D Paul Mayer - Jungadler Mannheim, DNL U20 (2024 Draft)
- Thread starter GermanSpitfire
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LeProspector
AINEC
- Feb 14, 2017
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I see he is playing in the German u20 league as a 15 year old. Is that rare? Any chance he sees any DEL games this year?
Not that rare. Especially on smaller teams who have already lost their best players to the bigger teams, you see this quite a bit at least for a few games.
If he plays close to a full season for the U20 team and manages to contribute then it would stand out (he is off to a good start), but there is a chance he plays most of the time for the U17 team where he would get a ton of ice time and responsibility. Also, his team has a really good group of players born in 05, so their U17 could actually make some noise and challenge the powerhouses like Mannheim or Cologne this year.
Mayer will also turn 16 in a few days. Once that happens he could play for the men's team in the DEL2 and I would not be surprised if he gets at least a taste of pro hockey at that level.
He seems physically mature enough to handle playing against grown ups and his game is at a pretty high level.
From what I have seen so far, I don't think he will be the next Seider, but he could definitely be a legit prospect with NHL upside. But that is still a long way away.
I like this kid a lot, but I will temper my expectations for at least another year, because I have gotten way too excited in the past for some 14-15 year old kis, who were playing against older competition, but eventually fizzled out. But paired with what I saw from Mayer on the national team during the recent U17 tournament, things are looking very promising right now.
GermanSpitfire
EU Video Scout for McKeen’s
Up to 4 points in 4 games in the DNL U20 league as a 15 (soon to be 16 year old).
Things are really looking up for him.
Things are really looking up for him.
Eye of Ra
Grandmaster General of the International boards
At this point he is a (very) long shot, given how reluctant our coaches usually are selecting double underagers, unless they are insane talents (Draisaitl, Stützle, Seider, etc.).
I don't see Mayer at that elite level. A lack of competition at his position might work in his favor and he still has some time to prove he is even better, than I am giving him credit for.
Still, right now my guess would be: No, he won't be at the wjc this year.
GermanSpitfire
EU Video Scout for McKeen’s
Just to piggy back off Maverick’s post, likely no. That isn’t to say he won’t, if his strong play continues then is definitely possible; But as a D-3 player, he has plenty of time to garner hype around the hockey world to help him get on NHL teams radar’s.
Next year we’ll likely see him there.
GermanSpitfire
EU Video Scout for McKeen’s
I am pretty hyped that he could be the next big thing out of germany.
Unfortunately i didn't saw him playing so far. Is he really that good and has an impact on the games he played in or does his production maybe just befinits from an overall good Kaufbeuren team?
Unfortunately i didn't saw him playing so far. Is he really that good and has an impact on the games he played in or does his production maybe just befinits from an overall good Kaufbeuren team?
I will probably not be able to watch him again until early December, when there should be a stream available for one of his games in Düsseldorf, and then again in January when Kaufbeuren plays in Mannheim, but he looked really good in the three games he played for the U17 national team.
It is still too small a sample size of actually watching him to annoint him the next big thing, but he did show some of the same things that stood out about Moritz Seider at that age, although I am not ready to put Mayer near that category. But the calm and poise he played with, the ability to just settle everything down and just his presence on the ice looked fairly impressive to me. He definitely looked like a player out there that teammates can lean on. In that small sample size I did not notice any holes in his game. Obviously there is a ton of room for improvement everywhere, but I could not see any glaring weakness.
I don't like to overhype prospects and I would not put him in that Seider category or lable him the next big thing. I see him more at the Münzenberger level for now, but he has so much potential and could very well turn into something special.
I am really glad that it looks like we are finally starting to get some dmen to go with our talented forwards. There are some young defenders in the DEL who are doing pretty well, and then there is still Leon Gawanke and more recently Luca Münzenberger who should be solid for the national team for years. And now you have Mayer, who certainly stands out, but also kids like Leo Hafenrichter, Edwin Tropmann, Rayan Bettahar and maybe Lua Niehus who could turn into something.
Thanks for your long answer.
It will be quit fun to follow his journey and development in the next years. Obviously a lot of things still can happen with players that age, but for the moment it sounds just right with him.
