List of German players in the NHL
The list of German players in the NHL contains all ice hockey players with German nationality who have played at least one game in the regular season of the North American National Hockey League , which is considered the best professional league in the world.
Walt Tkaczuk was the first German-born NHL player. However, he only has Canadian citizenship. He played in the NHL from 1968 to 1981. The history of the Germans in the NHL goes back to 1978 when Bernhard Englbrecht and Gerd Truntschka were drafted. However, both players were never used in the NHL. In 1981, Udo Kießling was the first player with German citizenship to play in the highest North American professional league. Despite a contract offer, however, Kießling returned to the Bundesliga . The first German player who was finally used regularly in the NHL was Uli Hiemer , who moved to the New Jersey Devils in 1984 and played for them until 1987. The most successful German players in the National Hockey League so far are Uwe Krupp and Tom Kühnhackl , who each won the Stanley Cup twice . However, Krupp was never able to win an individual award from the league during his playing days. Goalkeeper Olaf Kölzig was the first German to receive the award for best goalkeeper in 2000 .
The following list includes all German NHL players, even if German citizenship was only accepted after their time in the National Hockey League, for example alongside the Canadian.
Alphabetical listing
Abbreviations: Nat = nationality / s, Pos = position, GP = games, G = goals, A = assists , Pts = points, PIM = penalty minutes, G = goalkeeper , D = defender , C = center , W = wing, F = Striker, RW = right wing, LW = left wing
Explanation: The top line shows the games in the regular season, the bottom line shows the number of playoff games. The statistics of the players currently still active in the NHL are updated after the regular season 2019/20 .
Players with a green background were in the squad of an NHL franchise in the 2019/20 season .
| Surname | Nat | Item | Date of birth | GP | G | A. | Pts | PIM | NHL teams | current team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan Benda |  |
D. | April 28, 1972 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6th | Washington Capitals (1997-1998) | End of career |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Lean miner |
|
D. | October 4, 1998 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4th | San Jose Sharks (since 2019) | San Jose Sharks |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Sven Butenschön |  |
D. | March 22, 1976 | 140 | 2 | 12 | 14th | 86 |
Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–2001) Edmonton Oilers (2001–2002) New York Islanders (2002–2004) Vancouver Canucks (2005–2006) |
End of career |
| 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Mike Card | |
D. | February 18, 1986 | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Buffalo Sabers (2006-2007) | EC Bad Nauheim |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Leon Draisaitl |
|
C. | October 27, 1995 | 422 | 168 | 254 | 422 | 144 | Edmonton Oilers (since 2014) | Edmonton Oilers |
| 13 | 6th | 10 | 16 | 19th | ||||||
| Christian Ehrhoff |
|
D. | July 6, 1982 | 789 | 74 | 266 | 340 | 517 |
San Jose Sharks (2004–2009) Vancouver Canucks (2009–2011) Buffalo Sabers (2011–2014) Pittsburgh Penguins (2014–2015) Los Angeles Kings (2015–2016) Chicago Blackhawks (2016) |
End of career |
| 73 | 7th | 27 | 34 | 64 | ||||||
| Ron Fischer | |
D. | April 12, 1959 | 18th | 0 | 7th | 7th | 6th | Buffalo Sabers (1981–1983) | End of career |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Karl Friesen |
|
G | June 30, 1958 | 4th | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | New Jersey Devils (1986-1987) | End of career |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Robby Geale | |
C. | April 17, 1962 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1984–1985) | End of career |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Marcel Goc |
|
C. | August 24, 1983 | 636 | 75 | 113 | 188 | 157 |
San Jose Sharks (2003–2009) Nashville Predators (2009–2011) Florida Panthers (2011–2013) Pittsburgh Penguins (2013–2015) St. Louis Blues (2015) |
Adler Mannheim |
| 63 | 5 | 10 | 15th | 14th | ||||||
| Sascha Goc |
|
D. | April 14, 1979 | 22nd | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4th |
New Jersey Devils (2000-2001) Tampa Bay Lightning (2001-2002) |
End of career |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Erich Goldmann |
|
D. | April 7, 1976 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ottawa Senators (1999-2000) | End of career |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Thomas Greiss |
|
G | January 29, 1986 | 282 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
San Jose Sharks (2007–2013) Phoenix Coyotes (2013–2014) Pittsburgh Penguins (2014–2015) New York Islanders (since 2015) |
New York Islanders |
| 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Philipp Grubauer |
|
G | November 25, 1991 | 174 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Washington Capitals (2013–2018) Colorado Avalanche (since 2018) |
Colorado Avalanche |
| 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Dany Heatley | |
LW | January 21, 1981 | 869 | 372 | 419 | 791 | 620 |
Atlanta Thrashers (2002-2005) Ottawa Senators (2005-2009) San Jose Sharks (2009-2011) Minnesota Wild (2011-2014) Anaheim Ducks (2015) |
End of career |
| 77 | 16 | 47 | 63 | 63 | ||||||
| Jochen Hecht |
|
C. | June 21, 1977 | 833 | 186 | 277 | 463 | 458 |
St. Louis Blues (1998–2001) Edmonton Oilers (2001–2002) Buffalo Sabers (2002–2013) |
End of career |
| 59 | 14th | 18th | 32 | 24 | ||||||
| Mike Heidt | |
C. | 4th November 1963 | 6th | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7th | Los Angeles Kings (1983-1984) | End of career |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Uli Hiemer |
|
D. | September 21, 1962 | 143 | 19th | 54 | 73 | 176 | New Jersey Devils (1984-1987) | End of career |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Jason Holland | |
D. | April 30, 1976 | 81 | 4th | 5 | 9 | 36 |
New York Islanders (1996–1998) Buffalo Sabers (1998–2000) Los Angeles Kings (2001–2004) |
End of career |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Korbinian Holzer |
|
D. | February 16, 1988 | 206 | 6th | 21st | 27 | 139 |
Toronto Maple Leafs (2010–2015) Anaheim Ducks (2015–2020) Nashville Predators (since 2020) |
Nashville Predators |
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18th | ||||||
| Steve Junker | |
RW | June 26, 1972 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New York Islanders (1993–1994) | End of career |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Dominik Kahun | |
C. | July 2nd 1995 | 138 | 25th | 43 | 68 | 14th |
Chicago Blackhawks (2018–2019) Pittsburgh Penguins (2019–2020) Buffalo Sabers (since 2020) |
Buffalo Sabers |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Udo Kießling |
|
D. | May 21, 1955 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Minnesota North Stars (1981-1982) | End of career |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Olaf Koelzig |
|
G | April 6, 1970 | 711 | 0 | 17th | 17th | 107 |
Washington Capitals (1989–2008) Tampa Bay Lightning (2008–2009) Toronto Maple Leafs (2009) |
End of career |
| 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8th | ||||||
| Uwe Krupp |
|
D. | June 24, 1965 | 729 | 69 | 212 | 281 | 660 |
Buffalo Sabers (1986–1991) New York Islanders (1986–1991) Québec Nordiques (1994–1995) Colorado Avalanche (1995–1998) Detroit Red Wings (1998–2002) Atlanta Thrashers (2002–2003) |
End of career |
| 81 | 6th | 23 | 29 | 86 | ||||||
| Tom Kühnhackl |
|
LW / RW | January 21, 1992 | 232 | 18th | 36 | 54 | 60 |
Pittsburgh Penguins (2016–2018) New York Islanders (since 2018) |
New York Islanders |
| 55 | 3 | 7th | 10 | 10 | ||||||
| Marcel Müller |
|
C. | July 10, 1988 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (2010-2011) | Cologne Sharks |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Dimitri Pätzold |
|
G | 3rd February 1983 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | San Jose Sharks (2007-2008) | EV Landshut |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Timo Pielmeier |
|
G | July 7, 1989 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Anaheim Ducks (2010-2011) | ERC Ingolstadt |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Tobias Rieder |
|
RW | January 10, 1993 | 434 | 59 | 79 | 138 | 50 |
