Ranking the top 31 prospects in the 2020 NHL Draft: 2. Tim Stutzle

Playmaking

The best aspect of Stützle’s offensive toolkit has to be his phenomenal playmaking which is why he had 27 assists in 41 games with Adler Mannheim this season.

The ability to use his exceptional vision, usually when he finds the cross-seam pass is exceptional, he consistently finds the open man on the power play.

Stützle uses the button hook technique on the power play, where he circles just outside the blue line then gains speed, receives a pass then either fires a puck on the net or looks for a cross-seam pass.

In the above clip, he leaves the zone and comes in with a ton of speed drawing the defender’s eyes to him so he can fire a cross-seam pass to his teammate for a chance on net.

The German forward also does great work from below the goal line, he uses a great reverse hit to create space for himself despite having a slimmer frame.

In this play, Stützle pulls of the no-look behind the net pass that only elite NHL players regularly pull off, with the immense talent he possesses he can make passes like these look effortless.

Stützle plays a very “slippery” kind of game, he’s hard to check with his quick change of direction to go along with his elusive stick handling which opens up space for him to be an exceptional playmaker.

Below, the future top 5 selection makes a quick pivot move behind the net and quickly fires a cross-seam pass which should have resulted in a great chance on net.

He is exceptionally dynamic and will always give opponents headaches when they try to keep up with his elusiveness and his ability to fire crisp passes for high scoring chances.

Hockey Sense

Stützle can read the whole ice exceptionally well, and consistently relies on his great vision to be the playmaker he is.

On many plays, the German forward can be seen delivering great passes that almost fit into the mold of a “no look” pass, he reacts so quickly to his open teammates that the puck is gone almost before he gets his head around.

This little slip pass that Stützle uses a lot to get the puck to his teammates in tight areas is used very effectively, on this play he doesn’t even look at his teammate coming into the slot and sets him up for a great chance on net.

While his hockey sense and playmaking go hand in hand, his ability to see passing lanes has to be appreciated.