U18: Hlinka - Team Germany Roster

[Maverick41]

For now this is the German roster for this years' Hlinka tournament:

Pos.	Name	First Name	Team 2023/24	DOB (mm-dd-yyyy)
GK	Elagin	Michail	Jungadler Mannheim	01-08-2006
GK	Neiße	Lennart	Kitchener Junior Rangers	09-14-2006
DF	Ficenec	Jacob	Jungadler Mannheim	02-20-2006
DF	Händel	Carlos	Malmö Redhawks	03-31-2007
DF	Hahn	Noah	Iserlohner EC	10-04-2006
DF	Hense	Max	Kölner EC	03-01-2006
DF	Kaiser	Rio	Eisbären Berlin / Lausitzer Füchse	10-07-2006
DF	Merkl	Maximilian	EHC 80 Nürnberg / Nürnberg Ice Tigers	06-27-2006
DF	Schams	Manuel	Jungadler Mannheim	01-26-2006
DF	Serikow	Finn	EV Landshut	11-16-2006
FW	Nikolas	Biggins	Jungadler Mannheim	06-02-2006
FW	Griva	Gustavs	Jungadler Mannheim	06-08-2007
FW	Griva	Rihards	Jungadler Mannheim	06-08-2007
FW	Herzog	Max	Jungadler Mannheim	04-27-2006
FW	Kerbel	Felix	Jungadler Mannheim	05-08-2006
FW	Lewandowski	David	Düsseldorfer EG	02-20-2007
FW	Maul	Nick	Red Bull Hockey Akademie	04-09-2006
FW	Oswald	Maximilian	EV Landshut	03-31-2006
FW	Pul	Elias	Red Bull Hockey Akademie	05-15-2006
FW	Sager	Clemens	Eisbären Juniors Berlin	02-10-2006
FW	Seeger	Clemens	Krefelder EV 81	09-17-2006
FW	Seidl	Simon	EV Landshut	06-04-2006
FW	Schwarz	Tobias	EV Landshut	04-05-2006

Pretty young but very promising roster for Germany.
So far it is missing Dustin Willhöft, who should be on this team in my opinion.

We'll see if any changes will be made before the tournament starts.

Click to read more...

 

[Speyer]

Lots of underagers, which you don't see too often in this tournament. Would you consider the German 07s an above average birth year?

 

[Maverick41]

Lots of underagers, which you don't see too often in this tournament. Would you consider the German 07s an above average birth year?

So, not sure exactly how good they will turn out, but at this point of their development the 07s are significantly above average for Germany and I would say they blow every birth year except 95 and 02 out of the water (since 95 when I really started following our prospects).

But they have to keep it up. I am very excited how they will look here. It's been a few months since I have seen most of them play.
Up until now 07 looks like a year with both high end talent and considerable depths. For context, in recent years, once I first got to see a new crop, I had maybe 6-8 guys I would consider interesting enough to follow a little closer. With the 07s I had about 20 that soon increased to 25-30.

Maybe it's the contrast to the weak 03s, 04s and 05s, but I am very excited about this group. Hopefully they will justify this with a solid performance at the Hlinka, although as you say, you don't see this many underagers often, and it will be quite the ask of these kids to keep up with teams that are not only usually more skilled but also older. Should be a great experience for the kids, though.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Willhöft is quite the omission, especially since they’re taking Späth who is clearly inferior.

Other than that, it’s a good looking roster.

 

[pgfan66]

So, not sure exactly how good they will turn out, but at this point of their development the 07s are significantly above average for Germany and I would say they blow every birth year except 95 and 02 out of the water (since 95 when I really started following our prospects).

But they have to keep it up. I am very excited how they will look here. It's been a few months since I have seen most of them play.
Up until now 07 looks like a year with both high end talent and considerable depths. For context, in recent years, once I first got to see a new crop, I had maybe 6-8 guys I would consider interesting enough to follow a little closer. With the 07s I had about 20 that soon increased to 25-30.

Maybe it's the contrast to the weak 03s, 04s and 05s, but I am very excited about this group. Hopefully they will justify this with a solid performance at the Hlinka, although as you say, you don't see this many underagers often, and it will be quite the ask of these kids to keep up with teams that are not only usually more skilled but also older. Should be a great experience for the kids, though.

