Moritz Seider was a dark-horse candidate when the Red Wings took him sixth overall in 2019; here's what appealed to Detroit about his game before he ever even appeared on North American ice

By now, Moritz Seider requires no introduction.  He's won the Calder Trophy, and he's established himself as a legitimate number one defenseman for the Detroit Red Wings by the age of 22.  However, when Steve Yzerman selected him at sixth overall at the 2019 NHL Draft, there was far less certainty around what Seider would prove as a prospect.

Here's a look from the THN Archive at what Kris Draper—the Red Wings' director of amateur scouting—liked about Seider's game before he even appeared in the AHL, much less the NHL.

From the THN Archive: "Scouting Report Moritz Seider" by Ryan Kennedy, October 28, 2019 / Vol. 72, Issue 22

THE DETROIT RED WINGS went with a dark horse at the 2019 NHL draft when they selected Germany’s Moritz Seider sixth overall. Seider was impressive at the Traverse City prospects tournament in September. We talked to Kris Draper, Detroit’s director of amateur scouting, about the big two-way blueliner’s game. Seider will play with AHL Grand Rapids this season.

HOCKEY IQ
"We do like that. He’s a smart player, and he plays the game with his head up. In the transition game, you have to move it right away, and he sees the ice really well. And the one thing I’ve noticed is how hard he passes the puck. For an 18-year-old kid, he snaps his passes. Our player development guys, Shawn Horcoff and Dan Cleary, that’s something they talk to the younger guys about, passing the puck harder. And Moritz gets it. When he sees it, he snaps that puck.”

DEFENSE
"Any 18-year-old defenseman has to continue to improve on that. Sometimes physically, he gets into a battle with players that are four, five, six years older and that’s when he puts himself in a bit of trouble. But he obviously has a good build (6-foot-4), and you know he’s going to get stronger.”

SKATING
"We think he's a very good skater. With his position, there’s a need for mobility and definitely off-the-rush defending. He has good feet and good awareness. When you can get back to pucks quick, it’s going to help on breakouts.”

COMPETE LEVEL
"The first game (in Traverse City) he took a pretty good shot (high hit) from Kirby Dach, and we thought he responded well. Everyone was wondering how that would go. He stayed on the bench, talked to the trainer, and you could see a little fire there. He wanted to get back on the ice, and that’s something you love to see.”

PLAYMAKING
"When you're a smart player with hockey sense and vision, you’re going to be able to make that good first pass. A couple times under pressure, he has shown the ability to make that little pop-out play, which is a huge asset going forward to be a high-end NHL defenseman.”

SHOT
"We like the way he shoots and it comes back to his footwork, how he walks the blueline. He has some deception with the puck and he does a real nice job getting pucks to the net.” ■

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