Reichel tallied 24 points (12 goals, 12 assists) in 42 games as a 17-year-old in Germany’s top professional league in 2019-20.
The Chicago Blackhawks have selected German forward Lukas Reichel with the 17th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. Reichel, 6-foot, 172 pounds, plays a smart offensive game and has the skillset to be a game-changing winger in the Blackhawks top six.
CHI is picking Lukas Reichel. pic.twitter.com/8W2nfB8lVA
— Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) October 7, 2020
“Reichel kept trending up as the season went along,” The Athletic’s Corey Pronman wrote. “He excited teams as a player with a ton of above-average or better attributes. He can skate and make skilled plays at the NHL level, excelled versus men and did well at the world juniors. He looks like a player with the tools and makeup to become a top-six forward in the NHL.”
In 2019-20, Reichel played his first professional season for the Eisbaren Berlin Polar Bears of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga as a 17-year-old. He impressively tallied 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points in 42 games while going up against far-more experienced players. Reichel also recorded five points (two goals, three assists) in seven games for Germany at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship.
“Reichel had a really good year, played regularly for Eisbaren in the DEL, and then he was on that German World Juniors team,” Blackhawks scouting director Mark Kelley said last week. “When you watch him, you see a lot of potential.”
Reichel plays the exact type of game the Blackhawks need in their forward group moving forward. He’s a strong skater with good power in his stride and an explosive first step, and the now 18-year-old winger also has a strong lower body to help fight through checks and win one-on-one battles in the dirty areas of the ice. On top of that, Reichel also possesses the ability to make things happen in the offensive zone. He finished tied for sixth in goals and eighth in points for Eisbaren last season while being 10 years younger than most of his teammates. One scout dubbed Reichel “a Brandon Saad-type” because of their similar styles of play.
On the defensive side of things, Reichel is still a bit of work in progress. Defense is not necessarily a weakness of his, but the hope is once Reichel is surrounded by elite-level coaching, he will be able to sure-up that part of his game a bit more. There is plenty of time for that, as Reichel is expected to spend at least two more years with Eisbaren over in Germany.
“He has one more year left on his deal with Berlin, and then we’ll kind of see what the Hawks have in store there,” said Allain Roy, Reichel’s agent. “We haven’t had any discussions on that stuff at all, but we’ll see where that goes. But Berlin has been great for him. He plays [on the] first line and usually plays on the first powerplay. It’s a really good development situation for him.”
While Roy made it sound like there is a chance for the Blackhawks 2020 first-round pick to be NHL ready by the beginning of next season, Reichel himself had a different opinion on when he will be making the jump to North America.
“Two years,” Reichel said without hesitation when talking to the Blackhawks media about his future plans. Do not forget Reichel just turned 18 years old back on May 17.
Overall, this is a really solid pick by Stan Bowman and the Blackhawks. Reichel plays a style that should translate well to the NHL level and will have plenty of professional experience before coming to Chicago. Reichel projects as a top-six goal-scoring winger with impressive skating ability and a strong lower body. The latest Blackhawk said he compares his game style to Vancouver Canucks’ superstar Elias Pettersson.
“My game style is maybe like Elias Pettersson, because I’m not the biggest guy, not the strongest guy, but I’m a smart guy,” Reichel said. “I’m a good skater and I like to shoot.”
Welcome to the Chicago Blackhawks, Lukas Reichel!
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