| Niklas Hubner | ERC Ingolstadt | DEL | L | D | 6’2″ | 179 | Ingolstadt, GER | 2004 | 2022-2023: C+2021-2022: C+ |
U20: Germany vs Czechia, February 10, 2023: Hubner totaled 20:36 in ice time including 3:18 while shorthanded. He did not play on the power play. When moving forward Hubner is a very quick and powerful. In defensive situations he has closing speed that can cause panic as well as separational speed while retrieving loose pucks. Because of this we would have loved to see him be more aggressive in all defensive aspects of the game. We wanted him to hustle up the ice to set his gap early, but instead he seemed content to sit back to let the rush come to him. By sitting back he showed incredible quickness reacting to the opposing player’s decision, but he allowed himself to sag so far off the rush that opposing forwards could essentially have their way with him by having so much ice to play in. He also has a bad habit of crossing over to the middle after setting his gap. Meaning he’d be in position to eliminate the rush near his defensive blueline only to crossover towards the inside to give the puck carrier more time and space. We feel Hubner is too strong of a skater to give opposing forwards so much respect. As a penalty killer he played with a long stick and did a nice job of taking away the goal line or back door passing options. On an Olympic ice sheet it is difficult to be aggressive, but we feel he used his quickness to force the play when appropriate. during a second period kill he used his feet to force a loose puck and won the battle. He then made a high skill play by gaining the net, faking a hard wrap and hitting his middle passing option for an easy zone clear. As a killer Hubner had two 200′ clears. Offensively we would love to see him scan the ice more thoroughly before he receives the puck or wins the battle. There are times when he leaves himself open to get hit simply because he is too hyper focused on the puck. In one such situation he did draw a penalty, but there’s simply no reason to expose yourself to the damage that can be inflicted by not knowing a hard charging forward is bearing down on you. On the night he finished -1 with 0 points, 1 snap shot from the corner blueline, 2 PIMs for cross checking during a corner battle, 0 hits, received 4 hard hits, had 1 shot blocked, 7 giveaways, 8 takeaways and he won 67% of his 9 puck battles.
Neutral Zone’s Ian Moran, June 5, 2022: There is a lot to like about Hubner’s game and future. First off he’s big and very fast. He moves very well and has high-end straight-line speed. This past year he played in both the DEL and in the DNL U20 where he was a point-per-game defenseman. He’s going to have to learn to sit back a little bit while defending, but he has NHL size and is incredibly athletic. I’d take a chance on him in the 4th-5th round, ask him to play in the CHL for a year and then work with him in the AHL for a year. In the end, you might have yourself a mid-round pick who plays games.
Neutral Zone NHL, July 4, 2022: Why an NHL draft pick, he has leadership characteristics and was assistant captain of Germany’s U18 World Championship team. He has an NHL frame. He won 65% of his puck battles. Why not an NHL draft pick, only 40% of his shots hit the net. In fifteen career international games for Germany, he has registered one goal and been -10.