Preliminary rosters are being announced for national teams at the 2026 Olympics and the Chicago Blackhawks have a representative in Lukas Reichel. The young forward is one of the six members announced to Team Germany along with Leon Draisaitl, Tim Stutzle, Moritz Seider, Philipp Grubauer, and Nico Sturm.
What's interesting about the six names revealed is that JJ Peterka of the Buffalo Sabres, who is currently a RFA, wasn't included. While Riechel, Stutzle, and Peterka were all born in 2002, Reichel is the least experienced with 169 NHL games, 20 goals, and 54 points. Stutzle has played 367 and Peterka has played 238.
There are only seven active German players in the NHL, so somebody was going to be left off the group of initial six being announced. This doesn't mean Germany isn't going to take Peterka. It wouldn't be a huge mistake if they didn't.
Reichel has been a bottom-6 role player for the Blackhawks and is still looking for more of an opportunity to move up the lineup and produce more. The former first-round pick has the skill and has played very well for Germany when given the chance.
Over his last two international tournaments for Germany, Reichel recorded three goals and seven points in six games at the World Championships in 2023-24 as well as two goals and five points in four games at the World Championships in 2021-22. He is a great choice to represent Germany as one of the first six selections, and even though Peterka has participated in international competition just as much and had great success, there was a reason for the choice.