The only thing that makes me approach this season with caution in regards to the 07s is that the 03-05 and maybe even 06 groups were really, really bad. So the 07s will automatically look like the next great generation even if they were only slightly above average.

That said, I'm very excited to follow these guys for the next couple of years because I fully agree with you – there are tons of interesting names there.

 

[Maverick41]

The only thing that makes me approach this season with caution in regards to the 07s is that the 03-05 and maybe even 06 groups were really, really bad. So the 07s will automatically look like the next great generation even if they were only slightly above average.

That said, I'm very excited to follow these guys for the next couple of years because I fully agree with you – there are tons of interesting names there.

Agreed. Aside from the ones currently on the roster and Willhöft who should be there as well, there are also Max Bleicher, Elias Schneider, Nikita Kessler and to a slightly lesser degree Maxim Schäfer or the Kose twins, and that's off the top of my head, without checking my notes.

Will this turn into some spectacular group like the 02s? Who knows, but usually we have 1-3 guys we really have to hope pan out to get at least some decent players down the road. In this case there are so many that I really like the odds of maybe a handful of them turning into NHL level talent or at least high end DEL/European talent that could contribute to the national team for years to come.

And while this is not really the place for it, I am also getting more and more excited about the 08s. There might be some gems there.

 

[pgfan66]

A few 06 names I'm particularly interested to see:

D Max Merkl
Spent most of the past season in third-tier U20, which is glorified U20 beer league. But he also has some pro games, didn't look out of place there, and his coach in Nuremberg raved about him. Very good skater but not a ton of skill for a smaller/average-sized D. Could be anything from Panocha level to "bust".

D Max Hense
Was my favourite 06 going into last season but didn't make the jump to U20 full time. Usually that means he isn't good enough to be a real difference-maker, but I still like the upside with him. I do wonder if he'll stay with Krefeld or maybe finds a better program to develop at a higher level. Now would be the time. On a related note, I'm surprised his Krefeld team mate and frequent D partner Matthias Pape isn't on the roster.

D Rio Kaiser
I really didn't like him when I saw him in Salzburg but now that he was picked in the CHL Import Draft I'm very curious to see if he's actually good enough to play at that level.

F Elias Pul
One of the best players at the U18s for me. Great hustle and energy, quick skating and flashes of skill.

F Tobias Schwarz & Simon Seidl
Just going to group these two together as they both spent the past year obliterating the U17 league with EV Landshut. Generally, the fact they spent the whole year in U17 should indicate they aren't that good. But you don't put up 113 and 111 points in 34 and 33 games, respectively, if you aren't that good. From U17 to Hlinka will be a huge jump but they probably should've got more DNL time last season already.

F Clemens Sager
Watched a couple Berlin games last season to see Panocha and Sager looked quite promising for an 06. Likely not a high-end prospect either but I liked his IQ and he showed flashes of skill.

F Clemens Seeger
Probably not a serious prospect but he's big and skates well, which is always intriguing for a center. Just a guy I'll be keeping an eye on.

A couple players I'm somewhat surprised aren't there (or at least could've seen making it): D Matthias Pape, F Maxi Brunner, F Niko Biggins, F Tim Schütz.

 

[pgfan66]

Added jersey numbers to @Maverick41's roster list:

