The Detroit Red Wings will represent Moritz Seider for the German U20 national team at the 2020 IIHF U20 Ice Hockey World Championship (December 26, 2019 to January 5, 2020 in Ostrava/Trinec). General manager Steve Yzerman confirmed this after discussions with DEB-Sports director Stefan Schaidnagel and national coach Toni Söderholm in Detroit. Yzerman emphasized the importance of the tournament and the German defender's participation: "We are convinced that the U20 World Cup in December will be another important development step in Moritz's career. It is also a matter of course for us to send Moritz to the U20 national team. We had very good discussions with those responsible for the DEB and are happy to support.”
“We are very pleased that the Detroit Red Wings, led by GM Steve Yzerman, confirmed the importance of the U20 World Cup during our discussion and that they are supporting our U20 national team by releasing Moritz Seider – this is a great sign of the importance of our national teams,” explained Stefan Schaidnagel. DEB-Sports director has been on a trip to the USA with national coach Toni Söderholm since November 16, 2019 to hold talks with the national players from the NHL/AHL and the sports officials of the clubs. As part of the trip, the conversation with Seve Yzerman also took place on November 21, 2019 on the sidelines of the Columbus vs. Detroit game.
Moritz Seider is motivated about his second World Cup participation in 2019: “I was really happy when I found out that I could support the U20 national team at the World Cup. We will be at the start with a good team – I’m looking forward to the boys!”
The 18-year-old captained the German U20 national team to the gold medal at the home World Cup in Füssen last year and to the associated promotion to the top division. On May 7, 2019, Seider made his World Cup debut for the men's national team. Following the tournament, the German defender was drafted sixth overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and signed an entry-level contract in July 2019. In the current season, the 18-year-old played in all 20 games of the season for the AHL farm team Grand Rapids Griffins.
Seider joins the German U20 national team as part of the World Cup preparations and will now strengthen U20 national coach Tobias Abstreiter's team at the 2020 IIHF U20 Ice Hockey World Championship. On December 27, 2019, the German U20 national team will play their tournament opener against the USA. As the preliminary round progresses, the DEB-Selection on the Czech Republic, Canada and Russia.