06/21/2019 at 11:09pm EDT
from Dana Wakiji of the Wings' website.
Seider was stunned when he heard his name so early in the draft.
"I was shocked for sure. I didn't expect that at all," Seider said. "My whole body was shaking. I looked at my mom (Sabine) and she was so excited. It's been an unreal moment for me."
Yzerman spoke briefly to NBC Sports Network about why they decided Moritz was their guy.
"He's a very good prospect," Yzerman told NBC Sports Network. "We felt the top five kind of went somewhat as we expected, and this next group of players, including Moritz, they're very good prospects. Ultimately, what we liked is he's a a big defenseman who can skate and has excellent hockey sense.
"There's a lot of players to choose from. It wasn't a no-brainer, but we're excited to get him."
more
Below, Detroit's press release on Seider.
DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today selected defenseman Moritz Seider in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Seider spent the 2018-19 season with Adler Mannheim of the Deutsch Eishockey Liga, playing professionally in Germany’s highest league as a 17-year-old en route to winning the league’s Rookie of the Year award. In 29 games with the club, Seider logged six points (2-4-6), a plus-two rating and eight penalty minutes, which marked the second-highest scoring season ever for an under-18 defenseman in the DEL. He also appeared in all 14 postseason games for Mannheim as the team won the DEL championship, contributing five assists. The 6-foot-4, 207-pound defenseman made his professional debut for the same team as a 16-year-old in 2017-18, appearing in four games.
Seider is the first German defenseman to be selected in the first round of an NHL Entry Draft, and is the fourth-highest German-born player to be selected. The native of Zell, Germany, also represented his country on two occasions during the 2018-19 campaign. He was named the best defenseman at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship Division 1 tournament, captaining the team as a double-underaged player and tying for second on the team with seven points (1-6-7) in five games to help Germany advance to the top group for the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship. His play saw him earn a spot on the German men’s national team for the 2019 IIHF World Championship in Slovakia. He scored two goals in five games during the tournament, earning him the distinction of becoming just the third defenseman aged 18-or-younger to record a point at the World Championship, and the first to do so since Phil Housley in 1982.
Mannheim’s championship season in 2018-19 marked the third-straight season in which Seider ended his year with a league title, as he spent the previous three seasons (2015-18) with Adler Mannheim’s junior club and won back-to-back league titles in 2017 and 2018, racking up 25 points (10-15-25) in 36 regular-season games and 15 points (4-11-15) in 16 postseason games between the two seasons. Seider also captured two medals during international competition during the 2017-18 season, winning bronze at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship Division 1 and earning best defenseman honors alongside a silver medal at the 2018 IIHF World Under-18 Championship Division 1, which helped Germany earn a promotion to the top tier for the following season.
Moritz Seider, Defenseman
Born Apr 6 2001 -- Zell, Germany
Height 6.04 -- Weight 207 -- Shoots R
Selected by Detroit Red Wings round 1 #6 overall 2019 NHL Entry Draft
--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
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2017-18 Mannheim Eagles DEL 4 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- --
2018-19 Mannheim Eagles DEL 29 2 4 6 8 14 0 5 5 0
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