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The Edmonton Oilers have selected 18-year-old LHD Luca Münzenberger with the 90th overall selection in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
Münzenberger, a product of the Kölner Junghaie system, spent the last three years in the German U20 league, and served as team captain in 2020-21. In 57 games across those seasons, Münzenberger collected 5-19-24, coming in at roughly 0.42 points/game.
Münzenberger also played in the most recent WJHC, posting 0-0-0 in 4 contests.
I’ve seen approximately zero shifts of this player, so to evaluate the pick myself would be to do so blindly. In lieu of my own expertise, let’s see what the consensus says about this player:
munzenberger is heading to the university of vermont in 22-23. here's a jan. 9 world junior scouting report from @FCHockey's @oliviamcarter: pic.twitter.com/0jc6tylnuw
— zach laing (@zjlaing) July 24, 2021
Hm. Not that encouraging.
Oilers take German defender Luca Munzenberger at 90. Vermont commit. Really liked his game at the World Junior Championships. Suffocating physical defender. Curious to see how the puck skills develop in the NCAA. #NHLDraft
— Brock Otten (@BrockOtten) July 24, 2021
That’s, better?
90. Oilers take German LHD Luca Munzenberger. German kid who made a name for himself at the WJC but played a big role on his league team. He was committed to UVM and I think that hasn't changed. pic.twitter.com/OrpYh3a0nI
— Steve Kournianos (@TheDraftAnalyst) July 24, 2021
That seems a bit more positive. I’m always wary of ‘a throwback’ being used to describe a player though. For me, that generally means they haven’t really shown a deftness for making plays with the puck, which I believe to be a prerequisite to making any kind of positive impact in the NHL in 2021 and beyond. Hope I’m wrong.
As noted in the above tweets, Münzenberger is committed to the University of Vermont in the NCAA (D1) for the 2021-22 season.