It is too bad that they will be missing their standout players like Stützle, Reichel and Peterka, because this should be a solid group, although still clearly outmatched at this level.
So I doubt they will have any chance to avoid the relegation round without those three, but by our standards the depth is not bad.
It's an opportunity for a lot of other guys to step up. Going to be very, very tough though.
We have two good, albeit not exceptional, goalies with Bugl and Quapp.
Should be very interesting to see if they're up to the task. If either could steal just one win in that preliminary round, that could mean everything.
We also have a surprisingly deep blueline. I would say Glötzl and Münzenberger are the obvious top pair, but the drop off to guys like Suber, Dziambor, Stowasser and Geibel is not as big as it has been in the past.
I'd even expect Klein, Menner, and Pilu - and perhaps Hafenrichter - to be in that mix, perhaps ahead of Gebiel and Stowasser.
Interesting, however, that if Klein were to be in the fold, he'd be the only Dman from the U18 WC to be part of the WJC squad.
And even without Stützle, Peterka and Reichel there would still be a few decent forwards on this team. Blank really impressed me last season and can hopefully build on that, Dubé had a good tournament last year, Florian Elias should be the top forward on the team, Samanski, Borzecki and Volek are alright and then we will have to wait and see which of the younger (03 and 04) players will challange for spots.
I'm very excited about Blank becoming part of this group and I'm very much hoping that Leonhardt starts showing the international hockey community what he's capable of. I really expect him to be one of the key factors by the time the tournament takes place.
Borzecki has much to prove while Samanski is becoming exciting, especially if his DEL season has him looking more like Wohlgemuth than Brunnhuber.
You would expect Roßmy and Hänelt as well as Lutz and Kechter to be in the mix, and maybe the Heigl twins, Cimmerman or Proske. But overall it will be especially difficult for younger players to make the team this season, because many of them did not play and could not even have team practices last season, while the older players for the most part were able to play in the pro leagues, and the 02 group is one of the strongest and deepest we have had in a while.
Nonetheless, exactly the kids you mention could all be better than a number of the players who we'll be seeing at the Summer Challenge in Füssen. If either of Rossmy or Hänelt, much less both, are drafted, then I can't see them being left off the squad.
Lutz and Kechter are arguably Germany's top prospects for the 2022 draft, so strong fall showings will have them at the WJC.
All in all it could be a solid team. Again, I don't think they will avoid last place in their group, but if you look back at past teams and remove the top three players you would end up with a worse team than this one, most of the time.
As things are now, it's hard to imagine that this team will be able to do much, or anything, on the power play while also having a real hard time shutting down the offensive waves that the top opponents will be able to throw on the ice.
As much as a kid like Elias can be a big plus for this team, he compliments better players. Who are those players going to be?
I can only imagine that some combination of Lutz, Hänelt, and Kechter will have to be ready to replace a good 75% of what last year's squad got from Stützle and Peterka.
Who knows though - maybe someone completely unexpected will step up this fall and force his way onto the team?
Maybe it'll be a kid like Niedenz or van Calster?