three series 2-0. With that, the season was over for a good handful of young men the scouting community would have loved to see in continued action.

For Germany, that meant that the aforementioned Krening could concentrate on the upcoming U18 Worlds. A bit lost in the fray, Krening is a first eligible prospect who missed a good chunk of the season to injury. The 5’11”, 175-pounder is however one of the most promising skill players in this year’s prospect batch and actually managed to put up 6-4-10 and a +2 in the 16 games he did play. That had him on pace for approximately the same amount of points we saw out of Lutz last year. We’ll be keeping a close eye on him should he be representing Team Germany in Landshut.

In North America, several players we’d like to touch upon have seen their college seasons come to an end while one more finds himself playing in the NCAA’s Final Four this week, namely Julian Napravnik of Minnesota State University. With 49 points in 38 games, he’s currently 4th overall in the nation in scoring. It will be interesting to see what that means as a soon-to-be free agent, who will naturally look to add to his scoring feats and trophy cabinet on the biggest weekend of his young career to date.

Two others we’d like to point out are Lukas Kälble and Tommy Pasanen, both of whom suited up for Clarkson this winter. The former was a 5th year senior and led the team’s blueline in scoring with 7-15-22 in 32 games. He has signed with the Florida Everblades of the ECHL and has one point in three games. Highly sought after by German pro teams, Kälble is reported as now wanting to make his way up the North American minor league circuit with an NHL contract in site down the line. The 6’4”, 218-pound Pasanen completed his first season of play with seven points in 28 games, but the righty shot was also a +16. He has another three years of NCAA eligibility and is a name we’ll be keeping close tabs on as his career progresses.

German draft hopes start with David Trinkberger

Rafik Soliman — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 11:02:38 +0000

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND -- The German under-18 and under-20 national teams begin each season with a summer camp in Switzerland, with the Swiss being sparing partners in a couple of exhibition games. While the marquee name of Leon Draisaitl was missing, there were still some players to keep an eye on. Big 6-foot-4 blueliner David Trinkberger has made a bright start to his North American debut with Muskegon of the USHL - and drew an initial 'C' rating from Central Scouting as a potential late-round pick as did Jakob Mayenschein and Julian Napravnik.

David Trinkberger (2015), D, Muskegon (USHL)

Drafted by the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL and is making his debut in North America following his junior years in Landshut .. a steady two-way defenseman who tries to keep his game simple .. moves his 6-foot-4 body well for his size .. shows solid mobility - propelled by powerful strides that produce a respectable top-end speed .. looks calm and poised while moving the puck to support the offense, although he will need to continue improving his puckhandling .. won't hesitate to join the rush if he sees the chance - and will exert pressure on the net by looking for rebounds and tip-in's .. received ice-time with the man-advantage, though was playing more of a passive game and just passing the puck to the next teammate .. will have to work to upgrade a weak shot which he hesitates to utilize as a result .. despite boasting ideal size, he also needs to develop a hitting game and learn how to use his body to his advantage.

Jakob Mayenschein (2015), C, Landshut (Ger)

Mayenschein centered the top line for Germany and played a compact and reliable two-way game .. listed at 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds, but looks bigger and stronger on the ice .. signed a junior contract last Christmas with EV Landshut of the second division and got his first taste of men’s hockey which should help with the transition in his first full season in the pros .. possesses a good combination of size and mobility, yet attains only average top-end speed .. also will need to work on improving his first few steps .. Mayenschein was already part of the national team as he represented Germany at the 2014 Under-18 World Juniors (6-1-1-2).

Julian Napravnik (2015), LW, Mannheimer Adler (Ger)

A good skater with decent acceleration and shifty movement .. able to move the puck into the offensive zone at full speed - and makes abrupt stops to create time and space in order to look for an open teammate .. possesses only average size at 5-foot-10 and looks rather skinny as he weighs just 155 pounds and has a lot of room to grow into his frame still .. lacked full support in these contests while playing on the second line on the German squad, however was still able to create plays basically out of nothing .. his wrist shot is accurate but still rather weak, although this should change once he improves his strength .. Napravnik just completed his first season with Mannheim in the DNL and will continue to develop in the German junior league.

Dominik Kahun (2015), C, Munchen (Ger)

A tremendous skater, shifty with quick legs and decent acceleration .. plays a smart and reliable two-way game with hard backchecking and solid defensive-zone coverage .. Kahun is the type of player who would rather use his stick to check as opposed to his body .. tends to shy away from physical contact and will turn away along the boards instead of facing an opponent’s hit .. owns a nice set of hands with strong puckhandling abilities which allows him to stickhandle and move quickly through traffic .. lacks strength and can easily be pushed of the puck if he can’t get away with his speed and agility .. possesses excellent vision and on-ice awareness of his fellow players, as he seems to always find the teammate in the best scoring position .. after spending two years in the OHL with the Sudbury Wolves and being passed over in the last two NHL Drafts, Kahun decided to continue his career with the EHC Munchen in the DEL.

Tobias Eder (2016), LW, Bad Tolz (Ger)

The only 1998-born player on a relatively weak German under-18 team .. a decent skater who reaches excellent top-end speed .. possesses strong vision and on-ice awareness of his teammates as he finds open space with a quick look and can feed them with crisp passes right into their wheel-house .. a right-shooting winger and an ideal addition to a power play where he is constantly in motion to create space and put himself in a scoring position .. possesses a quick release and fine puck control .. skilled at receiving a pass with his back to the goal and then spinning rapidly and unleashing a hard and accurate shot .. the brother of former WHL Vancouver Giants player Alexander Eder .. played last season as an under-ager with the under-18 team of Bad Tolz in the German junior league.