#	Pos.	Name	First Name	Team 2023/24	DOB (mm-dd-yyyy)
30	GK	Elagin	Michail	Jungadler Mannheim	01-08-2006
29	GK	Neiße	Lennart	Kitchener Junior Rangers	09-14-2006
24	DF	Ficenec	Jacob	Jungadler Mannheim	02-20-2006
7	DF	Händel	Carlos	Malmö Redhawks	03-31-2007
18	DF	Hahn	Noah	Iserlohner EC	10-04-2006
8	DF	Hense	Max	Kölner EC	03-01-2006
17	DF	Kaiser	Rio	Eisbären Berlin / Lausitzer Füchse	10-07-2006
19	DF	Merkl	Maximilian	EHC 80 Nürnberg / Nürnberg Ice Tigers	06-27-2006
6	DF	Schams	Manuel	Jungadler Mannheim	01-26-2006
21	DF	Serikow	Finn	EV Landshut	11-16-2006
28	FW	Griva	Gustavs	Jungadler Mannheim	06-08-2007
26	FW	Griva	Rihards	Jungadler Mannheim	06-08-2007
5	FW	Herzog	Max	Jungadler Mannheim	04-27-2006
13	FW	Kerbel	Felix	Jungadler Mannheim	05-08-2006
12	FW	Lewandowski	David	Düsseldorfer EG	02-20-2007
14	FW	Maul	Nick	Red Bull Hockey Akademie	04-09-2006
22	FW	Oswald	Maximilian	EV Landshut	03-31-2006
9	FW	Pul	Elias	Red Bull Hockey Akademie	05-15-2006
11	FW	Sager	Clemens	Eisbären Juniors Berlin	02-10-2006
20	FW	Seeger	Clemens	Krefelder EV 81	09-17-2006
27	FW	Seidl	Simon	EV Landshut	06-04-2006
25	FW	Schwarz	Tobias	EV Landshut	04-05-2006
10	FW	Späth Mariscal	Mateu	EC Bad Tölz	02-20-2007

 

[Maverick41]

A few 06 names I'm particularly interested to see:

D Max Merkl
Spent most of the past season in third-tier U20, which is glorified U20 beer league. But he also has some pro games, didn't look out of place there, and his coach in Nuremberg raved about him. Very good skater but not a ton of skill for a smaller/average-sized D. Could be anything from Panocha level to "bust".

D Max Hense
Was my favourite 06 going into last season but didn't make the jump to U20 full time. Usually that means he isn't good enough to be a real difference-maker, but I still like the upside with him. I do wonder if he'll stay with Krefeld or maybe finds a better program to develop at a higher level. Now would be the time. On a related note, I'm surprised his Krefeld team mate and frequent D partner Matthias Pape isn't on the roster.

D Rio Kaiser
I really didn't like him when I saw him in Salzburg but now that he was picked in the CHL Import Draft I'm very curious to see if he's actually good enough to play at that level.

F Elias Pul
One of the best players at the U18s for me. Great hustle and energy, quick skating and flashes of skill.

F Tobias Schwarz & Simon Seidl
Just going to group these two together as they both spent the past year obliterating the U17 league with EV Landshut. Generally, the fact they spent the whole year in U17 should indicate they aren't that good. But you don't put up 113 and 111 points in 34 and 33 games, respectively, if you aren't that good. From U17 to Hlinka will be a huge jump but they probably should've got more DNL time last season already.

F Clemens Sager
Watched a couple Berlin games last season to see Panocha and Sager looked quite promising for an 06. Likely not a high-end prospect either but I liked his IQ and he showed flashes of skill.

F Clemens Seeger
Probably not a serious prospect but he's big and skates well, which is always intriguing for a center. Just a guy I'll be keeping an eye on.

A couple players I'm somewhat surprised aren't there (or at least could've seen making it): F Maxi Brunner, F Max Herzog, F Niko Biggins, F Tim Schütz.

Just a couple of quick comments:

• Rio Kaiser: I have heard that he has improved a bit, especially towards the end of the season. Really hop he figures it out. The physical tools are there obviously, but as someone who is also fairly tall, I can telly you coordination can be problem for a long time, in particular when you have a couple of growth spurts in a short amount of time.
• Max Herzog: His is on the list
• Maxi Brunner and Tim Schütz I would also have expected them to be there. Who knows maybe some of them will join later. They may just have to work some things out with their teams in Sweden/Canada before they can join the team. I know Händel and Neiße are already there, but it is still 3 weeks until the tournament. So, I would say some changes are likely to be made.

 

[Maverick41]

Roster update from yesterday. Nikolas Biggins was added and replaces Mateu Späth.

Still no Dustin Willhöft or Tim Schütz.

 

[pgfan66]

So I guess this is our annual “these guys aren’t actually as good as we thought”? I mean, all of us here have come down pretty hard on the 06 group already, but seeing them play at the Hlinka along with the 07s who are also struggling quite a bit…. Not a whole lot to get excited about right now.

Especially defensively they’ve looked really bad. Too slow to defend rushes, too weak to win battles, too little awareness to cover the slot. It’s crazy how easy it is for opponents to set up shots right in front of the net.