Reindl: “Can be the basis for a great future” – Schaidnagel: “It’s worth working with the young talent” – Söderholm: “All three have the potential”
The chances were good, now the best German result to date in an NHL draft is perfect. Never before has more than one German young talent player been selected by the teams in the best ice hockey league in the world in the first round. In this year's talent drawing, they were selected Tim Stützle and Luke Reichel two at once – and at John Peterka, the third first-round pick, was widely expected to be one of the first players drafted on the second day of the draft. That's how it happened Buffalo sabers secured the rights to Munich in 34th position.
The Sabers even made a trade for Peterka to ensure they had access to him. In addition, Maximilian Glötzl (Cologne), Florian Elias (Mannheim), Filip Reisnecker (Bremerhaven) as well as Maksymilian Szuber and Jakub Borzecki (both Red Bull Academy) at least had the opportunity to be selected in a later of the seven rounds on Wednesday become. However, the NHL clubs ultimately decided on other talents.
They shouted Stützle's name Ottawa Senators third overall after the two Canadians Alexis Lafreniere (New York Rangers) and Quinton Byfield (Los Angeles Kings), the striker of the Adler Mannheim will now be part of the organization of an NHL founding member. They voted in position 17 Chicago Blackhawks then Lukas Reichel from the Eisbären Berlin, who ended up with the team he raved about as a child.
The last German to wear the Blackhawks jersey was Dominik Kahun, and Christian Ehrhoff also played there for parts of a season. Christoph Schubert and Rick Goldmann have been used by the Senators in the past. A number of German professionals have already left their mark on the Sabres. Former national coach Uwe Krupp began his NHL career in Buffalo, followed later by Jochen Hecht, who stayed at Niagara Falls for over ten years. Ehrhoff and Alexander Sulzer also wore the jersey with the sabers. And Dominik Kahun is currently part of the team that is coached by the German-Canadian Ralph Krueger.
Reactions from the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund to the NHL Draft:
DEB-President Franz Reindl: “A dream has come true for our players, which can be the basis for a great future! This is a high distinction, not only for the players, but also for the hard and effective work on young talent in our sport in Germany. Everyone involved can be proud of that.”
DEB-Sports Director Stefan Schaidnagel: “The result of this year’s draft is unique for our German players. It should remind us, especially in these difficult times for German ice hockey, that it is more than worth working with, training and supporting young talent. The performances and development of the players are symbolic of this path and stand as very positive examples in themselves. German ice hockey should continue to focus on this type of long-term player development.”
National coach Toni Söderholm: “This is a very special moment for our players and also for the many coaches who were involved in the development. Everyone should be very proud. From my side, I would also like to pay a big compliment to the players' youth coaches; their work cannot be valued highly enough. They got the boys on track and motivated them along the way. They are now a little closer to their dream of the NHL. But this should also motivate them in the future to work even more and in a more targeted manner. The fight for spots in the NHL is incredibly tough, but Tim, Lukas and JJ absolutely have the potential to play a role. I congratulate everyone who has played their way into the attention of the NHL.”
So far there have been a total of six German players who also play or have played for the national team and were recruited in the first round of the NHL draft. Only Leon Draisaitl, whose NHL rights were also secured in third place by the Edmonton Oilers in 2014, was previously selected as high as Tim Stützle.
Here are the German first-round draft picks in chronological order:
2020 Tim Stützle was selected third overall by the Ottawa Senators and Lukas Reichel was selected 17th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks
2019 Moritz Seider selected sixth overall by the Detroit Red Wings
2018 Dominik Bokk was selected 25th by the St. Louis Blues (rights since given to the Carolina Hurricanes).
2014 Leon Draisaitl selected third overall by the Edmonton Oilers
2001 Marcel Goc selected 20th overall by the San Jose Sharks
1996 Marco Sturm selected 21st overall by the San Jose Sharks
1989 Olaf Kölzig was selected 19th by the Washington Capitals
The three top German talents in shorthand:
Tim Stützle, born 15 January 2002 in Viersen, Young Talent Teams: Krefelder EV 1981, Jungadler Mannheim, DEB-Young talent national players from U16 to U20, current team: Adler Mannheim, first DEL season: 41 games, 7 goals, 27 assists, NHL rights: Ottawa Senators
Luke Reichel, born May 17, 2002 in Nuremberg, Young Talent Teams: Frankfurt Lions, Starbulls Rosenheim, Eisbären Juniors Berlin, DEB-Young talent national players from U16 to U20, current team: Eisbären Berlin, first DEL season: 42 games, 12 goals, 12 assists, NHL rights: Chicago Blackhawks
John Peterka, born January 14, 2002 in Munich, Young Talent Teams: EHC Munich, EC Bad Tölz, Red Bull Hockey Academy, DEB-Young talent national players from U16 to U20, current team: from EHC Red Bull München to the EC Red Bull Salzburg on loan, first DEL season: 42 games, 7 goals, 4 assists: NHL rights: Buffalo Sabres
Our media partner Magenta Sport was with Tim Stützle on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday Here captured the crucial moment.
Photos: city-press