Arizona Coyotes (2014–2018) Los Angeles Kings (2018) Edmonton Oilers (2018–2019) Calgary Flames (since 2019) |
Calgary Flames |
| 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Chris Schmidt | |
D. | March 1, 1976 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | Los Angeles Kings (2002-2003) | End of career |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Wallace Schreiber | |
RW | April 15, 1962 | 41 | 8th | 10 | 18th | 12 | Minnesota North Stars (1981-1983) | End of career |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Christoph Schubert |
|
D. | 5th February 1982 | 315 | 25th | 47 | 72 | 263 |
Ottawa Senators (2005-2009) Atlanta Thrashers (2009-2010) |
End of career |
| 31 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 34 | ||||||
| Dennis Seidenberg |
|
D. | July 18, 1981 | 859 | 44 | 202 | 246 | 359 |
Philadelphia Flyers (2002–2006) Phoenix Coyotes (2006–2007) Carolina Hurricanes (2007–2009) Florida Panthers (2009–2010) Boston Bruins (2010–2016) New York Islanders (2016–2019) |
End of career |
| 69 | 3 | 18th | 21st | 53 | ||||||
| Marco Sturm |
|
C. | September 8, 1978 | 938 | 242 | 245 | 487 | 446 |
San Jose Sharks (1997–2005) Boston Bruins (2005–2010) Los Angeles Kings (2010–2011) Vancouver Canucks (2011) Washington Capitals (2011) Florida Panthers (2011–2012) |
End of career |
| 68 | 9 | 13 | 22nd | 30th | ||||||
| Nico Sturm |
|
C. | May 3, 1995 | 8th | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Minnesota Wild (since 2019) | Iowa Wild |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Alexander Sulzer |
|
D. | May 30, 1984 | 131 | 7th | 15th | 22nd | 44 |
Nashville Predators (2009–2011) Florida Panthers (2011) Vancouver Canucks (2011–2012) Buffalo Sabers (2012–2014) |
Düsseldorfer EG |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Niklas Treutle |
|
G | April 29, 1991 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Arizona Coyotes (2016) | Nuremberg Ice Tigers |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| John Tripp | |
C. | May 4th 1977 | 43 | 2 | 7th | 9 | 35 |
New York Rangers (2002-2003) Los Angeles Kings (2003-2004) |
End of career |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Stefan Ustorf |
|
C. | 3rd January 1974 | 54 | 7th | 10 | 17th | 16 | Washington Capitals (1995–1997) | End of career |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| David Wolf |
|
LW | September 15, 1989 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Calgary Flames (2014-2015) | Adler Mannheim |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Rob Zepp | |
G | 7th September 1981 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Philadelphia Flyers (2014-2015) | End of career |
| - | - | - | - | - |
statistics
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Records
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Stanley Cup winner
Uwe Krupp was the first German player to win the Stanley Cup . In 1996 he won the trophy with the Colorado Avalanche , in 2002 he repeated the success with the Detroit Red Wings , this time only as a substitute. On his first win, he scored the winning goal for Colorado in overtime of the decisive game.
At the time of the Stanley Cup Final 2011 it was clear that a second German would win the Stanley Cup. In the end, Dennis Seidenberg prevailed with the Boston Bruins against Christian Ehrhoff and the Vancouver Canucks in seven games. Seidenberg impressed with excellent defensive work throughout the playoffs and was on the ice on average 27:37 minutes per game.
In the 2015/2016 season , Tom Kühnhackl won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins , making him the third German Stanley Cup winner. He was able to repeat this success in the following season 2016/2017 .
In the 2017/2018 season , Philipp Grubauer won the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals .
Four players with German citizenship also made it to the Stanley Cup final, but lost there with their team: Olaf Kölzig with the Washington Capitals in 1998 (0: 4 against the Detroit Red Wings), Dany Heatley and Christoph Schubert with the Ottawa Senators in the 2006/07 season (1: 4 against the Anaheim Ducks ) and Christian Ehrhoff with the Vancouver Canucks in 2010/11 (3: 4 against the Boston Bruins ).
