When Lukas Reichel is about to take such an important step in his career, then of course family and friends don't want to be missing. “My parents come from Rosenheim and maybe a few boys from the team will be there if they want to stay awake that long,” says the son of long-time former national player Martin Reichel. It will be late, very late, when the 18-year-old arrives Berlin You may find out on the night from Tuesday to Wednesday which NHL club will secure its rights. As one of three top German talents, Reichel has the chance to be selected in the first round of the annual talent draw.
If that doesn't happen, his name is likely to be one of the first to be mentioned on Wednesday during the second part of the event, which was converted into an online event due to the corona pandemic. “If you are drawn in the first round, that gives you another boost”says the U20 national player, but immediately adds: “But if you get drafted high and then stop working, then that’s no use.” Then, despite all the good conditions, an NHL career quickly becomes a long way off.
Like John Peterka and Tim Stützle, the other two German first-round candidates, Reichel has numerous interviews with NHL teams behind him. National coach Toni Söderholm recently highlighted the lively interest in the three German players. “I see a very good chance that John and Lukas will also be drawn in the first round. The inquiries from the NHL in the last few months were not just general, but really specific questions about the potential for the NHL. “That’s interesting and it also helps to know what’s important in the NHL today and how you have to prepare yourself and the player’s environment for it,” he reports DEB-Coach.
Reichel not only played at the U2019 World Cup in the Czech Republic at the end of 2020/beginning of 20, but also at the Eisbären Berlin He did his best self-promotion in his first professional season and caused a stir with twelve goals and assists in 42 games. “The first professional season was my most important year“, remembers the Nuremberg native and particularly highlights Eisbären coach Serge Aubin and his teammates, who offered him an ideal environment. “My coach and my teammates helped me a lot. That’s what you need as a young player and then you just have to perform.”
In the past few months, Reichel, who grew up in SB Rosenheim's Young Talent, has consciously and specifically worked on his physical development in order to pick up where he left off. He already demonstrated this in the three test matches against a Swiss U20 team in July, when he scored four goals. “My weakness is physical, I know that, but I was able to make good use of the time in the summer. I exchanged a lot with fitness trainers and trained very specifically. I feel much better and more stable“, says the nephew of former NHL star Robert Reichel, who once formed a famous Czech attack formation with Jaromir Jagr and Bobby Holik and whose father Martin is of course one of the most important advisors.
Overall, Reichel, who, like Peterka, loved the Chicago Blackhawks and Patrick Kane as a child, is hoping for a milestone for German ice hockey, because so far only seven German or German-born players have been selected in the first round of the NHL draft, more than one never. “I would be really happy if all three of us were drawn in the first round. That would be a huge deal and a huge advertisement for German ice hockey", says Reichel, who has also noticed that "people from Canada and the USA look at Germany very differently and much more closely."
Even if the live experience in Montreal was missed by the German talents due to corona, that hardly dampens their anticipation, especially since it distracts a little from the everyday worries in German ice hockey. “It will definitely be a nice evening. I’m really looking forward to it,” says the winger.
Photos: Jan-Malte Diekmann