Well, Grubauer has been great in the AHL so far and he now got his first NHL minutes under his belt. There is however a tough competition for goalies in Washington. He has to establish himself in the AHL and collect lots of ice time there before he gets a proper shot at the NHL. But I think he certainly has the potential.
I agree, whether or not he can be a starter remains to be seen, but he has the potential and from what I have heard he certainly has the work ethic to make it to NHL at least as a backup.
Abeltshauser is dong really well in juniors, but we will have to wait and see how he cope with the transition from junior to pros once he plays in the AHL.
The good thing about him is, that he is a big guy who skates very well, the problem could be that for a big guy he is not all that physical. If he works on that in the AHL for a couple of years he schould get a shot in the NHL
Rieder surely has the talent to make in the NHL, but the Oilers Roster is stuffed with great young players. Im quite confident though that he wont have much trouble to adapt to the AHL. He should also be a steady goal scorer there.
Rieder to me is a bit of a hit or miss kinda deal. He has the potential to make it as top 6 player even in the NHL, but he will have to adapt to the more physical game.
A plus for him could be that, at the request of the Oilers, he has been playing at center for a while, a position where he has less competition in the Oilers organisation.
A while ago I thought that Kuehnhackl will definitely play in the NHL one day. But injuries have cost him the past couple of years. He needs to stay healthy and have a breakout season in the AHL next year to remain on the Penguins Radar.
Kühnhackl starts to feel a little like the Sebastian Deisler of German hockey. He has the tools, he has the skill, but at this point he appears to be too fragile.
Draisaitl is obviously a long way from playing in the NHL, but once he is eligable for the Draft, he can potentially be picked in the 1st or 2nd round. So if he stays healthy and keeps developing at the pace he does at the moment, he as great chances to make it to the NHL.
I don't think he is that far away. This guy is probably as close to making the NHL as Rieder, maybe one year behind him. Draisaitl is an exceptional talent and not only for a German. He has the body, he has the skills, his skating seems to come along nicely and his game seems well suited for the pros.
Niederbergers numbers do also look great, so we should keep an eye on him.
Everybody is picking on his size, but he is so damn fast and athletic. I don't actually think he will make it to the NHL, but not because of a lack of talent, more due to a lack of opportunity. But I am sure he will become one of the better German goaltenders. And we have some good ones.
I also think Marcel Noebels has a decent chance to make the NHL as a big third line winger who can provide some secondary scoring. On a bad team he could play in the top 6 and show off his goal scoring prowess.
With the rest of the CHL guys it is hard to tell. Frederik Tiffels will be going the NCAA route and that is really hard to predict. From his game I think he could be a servicable bottom 6 player, but more likely I see him returning to Europe after he finishes is NCAA stint.
Kahun has enough skill to make it to the NHL, but we will have to wait and see if he has the toughness to compensate for his lack of size. I expect a big step forward from him next year.
I don't think Laub, Latta or Cüpper have a realistic shot to make it, but Uvira might have a chance. The trade to Plymouth really helped him a lot, and he has a good chance of being signed at least by an AHL team after this season, and maybe work his way up from there. I think he has been very underrated for long time.