In-depth comparison Stützle vs Rossi

[Ratatoskr]

This is an excellent in-depth comparative scouting report of Tim Stützle and Marco Rossi by European scout Bernd Freimüller. Very interesting read.

Unfortunately, it's in German, and I'm too lazy to translate it all, but I guess Google translate will help you get the gist of it.

Rossi und Stützle: NHL-Draft-Konkurrenten im Check

In short: Both have the potential to become good NHL forwards. Stützle is the better skater by far. His skating is already world class. Rossi's skating is his biggest weakness. Rossi is more mature defensively. Rossi is more likely to enter the NHL as a center. Stützle might become an NHL center too eventually but might start his NHL career on the wing. Both have very good offensive upside. Rossi should be a bit ahead in pure scoring potential, and might even be second to only Lafreniere in the entire draft class in that regard. Both have good, hard wristers, but both prefer passing to shooting. Stützle's pass timing is excellent, he doesn't overhandle the puck, and he also holds on to the puck under pressure very well.

Click to read more...

 

[Speyer]

Ok I'll try to translate the article it will be a good excercise to practice my englisch:



Tim Stützle and Marco Rossi- both top prospects, both german speakers and both potential dynamic offensive players at the NHL level. Rossi grew up in Feldkirch, where his father used to play for VEU while Stützle is from Viersen near Düsseldorf. What have the two potential top picks for 2020 in common and where lie their differences?


The Junior Careers:

Stützle was a product of the Krefeld Penguins Organisation but joined the Mannheim Hockey Academy at age 15. There he played first in the DNL, before he was promoted to the DEL team in the Summer of 2019, where he quickly established himself as a top six player. Because of this, his commitment to the University of New Hampshire and a potential report to the Seattle Thunderbirds who drafted him in the CHL Import draft were quickly of the table.

While he is not elegible anymore to play in the NCAA, he could still join Seattle next spring since he has a walkaway clause in his three year contract with Mannheim.

Austrian born Marco Rossi took the usual route for all hockey players from Voralberg (Region in Austria): He went from the Dornbirn Bulldogs to their Swiss partner organisation SC Reintal. From there he commited at age 12 to the ZSC Lions organisation, where he played at the U15, U17, U20 and the NLB level. In contrast to Stützle he actually went to North America the year before his draft season. The last two years he played in Ottawa where he has been one of the best players in the CHL.

Stats and Age:

Both players have impressive stat-lines. Rossi could join the Ranks of the best draft eiligible CHL-Scorers of all time, Stütle has already put up the scoring record for 17-year old DEL players. However, NHL-Scout dont care about this. At the end of the day they wont only calculate the ppg to compare Rossi with players like Quinton Byfield and Cole Perfetti to get a final OHL-Ranking.

Also irrelevant is that Stütle is four months younger than Rossi. In general Scouts factor in age (A 19 year old needs to put up better numbers than a 17 year old Rookie to get noticed), however two players from the same draft year are considered the same age. Personal note by me: I disagree with that claim especially if you compare Rossi to a player like Byfield where the age difference is almost a year. There is no way any sane scout would not put a big emphasis on that factor.

It is clear that Rossi wouldnt be able to put his OHL numbers (81 points) in the DEL. Vice versa it could be expected that Stützle would eclipse his ppg-pace he has in the DEL if he played in the CHL. Comparing those numbers with formulas like NHL-E leave the Scouts up to the analytic-guys, since this is not part of their job. In contrast they evaluate and compare prospects with dozens of live viewings and try to predict wich player will have the better NHL career when all is said and done. Evaluating scoring numbers is only one part of this process. But how could the Discussions during the meetings of those Scouts look like? In wich parts is the game of those prospects broken down?

Most important for the Scouts is the future compatibility of a prospects skillset with the NHL. Witch strengths are still effective against older and physically mature players. Witch weaknesses could become a problem later on?

