Ottawa Senators blue-chip prospect Tim Stuetzle requires surgery after suffering an arm injury in Germany and will remain sidelined for six-to-eight weeks, the Mannheim Eagles announced Tuesday, as E.H.C's Szymon Szemberg translated.
Stuetzle, 18, was the top-ranked European skater following last season, and Ottawa selected him third overall in the 2020 NHL Draft.
The injury occurred when Stuetzle collided awkwardly with another player during practice.
"I wasn’t there but according to the coach Pavel Gross when I talked to him after he said it was a drill they had and two players bumped into each other," said Mannheim GM Jan-Axel Alavaara, according to the Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch.
"It was Tim Stuetzle and another player and he was cutting his lane a little bit and it wasn’t a hard check or anything," he added. "They bumped into each other and it was an unlucky angle."
The 6-foot-1 forward recorded seven goals and 34 points over 41 contests with Mannheim last season.
Stuetzle also represented Germany at the 2020 world juniors, contributing five assists over five games.
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