The German roster for the upcoming World Junior Championship has been announced, and it includes top prospect Tim Stuetzle. The Ottawa Senators pick is still recovering from hand surgery but is hopeful to recover in time to take part in the tournament. Notably, however, Stuetzle won’t be joined by countryman and Detroit Red Wings prospect Moritz Seider. Selected sixth overall in 2019, Seider would have arguably been the team’s most important player after captaining the German squad a year ago. The Red Wings have decided to not release him to the German team, however, instead keeping him in Sweden playing for Rogle and available to return to Detroit for NHL training camp.
Seider, 19, is one of the top defense prospects in the entire world. Even at the age of 18, he found success in the AHL, scoring 22 points in 49 games for the Grand Rapids Griffins. He now has seven points in eight games in the SHL and could potentially make the Red Wings roster as soon as this season. The 6’4″ right-handed shot defenseman can do a little bit of everything and is one of several high-end prospects that will be arriving to help Detroit in the next few years.
Without him, it will certainly be difficult for the Germans. The team does however still have Stuetzle, Lukas Reichel, and John Peterka, all high picks in this year’s draft, meaning they’ll at least have some interesting offensive firepower to watch. One player who will likely benefit from the absence of Seider is Luca Munzenberger, the 17-year-old defenseman that was named to the squad. Munzenberger doesn’t turn 18 until later this month and is eligible for selection in the 2021 draft.
I know the WJC is just a brief tournament in the grand scheme of things, but I believe many NHL teams underestimate its value as a confidence-booster for developing young players. Nothing warms the blood quite like competing for your country against the world’s best in your age class. If the Wings were a Cup contender next year and needed every win they could get, then maybe there’s a reasonable justification there. But… lol
Honestly the kid is getting just as much confidence playing against men in the AHL last season and the SHL this season which is far more valuable in terms of confidence boosting when you are doing as well as he is. Maybe if he was struggling it would be beneficial but he is doing great things right now right where he’s at. Plus the injury factor could play a role in the decision making too.
A couple of things come to mind with this case – one, did Stevie Y. think that this won’t help his development, or is it about injury concerns? Two, as @deadthings pointed out, it does pump the kids’ tires to be able to play what is usually a best-on-best tournament for your country. That’s a good thing, but maybe not during COVID times (?). Is there fear that the WJC bubble won’t go as well as the NHL bubble? This GM oozes cred, so it’s hard to just say this is a terrible decision, but I’d love to know what the reasoning is.
Especially in light of how disappointed he was personally to be left off the ’87 and ’91 Canada Cup rosters. Although he did use that disappointment to transfer his game into being a more complete 200-foot player, so maybe he’s banking on the motivational capacity of disappointment? Ugh – tough love!
I know more but some GM’s are not fans of “international competitions.” So much so that draft choices ask to be allowed to play in the pre draft interview.
When Leon Rochefort’s son makes the club (I know he’s a D) ahead of you,it makes you wonder.
I am shocked as it’s Germany and not CDN.
Honestly the kid is getting just as much confidence playing against men in the AHL last season and the SHL this season which is far more valuable in terms of confidence boosting when you are doing as well as he is. Maybe if he was struggling it would be beneficial but he is doing great things right now right where he’s at. Plus the injury factor could play a role in the decision making too.