Schloder Division Preview; Swiss dominance in jeopardy for Season 2

By Phelim McAleer

Copenhagen Post

This is the 1st part of 4 in the season preview series. We’re going to take a quick look at each division and rate the teams to make a prediction on their final standings. Here’s my evaluation (keep in mind we haven’t finished trading so it’s not set in stone).

I evaluate the Goaltending, Top 4 Defense, and Top 6 Forwards based on their current OV ranking, taking into account the amount of players 30 years of age+ (i.e. veterans and leadership).

I will also evaluate the team’s top 5 prospects, which in my description are the top 5 players in terms of Potential who haven’t yet reached it.

Finally, I will look at the team’s available cap space to make deals to improve their team. While I have ranked the player categories out of 10, potential will be out of 5 and cap space will be evaluated out of 3.

Goaltending

The Schloder Division has two top goaltenders in Lehtonen (Geneva), and Quick (Munich), two veterans in Smith (Bern) and Kiprusoff (Berlin), and two up-and-coming tenders in Smith (Bern) and Elliott (Zurich). Berlin’s Kiprusoff has regressed over the year, but is still a top goalie. Frankfurt’s new tandem of Karri Ramo and Jan Laco from the draft will play tandem but they will probably be outmatched for the first season. Geneva shares top spot with Munich by adding the #1 cop in town (Bobrovsky) to back up an excellent Kari Lethonen.

What separates the teams are also the backups. Bern and Zurich have capable backups able to stand in admirably for the 15-20 games they’ll have.

Based on this, my ratings are (out of 10):

Munich/Geneva: 8 points
Bern: 6 Points
Zurich/Berlin: 5 Points
Frankfurt: 2 Points

Top 4 Defense

Three of this division’s defence cores have a top 2 with players 80OVR and above (Bern, Geneva, and Munich), which sets them apart, however, the best D currently would have to be Bern as they have a mix of top talent in Seabrook and Timonen, mixed with two veterans Seidenburg and Enstrom. While Geneva looks very good in the back-end, they will need to find a replacement for Lidstrom which will need to be more than just Del Zotto. Frankfurt and Zurich may get burned on the back end if they fail to acquire talent beside Doughty and Hamhuis respectively.

Out of 10:

Bern: 9 Points
Geneva/Berlin: 8 Points
Munich: 7 Points
Zurich: 5 Points
Frankfurt: 2 Points

Top 6 Forwards

The candidate for scariest forward group of the year will no doubt feature Zurich’s Kovalchuk – Bergeron – Stafford line, which combines a terrifying amount of speed, size, and scoring touch. The second line is also no slouch either, which contributes to their top ranking in this category. Nipping at their heels is the Munich and Bern top 6, which have a good collection of prime-aged forwards, while Berlin and Frankfurt will no doubt be looking for more talent to complement Whitney/Couture and Stamkos/Giroux line, which the latter will eventually be the top line in hockey. Munich lost Iginla and Geneva lost Selanne, which has contributed to the decline in offensive prowess of this division.

Out of 10:

Zurich: 10 Points
Bern/Munich: 8 Points
Geneva/Frankfurt: 7 Points
Berlin: 6 Points

The Future (Top 5 Potential Players)

The winner by far of this area in the Schloder Division is Frankfurt, who’s combination of future legends Stamkos and Giroux will no doubt be generational talents that most teams would be lucky to have one of. However, don’t count out Munich and Geneva, who have Quick/Phaneuf, and Lethonen/Del Zotto getting better and better. Bern and Zurich are very much in win-now mode, and will need to be concerned about stocking their prospect pool with star talent as their core ages.

Out of 5:

Frankfurt: 4 Points
Munich: 3.5 Points
Geneva: 3 Points
Berlin: 2.5 Points
Zurich: 2 Points
Bern: 1 Point

Cap Flexibilty

While teams like Frankfurt and Munich have lots of cap space to take on an expensive player, Bern and Geneva are over the cap and will need to trade someone to finish their lineup, and Zurich also has little cap space to speak of.

Out of 3: