After eight seasons, David Wolf will not be returning to Adler Mannheim next season
Last week, Adler Mannheim was eliminated in the DEL quarterfinals by Eisbären Berlin. On Tuesday, the club announced that veteran winger David Wolf will not be returning next season.
Wolf, 34, is a product of Mannheim’s Jungadler (Young Eagles) youth hockey program and, after several seasons away, returned to his maternal club in 2016 and has played there ever since. In that time, he has played over 400 competitive games with Die Adler and was a key member of the team’s 2019 DEL championship. He was an alternate captain from 2018 to 2023.
Wolf’s only season in North America was 2014-15, recording 38 points in 59 AHL games with the Adirondack Flames. He also appeared three times in the regular season and once in the playoffs with Calgary in the NHL.
Internationally, Wolf has played sporadically with the German national team, and was notably a member of the 2018 Olympic team that won silver in PyeongChang.
David is the son of Manfred Wolf, who was born in Aurora, Ontario and played junior hockey there before playing professionally in Germany from 1978 to 1994, including nine seasons in Mannheim.
“David wears his heart on his sleeve, and his dedication and commitment were evident every night. He proudly carried on his father’s legacy of fighting for every inch of ice,” Mannheim head coach and sports manager Dallas Eakins said in the club’s announcement. “He was always an inspiration with his commitment to our community and the Jungadler. The Wolf family will always be a part of our organization.”
At 34 years of age, Wolf presumably has more hockey left in him, and it remains to be seen where he lands next season. This past season, he scored 12 goals and added nine assists in 45 DEL regular-season games and added four points in seven playoff games. Wolf also had seven points in eight Champions Hockey League games for Mannheim this season.
This season, Mannheim finished seventh in the DEL standings, then beat the Nuremberg Ice Tigers two straight in a best-of-three play-in series before bowing to Berlin four games to one.