AWhen he stepped in front of the camera at the beginning of the week, Leon Draisaitl had to comment again on his compatriot Tim Stützle, who some believe will one day be as good as the current best German ice hockey player. The man from Cologne has done that many times: Whenever the two Germans meet in the North American elite league NHL, it’s a nice story for the media – and that has often been the case recently.
“I’ve seen enough of him,” Draisaitl said jokingly: “We played against them nine times in one season alone.” That was the 2020/21 season, in which there were many changes due to the corona pandemic. But a lot has happened since then – and those who don’t have to play against Stützle are more likely to position themselves on the side of those who just can’t get enough of him.
The striker, trained in Krefeld and Mannheim, is playing his third season for the Ottawa Senators – and has made a big leap in his development: Since January 1, only Connor McDavid (24) and Draisaitl (23) have scored more goals in the league than Stützle (22 ) achieved. His two goals in the 6-3 loss to Draisaitl’s Edmonton Oilers broke the club record for most goals in the first three seasons (68th). And there are still 15 main round games left. 34 goals and 39 assists (73 points) put Stützle in 20th place in the top scorer list.
Formidable Technik
His team is in transition. Draisaitl, who scored twice himself against Ottawa, scored 77 points in his third season – that’s a similar figure, but he only turned 21 in January and was a little younger than Draisaitl at the time.
In Ottawa, they saw it coming that Stützle could be a center player who could lead the front row, direct the game. Stützle impresses with a formidable technique, a precise finish and benefits from his mobility. The Senators selected him third in round one of the 2020 NHL draft. Quite a few now call his commitment a “steal”, which translates as something like a bargain. Last summer, Ottawa tied him for eight years.
Stützle received the highest-paying contract in club history: $ 66.8 million. Doesn’t sound like a bargain at first, but it could become one. “It would be great if things continued like this,” says Stützle, who doesn’t seem to be one whose head could be turned by success. He tries to work hard in the summer and keep getting better, he says: “I’m feeling very good right now, I’m getting more and more self-confident and I want the puck more.”
For German ice hockey, Stützle’s enormous development is good and bad at the same time. Advertising for the sport on the one hand. On the other hand, at the end of February, Stützle left open whether he would be at the World Cup in May if his team didn’t play in the play-offs. He just wanted to see how he felt after the season.
The NHL comes first for many top players. After three defeats in a row, the team is currently six points behind a play-off position. It is quite possible that this will be the case less and less in the future if the squad around Stützle is specifically strengthened. The 21-year-old is said to be the new face of the Senators, a so-called franchise player – and could be absent from major national team tournaments more often if he does well.
His coach DJ Smith praises Stützle, but also says that there is room for improvement. “To be an elite center, you need the whole package: faceoffs, outnumbered, outnumbered – and you have to do that in every game against the best on the ice,” says Smith: “If you can do that, you’ve reached the next level .” Stützle is not far away from that.
