One year ago, the Germans were on the brink of a huge disappointment, when the team threw away a two-goal lead in the third period of the relegation game against Team Norway. However, they came out strong in the third period, eventually winning the game with a tally by Moritz Elias – at his first and only goal of the tournament – to seal a win that will allowed Germany to make a sixth-consecutive appearance in the top division in thee 2025 World Junior Championship (WJC) in Ottawa.
Related: 2025 World Junior Championship Guide
This year’s roster will feature several younger players, as well as NHL talents and players who will have a chance to get selected next year. Below is a projected roster for the Germans as they look to improve their performance in Ottawa after a disappointing showing last year.
Team Germany’s Forwards
| Lenny Boos (Düsseldorf/Essen) | *Linus Brandl (Straubing/Landshut) | Timo Kose (Regensburg) |
| David Lewandowski (Saskatoon/CAN) | Nick Maul (München/Kaufbeuren) | Marco Münzenberger (Köln) |
| Elias Pul (Weiden) | Timo Ruckdäschel (Wolfsburg) | Clemens Sager (Kassel/Hamm) |
| Noah Samanski (Powell/CAN) | Maxim Schäfer (Eisbären Berlin) | Tobias Schwarz (Straubing/Landshut) |
| Simon Seidl (Straubing/Landshut) | *Julius Sumpf (Moncton/CAN) | Paul Vinzens (Red Bull Hockey Juniors/München) |
*indicates returning skater*
Only two forwards are returning, Linus Brandl and Julius Sumpf. Center Brandl posted no points last year, while Sumpf, who lines up for the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL,) was one of the top scorers last year.
Two interesting players who could make the roster are Timo Kose and Simon Seidl. Both underagers, with Kose being born in 2007 and Seidl in 2006, they are having a strong showing in the DEL-2 this season, and their offensive flair is expected to play a role when the team will need a spur of unpredictability in the offensive zone. Internationally, Seidl was very good for Team Germany at the Division 1 U18s a couple of years ago.
However, most of the hope ahead will be on David Lewandowski. The 2025 draft-eligible player has fourteen points, equally distributed between goals and assists, in nineteen games for the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League (WHL.) Lewandowski is the son of a notable player in Germany and Russia, Eduard Lewandowski, and isn’t the only player of this roster coming from a hockey dynasty. Noah Samanski, who plays for the Powell River Kings of the British Columbia Hockey League after starting the season with the Wenatchee Wild of the WHL, is the son of John, who even played for Team Canada back in 1984.
However, Linus Boos can brace a grandfather, Wolfgang Boos, who has already represented Team Germany on the international scene, as far as the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, while his father Tino Boos had even more success and represented Germany not only at the Olympics and the World Championship, but also at the 1996 WJC in Massachusetts.
Team Germany’s Defensemen
| Carlos Händel (Halifax/CAN) | Max Hense (Köln/Duisburg) | Rio Kaiser (Eisbären Berlin/Weißwasser) |
| Kilian Kühnhauser (Rosenheim/Peiting) | *Paul Mayer (Mannheim/Heilbronn) | *Lua Niehus (Frankfurt/Bad Nauheim) |
| *Norwin Panocha (Green Bay/USA) | Edwin Tropmann (Köln/Bad Nauheim) |
*indicates returning skater*
On defense, the Germans seem to be on a better position. The defensive corps can mostly boast good size and physical presence, and the team will be most likely forced to spend a lot of time in the defensive third anyways, so they will try to get advantage from the size of many of the top defensemen.
Buffalo Sabres’ prospect Norwin Panocha will be one of the most-waited defensemen in the roster, returning after last year’s tournament. After being drafted in the seventh round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, Panocha spent time in the QMJHL and WHL before landing to the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League.
Two other interesting options on the blue line are QMJHL defenseman Carlos Handel and big body Rio Kaiser. Handel has an interesting eleven points in 26 games with the Halifax Mooseheads, while Kaiser – a 6-foot-7, 207-pound colossus – is logging big minutes in the DEL 2 with the Lausitzer Fuchse, with the occasional game with the Eisbaren Berlin of the top-flight German league, the DEL.
Another player to follow is Paul Mayer (6-foot-3, 187 pounds), another Team Germany call up whose father represented the country on the international stage. Blood lines are definitely strong in this year’s roster for the Germans. Lua Niehus and Edwin Tropmann are also emerging players, but they may struggle physically, differently from most of the other blueliners in the roster.
Team Germany’s Goalies
| Leon Hümer (Düsseldorf/Essen) | *Nico Pertuch (Ingolstadt/Ravensburg) | Linus Vieillard (Eisbären Berlin) |
*indicates returning goalie*
Goalies may be a problem this year for the Germans. Most of the hints indicate that Pertuch will get the starter position, with Vieillard as backup, and Humer as the third-string goalie. Pertuch was at the WJC last year, but never actually hit the ice for Team Germany.
Germany Fighting to Avoid Relegation
At this point, anything above the relegation game will be a success for the Germans, whose roster doesn’t seem on par with other neighbouring countries and may struggle in goal and in offense. In particular, the country seem to have declined after a strong 2021 showing with players like Tim Stutzle and JJ Peterka. However, playing a tight defense and hoping for some good plays by the top lines, the Germans may surprise a team or two, and perhaps hope for something more.
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