NHL All-Star Games
So far, five players with German citizenship have been selected in an NHL All-Star Game . Dany Heatley played three games ( 2003 , 2007 and 2009 ). It was in 2008 nominated a second time for the game, his participation but had to cancel because of a previously had moved injury. Olaf Kölzig took part twice ( 1998 and 2000 ). Uwe Krupp also managed to be nominated twice for such a game, but after his first participation in 1991 he had to cancel the All-Star Game in 1999 due to an injury. Marco Sturm ( 1999 ) also took part in an NHL All-Star Game. In 2019, Leon Draisaitl finally took part in the NHL All-Star Game .
Dennis Seidenberg and Christian Ehrhoff were also nominated for the NHL YoungStars Games 2003 and 2004, respectively, a special all-star game for rookies that is played annually as part of the NHL All-Star Games.
Awards
So far, three players with German citizenship have been recognized for their achievements in the previous season at the annual NHL Awards .
Olaf Kölzig was the first German ever to win a National Hockey League trophy with the Vezina Trophy for the outstanding goalkeeper of the season in 2000, followed in 2006 by the King Clancy Memorial Trophy , which is awarded to NHL players who are both on the ice and have demonstrated leadership and social commitment off the ice. He received this award, as well as the NHL Foundation Player Award for special social commitment in 2001, as the founder of the “Athletes Against Autism” foundation, which is committed to research into autism and the treatment of autistic children. In addition, Kölzig was elected to the NHL First All-Star Team for the 1999/00 season .
Dany Heatley was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as Rookie of the Year for his first NHL season in 2002 , he was also selected for the 2001/02 NHL All-Rookie Team and the 2006/07 NHL First All-Star Team . Heatley was also voted Rookie of the Month for December 2001 and Player of the Week on February 24, 2003. The second player with German nationality to be named NHL Rookie of the Month was Marco Sturm in November 1997.
Thomas Greiss was in season 2018/19 together with Robin Lehner , the William M. Jennings Trophy for the goalkeeper of the team with the fewest goals against.
Team captains
The only German player who has so far been elected team captain by an NHL team was Jochen Hecht in October 2007. After Daniel Brière and Chris Drury left in the summer of 2007, the Buffalo Sabers introduced the principle of rotation for the captaincy, which makes the German the was the first player during the season to hold that post for a month.
Dany Heatley , Christian Ehrhoff , Marcel Goc were temporarily assistant captains of their team. Leon Draisaitl has held this position since the 2019-20 season.
Listed by draft position
The NHL Entry Draft is an annual event of the NHL at which the teams of the league can acquire rights to available amateur and youth players ( to draft = convene, move in). In each round of the draft, each team has a so-called draft pick , which means that you can secure the rights to one player per round. All 18 to 20-year-old North American amateur and youth players are eligible, there is no age limit for Europeans.
Explanation: The fact that a player was drawn in an earlier round but in a later position is due to the fact that the number of selecting teams has increased over the years.
- Explanation:
- Rob Zepp and John Tripp were selected a second time after the draft rights had expired.
Drafted players without NHL use
As early as 1978 , Bernhard Englbrecht (196th) and Gerd Truntschka (200th) were the first Germans to be selected in an NHL draft, but both were never used in the highest North American professional league. Players with German citizenship who have been drafted but never or not yet played in the NHL are included in the following list:
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ kecdiehaie.de, honorary members Kölner Haie - Udo Kießling
- ↑ hockeydb.com, Complete NHL Player List
- ^ Dany Heatley # 15 - LW / RW . TSN. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
- ↑ tsn.ca, Heatley out 4-6 weeks with shoulder injury
- ↑ legendsofhockey.net, profile of Olaf Kölzig
- ↑ Heiko Oldbod: Successor of the extra class. In: Spiegel-Online. January 26, 2019, accessed January 27, 2019 .
- ↑ nhl.com, 2003 Young Stars Rosters
- ↑ espn.go.com, 2004 YoungStars Rosters
- ↑ Autism Light - Olaf Kolzig
- ↑ Greiss and Lehner win the William M. Jennings Trophy . nhl.com. April 7, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
- ↑ ntv.de, Hecht before being appointed captain