Paige on Adlerfans.de’s message board was kind enough to post the text of an article from Rheinpfalz.de in which sportswriter Oliver Wehner suggests that the Red Wings will find a way to keep Moritz Seider in their system after he takes part in the prospect tournament and main camp this September.
I’m not so sure that there’s room for Seider in Detroit or Grand Rapids, never mind an appetite to press Seider to perform in North America unless he steals a spot from a veteran–or perhaps one of the many youngsters trying to make the Wings’ roster alongside Seider.
Anyway, here’s a rough translation of Wehner’s article:
Ice Hockey: Supertalent Moritz Seider wants to make it in the best league in the world
Detroit. While his Eagles are in Switzerland, already having displayed considerable early form, Moritz Seider is in Detroit, looking on. The Mannheim Supertalent will battle for a starting spot in the best ice hockey league in the world with the Red Wings. These are exciting weeks for the 18-year-old.
The pert teen didn’t fall from above. But when he was picked by the Red Wings extremely early on June 21 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, at the draft, the NHL’s annual “lottery,” he had “shaken all over.” Now his reverence has given way to carefree anticipation, as is predictable given his sunny nature.
“I’ve been here for a few days now, and I feel very well. The training is very tough and exhausting, but it’s a lot of fun,” Seider told RHEINPFALZ while preparing for the prospect tournament for the junior pros of Detroit.
Until then, Seider wants to “live and train with the boys.” But at the same time, he’s looking forward toward the main camp of the Red Wings’ NHL team in mid-September.
“This will be the highlight,” says probably the greatest German ice hockey talent since Leon Draisaitl, and he says: “This is a great time coming up.”
It was clear early on that Seider wasn’t going to take part in the preseason preparation of the Eagles. Unlike San Jose Sharks prospect Lean Bergmann (20 yrs old), who’s played a big role in the first two exhibition games of the German champs in Switzerland, alongside Borna Rendulic and center Jan-Mikael Jarvinen. He won’t leave for California until early September.
Either way, the Adler are relaxed in terms of planning for their two young stars.
“If they make the move to North America, they’ll have earned it,” says GM Jan-Axel Alavaara. “If they don’t make the NHL teams or their farm clubs right away, and return to Mannheim for a season as loaned players, that would be a bonus for the team. Otherwise, you have to develop new players,” says Alavaara, who suggests that the Adler are focused on young forward Tim Stutzle (17): “He could be one of the surprises of the season.”
But back to “Mo” Seider. It’s hard to imagine that someone who put massive pressure on an ice hockey legend like Steve Yzerman, through no fault of his own, wouldn’t be able to do it “over there.” The three-time Stanley Cup winner and GM of the Red Wings, who watched Seider several times in person (including in Mannheim), was under pressure to make a move. “We thought he was one of the best defensemen in the draft,” said Yzerman. “We had picks #6 and #35. We didn’t think he would be available at 35…”
That’s another reason why not many in Mannheim are expecting to see Moritz Seider before next summer–if he spends his home time here after his first North American season. Especially since Seider makes it clear: “I do not want to be asked why I didn’t try to make it right away.”
This is just me talking, but the Wings already have Mike Green, Danny DeKeyser, Jonathan Ericsson, Trevor Daley, Patrik Nemeth and Filip Hronek making the NHL roster…
And Madison Bowey, Dennis Cholowski, Oliwer Kaski, Gustav Lindstrom, Joe Hicketts, Vili Saarijarvi and AHL veterans Brian Lashoff and Dylan McIlrath–that’s eight defensemen–are trying to either snag the #7 defenseman’s spot and/or will play for the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Moritz Seider is an impressive player and a superb prospect, but he’s an 18-year-old who’s got one scrimmage and one 3-on-3 game’s worth of experience on North American ice, and there is absolutely no reason to rush him over here unless he shows that he’s ready.
If you look at Adler Mannheim’s roster, the fact that they’ve got ten Verteidiger (defensemen; and yes, Bjorn Krupp is Uwe Krupp’s son) under contract certainly shows that the team’s ready to play without Seider, but when you look at the Wings’ depth chart and consider the possibility that Niklas Kronwall may still return, you end up with a significant number of roadblocks in the way of Seider earning regular playing time with the Griffins, never mind the Wings.
The Wings’ coaches and management will determine where the best situation is for Seider to play, and while I believe that it’s always important to prepare to be surprised, I am fairly confident that Seider will be playing in Germany for at least one more season.
