The season is quickly approaching, which means it’s time to look towards the future. We do that every year with the Five For Howling 25 Under 25, ranking the Coyotes’ best players under 25. For this year’s rankings, I am joined by James Reeve (@JamesRJReeve), Mike Gould (@miketgould), Haynes Evans (@HaynesPEvans), and Matthew Jacobson (@TheAZSportsGuy).
Maksymilian Szuber
2022-23 League: DEL (EHC München)
Games Played: 46
Goals: 3
Assists: 7
Playoffs Games Played: 15
Playoffs Goals: 0
Playoffs Assists: 2
World Championship Games Played: 10
World Championship Goals: 1
World Championship Assists: 0
Highest Rating: 14
Lowest Rating: Not Rated
Looking at how the Arizona Coyotes have drafted in the past few years, you start to notice a few things. General Manager Bill Armstrong clearly goes for size, but there is also a trend in the Yotes drafting more players from Europe. We saw that in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft when the Desert Dogs drafted Maksymilian Szuber of Germany 163rd overall.
Szuber is a big defenseman who has been playing in Germany’s top league. He only provides a little offense, but his defensive upside more than makes up for that.
München is a good team, and it’s a testament to Szuber that he is getting regular minutes. At 21, he is the youngest regular defenseman on a team with adults that won the championship last season.
Winning your league’s championship is a significant accomplishment for a young player, but it wasn’t enough for Szuber. He was selected to be part of Germany’s World Championship team, again as one of the youngest players, which shocked the world and won the Silver Medal.
The Coyotes were impressed by Szuber’s development, and on May 1st, they signed him to a three-year entry-level contract. He still likely has a few years before he is ready for the NHL, but it would be a steal if he sees NHL ice as a sixth-round pick.
Szuber doesn’t have the flashiest numbers, but it is telling that he has found his way onto very successful teams at such a young age. It is still unknown how high his ceiling is, but he has shown that he can compete against people older than him, and he could prove to be a big piece of the Coyotes’ blue line moving forward.