It will be quit fun to follow his journey and development in the next years. Obviously a lot of things still can happen with players that age, but for the moment it sounds just right with him.
GermanSpitfire
EU Video Scout for McKeen’s
Up to 8 points in 11 games as a defender in the German u20 league as a fresh 16 year old.
He’s starting to get the the point where its no longer a small sample size of his astute play.
He’s starting to get the the point where its no longer a small sample size of his astute play.
I still haven’t really seen him play, so take this with a grain of salt. But: he’s only played against the Southern teams in the league so far, except for the road trip to Cologne – where Kaufbeuren lost both games and Mayer got injured. I won’t join in on the hype until he’s shown the same promise in games vs. Cologne, Mannheim, Berlin.
GermanSpitfire
EU Video Scout for McKeen’s
GermanSpitfire
EU Video Scout for McKeen’s
Some big news is that he will play for Adler Mannheim next season and in their program going forward! Following in the footsteps of Mo Seider!
GermanSpitfire
EU Video Scout for McKeen’s
Good start to the season for Mayer - potting 5 points in his first 6 games in the German u20 league.
And somehow he’s still disappointed me so far. He does not look like a player who should jump into the DEL next year.
GermanSpitfire
EU Video Scout for McKeen’s
I can agree with this - I still think Mayer could be an NHL draft selection next year but he is no longer the top player of his age group as I once thought he’d be - looks more like a Glötzl than a Seider at this point, and that‘s okay.
Tropmann is clearly the best of the ‘05’s now.
He honestly was all along. The only thing Mayer has that Tropmann doesn’t is size. Which isn’t entirely irrelevant when you look at Tropmann’s physical style.
GermanSpitfire
EU Video Scout for McKeen’s
Played his first game in the DEL a week ago for Mannheim against Düsseldorfer - he only played 1:30 in the game and was on the ice for a goal against. Not the greatest debut but exiting he has played in the mens league already.
Still a kid that is promising out of Germany for next season. He has been scoring at just below PPG in the German U20 league.
Still a kid that is promising out of Germany for next season. He has been scoring at just below PPG in the German U20 league.
I took a look at the goal against to give a little additional information.
First of Mayer was playing as a forward (alongside Moritz Elias and Tyler Gaudet) in that situation. The defense pairing was Denis Reul and Arkadiusz Dziambor.
Mayer did actually fairly well picking up his man (Daniel Fischbuch) and taking away a shooting lane, forcing him to turn back.
For some reason nobody picked up Mikko Kousa who received a pass from Fischbuch and walked right in and shot/passed the puck towards the goal where Gogulla deflected it into the goal.
I really hope he gets a chance to play on D in some other game this season, and for more than 3 shifts.
GermanSpitfire
EU Video Scout for McKeen’s
I think Mayer projects as a strong, steady defensive defender if he makes it to the next level. I can only imagine the fear of the opposition that has to play against Mayer, he looks so big and intimidating out there. There was one point in the game where it looked like the forward attacking Mayer panicked and just threw the puck across the ice so he didn’t have to deal with him. Mayer was quite physical throughout the game, he started off the game by nullifying any momentum a forechecker had by throwing a pick that allowed Mayer’s partner more time and space to make a good outlet pass.
Throughout the game Mayer looked good in his puck retrievals, he would make some smart simple passes to his teammates when retrieving the puck that would lead to a rush the other way. At times it looked like he would bobble the puck a little before making the pass, he could use some work on his puck skills, and pass receptions since puck retrievals wasn’t the only time he would bobble the puck.
Used his 4-way mobility well throughout the game, I feel he needs to work on his top end speed but other than that he is a very good skater. He is in particular an astute backwards skater and this allows him to be good at maintaining his gaps. He has a big, long stick that he uses well to nullify passes and make good pokes to break up plays. His defensive game and his willingness to be physical is probably the best part of his game.
His offensive game needs work, he can make quick passes and was able to get the puck to the net on a few occasions - he just lacks a bit of confidence in this regard. Very raw in his offensive abilities but you can tell he is trying to do something great, he just lacks the confidence and at times the puck skills to see it materialize. Would like to see a good bit of work done with this part of his game.
Overall I can see him being an NHL player, maybe not a top pairing guy, but if he can work on his offensive game, I can definitely see him being a good defensive defender in the NHL one day.
I remember the first time I saw Mayer play and after that game I immediately thought of Seider, mainly because he had the same calm demeanor and made a lot of smart plays.
Over time and watching a bunch more games, it became clear (not surprisingly) that Mayer is not on that Seider level. While I saw nothing but consistency from Seider every time I watched him, Mayer's play was as inconsistent as that of most kids at that age. At times I doubted his progress and his ability to make good on his upside.
In some games I saw him control the play from the backend and excel as a PP QB with smart passing and a decent wrist shot. Lately, however I thought he did best when paired with a more offensive minded partner while he focusses on defense and transition.
But it has been a couple of months since I really saw him, although I am still hoping to catch up on some videos and a couple of the games I still want to watch include him.
Over time and watching a bunch more games, it became clear (not surprisingly) that Mayer is not on that Seider level. While I saw nothing but consistency from Seider every time I watched him, Mayer's play was as inconsistent as that of most kids at that age. At times I doubted his progress and his ability to make good on his upside.
In some games I saw him control the play from the backend and excel as a PP QB with smart passing and a decent wrist shot. Lately, however I thought he did best when paired with a more offensive minded partner while he focusses on defense and transition.
But it has been a couple of months since I really saw him, although I am still hoping to catch up on some videos and a couple of the games I still want to watch include him.
Love this – I don’t think my evaluation of Mayer could be much more different from yours. Through 10 games or so over the past two seasons (not sure how many exactly), here’s what I saw:
Mayer’s size-skating combo indeed stands out immediately. His 4-way mobility is very good, he’s a strong skater overall and combined with his long reach that makes him a good rush defender. But with every game I watched since the Hlinka, I liked him less and less, and I think that’s where our disagreement starts.
For starters, as promising as his tools are, he occasionally struggles on rush defense. Usually it’s because he struggles to get up to speed in a straight line and overly relies on crossovers instead. Plus, while he has a good reach, he doesn’t use his body as much as he could and should. The skating part can probably be fixed rather easily, but it’s worth pointing out.
In his own end, he also isn’t the physical presence you describe. He uses his strength well at times but struggles to do it more often than I’d like to see from a guy his size. He also doesn’t hit much at all and struggles to box out forwards in front of the net.
I actually see most of his upside offensively. His offensive vision is good and he can play hard, accurate passes both on the breakout and in the offensive zone. He has a fairly powerful forward stride that gives him good speed to jump up on the rush and try to make offensive plays. He’s shown flashes of quick hands on his carries too.
Now, here’s my big issue with him. His hockey sense is atrocious. He’s good on the breakout but only if there’s no forechecker remotely near him. As soon as there’s even a tiny bit of pressure, he really struggles and throws pucks away or holds on to them until the forecheck is all over him. He also doesn’t have the dynamic skating ability to shake off forecheckers. To me, this really hurts his projection for two reasons: One, modern-day defensemen need to be able to break out the puck and two, retrievals require and combine multiple skills that players need in other areas too – if you’re bad at retrievals, you’ll struggle in other areas as well.
Finally, his lack of hockey sense isn’t just visible in his own end but on rushes too. I mentioned that he can jump up the play and join the rush but his decision making here isn’t great either and he definitely needs forwards to keep an eye out for it so they can cover for him.
So long story short: Mayer needs a BIG year to be in serious draft consideration. And at this point I’d much prefer Edwin Tropmann and probably even Norwin Panocha over Mayer.
But none of this means he won’t have a long and successful DEL career that could start as early as next season.
GermanSpitfire
EU Video Scout for McKeen’s
I’m not going to pretend I don’t have any sort of bias towards Mayer - I definitely want him to succeed more than the next guy. Perhaps I am left with rose tinted glasses when watching him play and am oblivious to the deficiencies of his game.
But that’s what makes player evaluation great, and Is why it’s awesome to have more than one voice.
