The 18-year-old prospect is a smart, two-way defenseman with tremendous size that should attract the Philadelphia Flyers attention with the 11th pick.
Moritz Seider is a 6’4, 207-pound defensive prospect who hails from Zell (Mosel), Germany. He loves using his body to break up plays and punish opposing attackers but has more than just a physical style of game in his skill set. The German blue-liner can also chip in on offense when needed, finding solid success in international and Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).
Seider netted six points (2 Goals, 4 Assists) in 29 games with Adler Mannheim in DEL, which earned him the league’s Rookie of the Year award. These numbers may not seem overly impressive, but it’s worth noting that he’s 18 and already playing in Germany’s top hockey league amongst men. Teenage prospects don’t usually dominate their competition in their first season unless they’re considered to be a Top-5 talent, which Seider isn’t, and it takes time for them to adjust to the ways of the league. Again, he was still the best rookie the DEL had to offer, showing he could more than hang with other DEL players.
The bulking defenseman found more success on the international stage, posting 13 points (1 Goal, 12 Assists) in 12 games with Germany’s Under-20 squad and was able to make his home country’s 2019 IIHF World Championship roster, too. Seider scored two goals in five games with the Germans during the tournament, helping the team reach the quarterfinals stage, where they fell to the Czech Republic.
Seider is an adequate skater for his stature, possessing good acceleration on both the front and back skate. He uses that skating along with quality stick-handling to move the puck up the ice and carry it through all three zones if needed. His passing ability is arguably the best aspect of his offensive game, seeing the ice very well for a d-man whether it’s on the rush or while cycling in the zone. Seider also has a sneaky good wrist shot that he can get off at a quick rate and keeps it low for a higher chance of getting deflected by a teammate in front of the net.
Defensively, as I mentioned before, Seider utilizes his body to separate attackers from the puck whether it’s stapling them to the boards or applying a big hit in the open ice. His nature to lay the boom can sometimes come back to bite the 6’4 blue-liner, as it’ll leave him out of position to set up a play for the opposition. He’s definitely a work in progress when it comes to where he has to be in his own zone, but should be able to become more disciplined as he gets older.
Seider is more of a project type prospect, but the upside is there. The Philadelphia Flyers have the time to wait on his development with a young defensive core currently in the NHL and should consider taking Seider at 11 for that reason.