Offensive Upside:

Both Rossi and Stützle will be drafted as dynamic offensive players and not as character guys or pure defensive players. It is very questionable if they have franchise player upside (like Connor McDavid for instance) but they have all the tools to become very good offensive players at the NHL level. I dont think any scout is questioning Marco Rossis offensive upside. In this regard he is probably closest to Alexis Lafreniere, the consensus number one pick in 2020. His hands and hockey iq will without a doubt translate to the NHL. Especially on the powerplay, where he has more space, he will be deadly.

Rossi has the gift to get passes through a number of sticks and skates without making it obivous wich line he will take. A high assist rate at the NHL level should be garanteed if he is put on the first powerplay unit. Unlike many playmakers Rossi isnt afraid to shoot the puck either and is therefore an unpredicatable forward. In Ottawas powerplay system he even plays on the left halfwall, where it is not easy to score as a left handed shooter.

I could imagine that he will play on his off-side in the NHL as well. As a playmaker he can assume every Position on the powerplay unit and can create chances for his teammates from everywhere. What makes him special is the ability to make plays and passes that other players cant even "think". This also aplies for dekes and toe drags against skaters and goalies.

Stützle has great offensive upside too, even though his NHL stats might be slightly behind those of Rossi. I have seen Stützle play at both halfwalls at the World Juniors this year. His passes are hard and accurate - J.J. Peterka could profit from those passes a great deal at the WJC. Stützle has already mastered to not overhandle the puck and to let go of it at the right moment without giving it up blindly. This ability justified his spot on the DEL team at the start of this season. Like Rossi he often prefers passing over shooting if he has both options; both have however a hard wrist shot that leaves their stick in a hurry and makes them dangerous near the slot. Slapshots with big windups from further away shouldnt be expected of either player though, especially since there is not much time for such shots in the NHL anyway.

200 foot game:

In this area Rossi has the advantage as of today, even if you factor in that unlike Stützle he still plays in Juniors, where it is easier to look good. He is always on the right side of the puck and doesnt neglect his defensive responsibilities in favor of cherry picking. He can shift the game with and without the puck towards the opposing goal without having to leave the zone prematurely. This defensive awareness is one of the reasons that Rossi will play as a center in the NHL instead of beeing put on the wing to ease the defensive workload.

Stützle however, still has often problems in his own zone. While he is in right position most of the time, he sometimes tries difficult diagonal stretch passes that can lead to turnovers and he also doesnt clear the zone with enough determination. Those concerns shoudnt be considered red flags but I have seen Stützle at center and wing this season and he seems to translate more as a winger on the NHL level.

Hockey IQ:

This was already touched on before, both prospects are intelligent players that can anticipate and think plays in advance. However, Rossi is what you call a "cerebral player", a highly intelligent player. He just doesnt make any stupid or low percentage plays. Naturally not every pass or play will pan out as intended but with none of his plays scouts will think: "That wasnt a good idea."

Insinct-Player Stützle always reminds me of an untamed Mustang. Unlike Rossi, who often takes his time and slows the game down, he always tries to make fast plays to accelerate the flow of the game. Both playstyles have their advantages and disadvantages and have to be adjusted at the NHL level, but both players have far above average hockey iq's that manifest themselves in different playstyles.

Skating:

In this area Stützle clearly has the upper hand against the Austrian - and that is not a critique of Rossi since this statemant would also be true if you exchanged Rossis name with 99% of the prospects in this draft class. Stützle is already - without fully developed lower body muscles - a world class skater.

I still remember my first Viewing of him at some U16 tournament in August 2017. Already then he could carry the puck at the highest speed through all three zones, skate circles around his opponents and jump over their sticks in a fashion that made it hard for me to comprehend how he did it. Many players have good speed without the puck and are slowed down considerably when they carry it. Stützle doesnt loose any of his speed with the puck on his stick. His U20 teammate Lukas Reichel has similar (not quite as good) acceleration with the puck but what differentiates him from a top tier prospect like Stützle is the latters quickness and agility on side steps and directional changes.

