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Top-Five German Prospects |
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German hockey has always been a very small group and has been dominated by the countries love with football. Hockey has and will always be a tier two sport, despite having one of the better leagues to play in with the DNL. Outside of the 2001 entry draft, the German’s haven’t produced many if any NHL players. Since 2001 there hasn’t been a German player drafted in the first two rounds of the draft, showing the sad reality that most can’t seem to translate their game. Sorry about the wait, I’ve been really busy. The top-10 Canadians in the American system will be ready by Monday. As always this doesn't include goalies, 2013/2014 draft eligible players or players who have 50+ NHL games played.
1. Tom Kühnhackl Right Wing (110th Overall 2010) 20 Years Old, Niagara Ice Dogs OHL, Property of the Pittsburgh Penguins
Tom is a very interesting prospects, he has a great mix of size and skill to match with a strong work ethic but took a big step back last season. After a rough first half of the season adjusting to NA, he was one of the top players to close out the year and was a beast in the playoffs. After being suspended for almost decapitating Ryan Murphy he got moved to the Dogs and his play never got back to its peak level. He’s a good two-way player with strong positioning and the ability to play in any situation. He has a strong stride and decent speed, though he has some acceleration issues. He has a really hard one-timer and a pretty accurate shot to boot. His passing skills aren’t great and he’s much more of a shoot first player. I’m not sure if his poor year was confidence based or just never gelling with the Dogs, but he’ll need to show that sturdy skill in the AHL next season.
Potential: 2nd/3rd Line Two-Way Winger
Comparable: Nikolai Kulemin
2. Tobias Rieder Left Wing (114th Overall 2011) 19 Years Old, Kitchener Rangers OHL, Property of the Edmonton Oilers
Rieder like many German and other foreign players to the CHL struggled in his first year. He was pushed around a lot and didn’t deal well with the lack of space and physicality. Thankfully for the Oilers this let him drop into their lap. In his second OHL season Rieder lit the league on fire. His great breakaway speed was much in evidence and it allowed him to get the time he needed to make plays. He has a great wrist shot and is very much a speed down the wing and rip it past him kind of guy. He looked less afraid of contact and that really helped him overall. He has good playmaking abilities and is good at distributing the puck at full speed. His issues are his size and the need to improve his positioning in the defensive zone, he’s solid at creating turnovers on the penalty kill, but loses his man much too often on the backcheck. At 5’10 and 173 he’s got a lot of developing left and his high energy game seems to leave him completely exhausted at various times in the game. Some worry about whether his offense will translate to the NHL, but I think he’s slowed down those accusations with his performance in the playoffs.
Potential: 2nd Line Scorer
Comparable: Milan Michalek
3. Konrad Albetshauser Defenseman (153rd Overall 2010) 20 Years Old, Halifax Moosehead QMJHL, Property of the San Jose Sharks
When you see Albetshauser the first thing you notice is he’s a massive kid. At 6’5 220 he’s already built like a pro. He’s an interesting player as he’s much more of an offensive defenseman than anything else, but has really begun to work out the kinks that plagued him in his first two seasons. He’s got a really large cannon of a slapshot. He can absolutely rip it. Sadly it isn’t the most accurate around and can get erratic. His skating has improved a lot and he’s fairly mobile though he’s still a bit slow and awkward skating backwards. He’s shown great work ethic and leadership for the young Moosehead team and internationally. Though he’s very strong he doesn’t use his size for hitting much and prefers to win the board battles through hard work over separation. That’s a major gripe with his game. He can run the puck up the ice with his strength and run a PP or lead a PK, having been thrown into the fire as the number one dman for three seasons has helped shape his game. Next season he’ll play a final year for Halifax and if his playoffs was any indication, he’s in for a big year.
Potential: 4-5 Two-Way Defenseman
Comparable: Sami Salo
4. Marcel Noebels Left Wing (118th Overall 2011) 20 Years Old, Portland Winterhawks WHL, Property of the Philadelphia Flyers
Noebels is a very solid but unspectacular player. He’s got a great work ethic and plays a simple two-way game. He has a knack for attention to details and positioning. Offensively he isn’t going to light the world on fire, he has a decent shot and works hard to create space, but in the end doesn’t create his own scoring chances well. His foot speed is still pretty slow and is definitely something he needs to work on to find his role in the NHL. Plonk him on the penalty kill and let him grind for the skill players is essentially what he does best. I think it’s important to note that he looked a lot better when playing with the more skilled players on the powerhouse Winterhawks as he could fill in as a complimentary player.
Potential: 3rd Line Complimentary Winger
Comparable: Alexei Ponikarovsky
5. Korbinian Holzer Defenseman (111th Overall 2006) 24 Years Old, Toronto Marlies AHL, Property of the Toronto Maple Leafs
Holzer is hardly much of a prospect anymore and is certainly the oldest one of any of my lists. Yet there really isn’t a better option at five. Holzer is the quintessential safe shutdown defenseman. He plays with an edge and is strong on the boards and at clearing the front of the net. He blocks shots very well and has excellent positioning. He’s a decent skater for his size (6’3) and isn’t a pylon. Offensively he doesn’t bring much of anything; he has a weak shot that takes forever to windup. Essentially he fills out a defense well and can play valuable penalty kill minutes. Expect him to start with the Marlies and find his way to the NHL since the Leafs are really lacking his kind of game.
Potential: Bottom Pairing Shutdown Defenseman
Comparable: Scott Hannan
Thanks for reading.
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