The Washington Capitals selected winger Maxim Schafer with the final pick in the third round of the 2025 NHL Draft. The Caps traded back to the selection, netting a 2027 seventh-round pick after sending the Ottawa Senators their original third-round pick (No. 93 overall).
Schafer, 18, is a German left wing from Eisbaren Berlin in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), the highest level of hockey in Germany.
The Nuremberg native played 31 games in the DEL this past year, recording three points (1g, 2a). Schafer also played 35 games for the club’s Under-20 junior club, posting 35 points (12g, 23a) in 15 games.
Schafer was chosen to be one of Germany’s alternate captains at the Under-18 World Junior Championship, where he notched three points (3g) in five games. He also played up an age group in the Under-20 World Juniors, adding three points (2g, 1a) in five games.
NHL Central Scouting had the 6-foot-4, 183-pound Schafer as the 102nd-ranked international skater in their final rankings. He is the first German player the Capitals have drafted since they took Haakon Hanelt in the fifth round of the 2021 NHL Draft.
Schafer is the third forward and second winger the Capitals have selected with their three picks so far in the 2025 draft.