Rossis skating on the other hand is clearly the aspect of his game he needs to step up the most. His improvements in this area over the last few years need to be mentioned too however. His first few steps and his top speed definitley improved. In the NHL his skating could still be a limiting factor though. However: Even John Tavares came into the League as a average skater and was able to improve through hard work year after year. In one aspect of his skating he even has an advantage over Stützle: He is stronger on his skates and has excellent balance. Because of that he is almost never overpowered or lifted of his feet in the OHL. This will also come in handy in the NHL but the future will have to tell if he will be able to create enough seperation from his opponents (through skating) in the big League.

Rossis Skating is, beside his lack of size the only downside to him as a draft pick. But I will abstain from making a final judgement on this regard since it is impossible to fully grasp a players skating skills from a tv-screen.

Physicality:

Like in Europe the influnce of a players size and height grows less and less important in the NHL. The physicality has decresead in North America too, even though some legal cheks in the NHL would still cause european fans and refs to gasp.

According to the Central Scouting Bureau Rossi is five foot, nine inches tall and weighs 183 pounds. He has therefore a firehydrant-bodytype. He is not tall but very strong, especially in his legs and lower body. His height would cost him a few positions in the draft a couple of years ago but those times are over. It makes you however wonder what could have been if Rossis hands, hockey sense and upside would be transfered in the body of his OHL colleague Quinton Byfield. Lafreniere would have to congratulate this frankensteinian counstruct on the first overall selection in the draft. And lets not forget that Rossis body with all his lower body strength is already close to a finished product. He wont be able to add much more muscle mass without becoming shaped like a cube. (This is the actual translation wtf)

Tim Stützle on the other hand has still a lot of physical upside. The CSB lists him at 6'1/187, and he appers to be a bit skinnier thant that from the eye test. He will probably add some muscle mass in both upper and lower body. I would compare his body type to guys like Elias Petterson who will never be a stocky player. But Stützle still struggled in puck battles both at the WJC and the DEL this year and therefore needs to improve in this area.

Closing thoughts:

Both prospects are surefire top 10 candiates. Stützle might hit the rookie wall in the DEL but his performance at the WJC should negate that, if it happens. Rossi hasnt played in international competions this year wich makes him hard to compare to european prospects but he has looked good enough in the OHL so that wont mather either. They are head to head now in draft discussions without a clear favorite for a higher position, but whoever misses out one, will get a chance to draft the other.

 

[tellermine]

Thanks for the info.

 

[waltdetroit]

Ok I'll try to translate the article it will be a good excercise to practice my englisch:



Tim Stützle and Marco Rossi- both top prospects, both german speakers and both potential dynamic offensive players at the NHL level. Rossi grew up in Feldkirch, where his father used to play for VEU while Stützle is from Viersen near Düsseldorf. What have the two potential top picks for 2020 in common and where lie their differences?


The Junior Careers:

Stützle was a product of the Krefeld Penguins Organisation but joined the Mannheim Hockey Academy at age 15. There he played first in the DNL, before he was promoted to the DEL team in the Summer of 2019, where he quickly established himself as a top six player. Because of this, his commitment to the University of New Hampshire and a potential report to the Seattle Thunderbirds who drafted him in the CHL Import draft were quickly of the table.

While he is not elegible anymore to play in the NCAA, he could still join Seattle next spring since he has a walkaway clause in his three year contract with Mannheim.

Austrian born Marco Rossi took the usual route for all hockey players from Voralberg (Region in Austria): He went from the Dornbirn Bulldogs to their Swiss partner organisation SC Reintal. From there he commited at age 12 to the ZSC Lions organisation, where he played at the U15, U17, U20 and the NLB level. In contrast to Stützle he actually went to North America the year before his draft season. The last two years he played in Ottawa where he has been one of the best players in the CHL.

