According to sports director Christian Künast, the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) is working on top star Leon Draisaitl’s participation in the current World Championships in Finland and Latvia. The 27-year-old striker was eliminated from the NHL playoffs with the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday evening (local time).
“There are a lot of things to do. We are very meticulous in the background. We are prepared for everything,” said Künast on Monday before the group game against the USA in Tampere, Finland, on MagentaSport. Künast left open whether he had already had contact with Draisaitl. “If there is anything to report, we will report it,” he said.
Should Draisaitl decide to travel to Finland and want to help the DEB selection, he would probably not be available until the end of the week. Künast had previously said that using Draisaitl for a game would also be worthwhile.
“If he can come, he will help every team in the world,” said Künast: “My statement was that Leon would also be worth a game, then I mean a decisive one – be it a quarter-finals or another game.” Quarterfinals is the minimum goal of the German team. For this, the Germans have to be at least fourth in their group.
There are currently three NHL pros in national coach Harold Kreis’ World Cup squad: top defender Moritz Seider (Detroit Red Wings) and the two forwards John-Jason Peterka (Buffalo Sabers) and Nico Sturm (San Jose Sharks). From the second-rate AHL, defenders Kai Wissmann (Providence Bruins) and Leon Gawanke (Manitoba Moose) are also there for the first time in the USA game.
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