In the past few years, a new force in hockey has risen. At the Olympics, in early 2018, Germany took the tournament by storm and got second only to the stacked Russian team. Despite the lack of NHL players in the tournament it still left an important impact on German hockey. The Olympic success showed the larger trend of the growth of German hockey in the past years.
In the history of the draft 72 German players have been picked and at least one from every draft since 2014. The first German player ever drafted, Orest Romashyna, was taken 3rd overall all the way back in the first draft in 1963. Although I won’t count that pick since the draft in 1963 was a joke, Romashyna didn’t play a single game and retired after finishing college at the Univ. Of Waterloo.
Other than Romashyna only five Germans have been picked in the 1st round and two in recent memory. In 2014, the Oilers very own Leon Draisaitl was taken 3rd overall and became the first highly touted German prospect in the modern era. Draisaitl was one of the first Germans to take the CHL route to the NHL. He came over to North America after being drafted to the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL through the CHL Import Draft. The other major prospect coming from German was Dominik Bokk in this past 2018 draft. Bokk took a different path than Draisaitl after going to Sweden to play for the Växjö Lakers (pronounced Vek-wah) in Sweden’s junior system. Bokk was drafted in the CHL Import Draft but was picked by the Prince Albert Raiders, the same team that Draisaitl played on. Although the belief is that Bokk only wanted to play for an OHL team rather than Prince Albert who play in the WHL.
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This all brings us to the next top German prospect in Moritz Seider. Seider has decided to take a different path than either Bokk or Draisaitl. Despite being picked by the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL, Seider has chosen to remain playing in Germany. The German route to the NHL is pretty untested as the last high draft pick to come out of the German system was Marcel Goc back in 2001.
Last season Seider played in the DNL. “What’s the DNL?” I hear you asking, well the DNL is the under 19 German junior league. It’s part of the fairly weak main junior hockey circuit in Germany which explains why Seider is such an obscure prospect. He’s played in an unknown league where he hasn’t gotten much exposure. With that in mind, Seider played with Jungadler Mannheim in the DNL which is the best team in German junior hockey. They are the best team for the development of young players in the DNL. They’ve won the DNL title seven consecutive times and in the 18-year history of the DNL championship, they were the champions 15 times. They’re basically the London Knights of the DNL.
Seider will not remain playing for Jungadler Mannheim next year though. If all goes well he will play for the big club in Adler Mannheim of the DEL. The DEL is the top professional circuit in Germany. The DEL is actually quite a good league. Right now the Champions Hockey League is going on. The Champions League takes the best teams from around Europe (except the KHL) and puts them in a singular league. Currently, EHC Munchen of the DEL leads their group over big teams like TPS Turku and the Malmö RedHawks. So the DEL is a respectable league and seeing a 17-year old competing there will put Seider on the map.
Now that we know where he’ll play, let’s find out what he has achieved. Being German, Seider hasn’t gotten international exposure but has competed in World Junior tournaments. Seider got to play as a 16-year-old on Germany’s U18 and U20 World Junior teams. Both teams competed in the 1A division of IIHF competition which is the division right under the division with Canada, USA, etc. They played teams like Kazakhstan and Latvia who won gold and silver while Germany won bronze. For the U18 squad Seider recorded three assists and for the U20 team he put up one goal.
In league play, Seider played quite well. He spent most of his time in the DNL where he scored 13 points in 14 games. He led all defensemen his age in points per game and was 10th among forwards and defensemen in points per game of players his age. He was also heavily relied on for huge minutes and played both on both the penalty kill and power play top pairing. Seider also got a short stint in the DEL playing four games and went pointless. He debuted in the league in late December of 2017 at 16 years old. Despite going pointless Seider still competed at that level while getting extremely sheltered minutes.
Moritz Seider’s accomplishments are good but not outstanding, his game is where he thrives. The two most notable attributes to him are his physicality and passing. His physicality is immediately noticeable. He’s a big guy at 6’4” (192cm) and 183lbs (83kg) and he uses that size very well. Seider loves to lay a huge hit, but sometimes take himself out of position. He is a feared player on the ice and you can’t put your head down around him. His physicality also helps him in the d-zone as he is a force around the front of the net. He’s also strong on his skates. Seider makes it hard for a forward to put up a screen as he can body them out since he’s so strong on his feet.
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Seider’s second notable attribute is his passing ability. The most pivotal part of his passing is his stellar ability to start a breakout with a great first outlet pass up the ice. He’s such a smart passer because he sees the ice so well. In an interview with his DEL team, Adler Mannheim, he said this about it. Keep in mind that the interview was in German so all quotes are translated and aren’t perfect.
“I would say that I have a good understanding of the game. I play a good first pass, engage in the offensive and see the open spaces where my teammates can run. The game with the puck and the game on offense are characteristic of my style of play.” -Moritz Seider
Seider is a very smart passer and rarely makes a bad decision with the puck. The only issue with his passing is that sometimes he takes too long to make his move. Otherwise, he stands out as one of the better passers in the draft.
While passing and physicality are the most notable parts of his game, there is a lot more to him. Seider talked about his hard-working attitude and dedication to the game in that same interview.
“You just have to work harder than everyone else and I think that’s the case with me. While many of my teammates drove home after three or four hours, I pushed extra shifts. But you also have to be crazy about the sport. At home, I watched a lot of videos of my role models and paid attention to what differentiates them from other players, what they do better. I think that you also have to deal with your sport away from the ice. But I’m also very ambitious, never give up.” -Moritz Seider
Seider also talked about his role models, one of which is former Devils star Scott Neidermayer. Seider says he works to emulate is game after Neidermayer and play just like him. Another player he watches is Zach Werenski. He says he enjoys Werenski’s offensive prowess and considers his focus to also be on offense.
The focus on offense brings us to Seider’s offensive skill. His passing is the biggest attribute to his offensive game, but he is also a solid goal scorer. 6 of his 13 points in the DNL season were goals. His big body and strength allow him to really rip the puck. Other offensive strengths include his puck protection, top speed, play with the puck, and especially his play on the rush. Seider can start a rush with his outlet pass or take the puck up himself. He doesn’t have great explosiveness or acceleration, but once he gets up to top speed he is near unstoppable. Even with all this offensive skill, Seider is still more of a two-way defender with prowess in both zones.
Seider is all upside though. The biggest flaw in his game is his play away from the puck. When the puck isn’t on his stick or around him he doesn’t contribute much. In the offensive zone when the puck is deep in the zone he doesn’t do much at all. You can often catch him standing still and not contributing at all. While this isn’t a game breaking flaw it defiantly holds him back. We see with others top defensive prospects like Quinn Hughes they are always involved in some way no matter the situation. This is a part of Seider’s game that could make him great rather than good.
This all brings us to his draft position. Where does he go in 2019? Scouts are split right now. Many don’t know who he is and others have trouble judging him after he mostly played in an unremarkable league. Future Consideration is the only major scouting bureau with him listed in the first round at the #30 spot. Personally, in my upcoming rankings, he barely slides into the first round at #31. It’s very hard to analyze him at this point after spending last season in the DNL. Next year, likely in the DEL, we will get a better look at him and learn what he’s truly about.
*This profile is courtesy of Max from TPE Hockey. You can follow him on Twitter here for more coverage on NHL prospects!*