Stats and Age:

Both players have impressive stat-lines. Rossi could join the Ranks of the best draft eiligible CHL-Scorers of all time, Stütle has already put up the scoring record for 17-year old DEL players. However, NHL-Scout dont care about this. At the end of the day they wont only calculate the ppg to compare Rossi with players like Quinton Byfield and Cole Perfetti to get a final OHL-Ranking.

Also irrelevant is that Stütle is four months younger than Rossi. In general Scouts factor in age (A 19 year old needs to put up better numbers than a 17 year old Rookie to get noticed), however two players from the same draft year are considered the same age. Personal note by me: I disagree with that claim especially if you compare Rossi to a player like Byfield where the age difference is almost a year. There is no way any sane scout would not put a big emphasis on that factor.

It is clear that Rossi wouldnt be able to put his OHL numbers (81 points) in the DEL. Vice versa it could be expected that Stützle would eclipse his ppg-pace he has in the DEL if he played in the CHL. Comparing those numbers with formulas like NHL-E leave the Scouts up to the analytic-guys, since this is not part of their job. In contrast they evaluate and compare prospects with dozens of live viewings and try to predict wich player will have the better NHL career when all is said and done. Evaluating scoring numbers is only one part of this process. But how could the Discussions during the meetings of those Scouts look like? In wich parts is the game of those prospects broken down?

Most important for the Scouts is the future compatibility of a prospects skillset with the NHL. Witch strengths are still effective against older and physically mature players. Witch weaknesses could become a problem later on?

Offensive Upside:

Both Rossi and Stützle will be drafted as dynamic offensive players and not as character guys or pure defensive players. It is very questionable if they have franchise player upside (like Connor McDavid for instance) but they have all the tools to become very good offensive players at the NHL level. I dont think any scout is questioning Marco Rossis offensive upside. In this regard he is probably closest to Alexis Lafreniere, the consensus number one pick in 2020. His hands and hockey iq will without a doubt translate to the NHL. Especially on the powerplay, where he has more space, he will be deadly.

Rossi has the gift to get passes through a number of sticks and skates without making it obivous wich line he will take. A high assist rate at the NHL level should be garanteed if he is put on the first powerplay unit. Unlike many playmakers Rossi isnt afraid to shoot the puck either and is therefore an unpredicatable forward. In Ottawas powerplay system he even plays on the left halfwall, where it is not easy to score as a left handed shooter.

I could imagine that he will play on his off-side in the NHL as well. As a playmaker he can assume every Position on the powerplay unit and can create chances for his teammates from everywhere. What makes him special is the ability to make plays and passes that other players cant even "think". This also aplies for dekes and toe drags against skaters and goalies.

Stützle has great offensive upside too, even though his NHL stats might be slightly behind those of Rossi. I have seen Stützle play at both halfwalls at the World Juniors this year. His passes are hard and accurate - J.J. Peterka could profit from those passes a great deal at the WJC. Stützle has already mastered to not overhandle the puck and to let go of it at the right moment without giving it up blindly. This ability justified his spot on the DEL team at the start of this season. Like Rossi he often prefers passing over shooting if he has both options; both have however a hard wrist shot that leaves their stick in a hurry and makes them dangerous near the slot. Slapshots with big windups from further away shouldnt be expected of either player though, especially since there is not much time for such shots in the NHL anyway.

200 foot game:

In this area Rossi has the advantage as of today, even if you factor in that unlike Stützle he still plays in Juniors, where it is easier to look good. He is always on the right side of the puck and doesnt neglect his defensive responsibilities in favor of cherry picking. He can shift the game with and without the puck towards the opposing goal without having to leave the zone prematurely. This defensive awareness is one of the reasons that Rossi will play as a center in the NHL instead of beeing put on the wing to ease the defensive workload.

Stützle however, still has often problems in his own zone. While he is in right position most of the time, he sometimes tries difficult diagonal stretch passes that can lead to turnovers and he also doesnt clear the zone with enough determination. Those concerns shoudnt be considered red flags but I have seen Stützle at center and wing this season and he seems to translate more as a winger on the NHL level.

Hockey IQ:

This was already touched on before, both prospects are intelligent players that can anticipate and think plays in advance. However, Rossi is what you call a "cerebral player", a highly intelligent player. He just doesnt make any stupid or low percentage plays. Naturally not every pass or play will pan out as intended but with none of his plays scouts will think: "That wasnt a good idea."

Insinct-Player Stützle always reminds me of an untamed Mustang. Unlike Rossi, who often takes his time and slows the game down, he always tries to make fast plays to accelerate the flow of the game. Both playstyles have their advantages and disadvantages and have to be adjusted at the NHL level, but both players have far above average hockey iq's that manifest themselves in different playstyles.

Skating:

In this area Stützle clearly has the upper hand against the Austrian - and that is not a critique of Rossi since this statemant would also be true if you exchanged Rossis name with 99% of the prospects in this draft class. Stützle is already - without fully developed lower body muscles - a world class skater.

I still remember my first Viewing of him at some U16 tournament in August 2017. Already then he could carry the puck at the highest speed through all three zones, skate circles around his opponents and jump over their sticks in a fashion that made it hard for me to comprehend how he did it. Many players have good speed without the puck and are slowed down considerably when they carry it. Stützle doesnt loose any of his speed with the puck on his stick. His U20 teammate Lukas Reichel has similar (not quite as good) acceleration with the puck but what differentiates him from a top tier prospect like Stützle is the latters quickness and agility on side steps and directional changes.

Rossis skating on the other hand is clearly the aspect of his game he needs to step up the most. His improvements in this area over the last few years need to be mentioned too however. His first few steps and his top speed definitley improved. In the NHL his skating could still be a limiting factor though. However: Even John Tavares came into the League as a average skater and was able to improve through hard work year after year. In one aspect of his skating he even has an advantage over Stützle: He is stronger on his skates and has excellent balance. Because of that he is almost never overpowered or lifted of his feet in the OHL. This will also come in handy in the NHL but the future will have to tell if he will be able to create enough seperation from his opponents (through skating) in the big League.

Rossis Skating is, beside his lack of size the only downside to him as a draft pick. But I will abstain from making a final judgement on this regard since it is impossible to fully grasp a players skating skills from a tv-screen.

Physicality:

Like in Europe the influnce of a players size and height grows less and less important in the NHL. The physicality has decresead in North America too, even though some legal cheks in the NHL would still cause european fans and refs to gasp.

According to the Central Scouting Bureau Rossi is five foot, nine inches tall and weighs 183 pounds. He has therefore a firehydrant-bodytype. He is not tall but very strong, especially in his legs and lower body. His height would cost him a few positions in the draft a couple of years ago but those times are over. It makes you however wonder what could have been if Rossis hands, hockey sense and upside would be transfered in the body of his OHL colleague Quinton Byfield. Lafreniere would have to congratulate this frankensteinian counstruct on the first overall selection in the draft. And lets not forget that Rossis body with all his lower body strength is already close to a finished product. He wont be able to add much more muscle mass without becoming shaped like a cube. (This is the actual translation wtf)

Tim Stützle on the other hand has still a lot of physical upside. The CSB lists him at 6'1/187, and he appers to be a bit skinnier thant that from the eye test. He will probably add some muscle mass in both upper and lower body. I would compare his body type to guys like Elias Petterson who will never be a stocky player. But Stützle still struggled in puck battles both at the WJC and the DEL this year and therefore needs to improve in this area.

Closing thoughts:

Both prospects are surefire top 10 candiates. Stützle might hit the rookie wall in the DEL but his performance at the WJC should negate that, if it happens. Rossi hasnt played in international competions this year wich makes him hard to compare to european prospects but he has looked good enough in the OHL so that wont mather either. They are head to head now in draft discussions without a clear favorite for a higher position, but whoever misses out one, will get a chance to draft the other.

Thank you for the great translation.
To help you on 1 point:
welche Hexe = which witch

 

[TheMule93]

Marco "The Cube" Rossi