The newest general managers in the EURO League have made the most noise as the start of Season 3 nears. Just days after Paris players hoisted the cup as Season 2 champs, the other teams in the league started jockeying for position in pursuit of future EURO Cups.
Zach Parise meets with the media in Belarus after a Minsk-Prague trade.
Several big name players have been moved in trades already this off season.
Ten teams have participated in 10 trades since the end of Season 2, with Milan and Stockholm involved in 5 and 4 trades, respectively. Five of the 8 teams that didn’t make the playoffs have been involved in trades, apparently pushing to reach that plateau sooner rather than later. But 3 of the top 4 teams in the standings have also made trades, apparently with their sights set on that big shiny thing that Paris beat them to this past season.
Milan has moved the biggest names so far. Dustin Byfuglien, Dustin Brown, Ryan Callahan and Mike Richards have left the underachieving Guerrieros with its absentee landlord of a GM. The new GM in Italy – David Bell – moved the foursome who accounted for 80 Milan goals and 198 points last season, as well as the bulk of the dressing room leadership, to three different cities. In return, Milan now has Kyle Okposo, Matt Read, Marcus Kruger, Jaden Schwartz, prospect Joel Armia of the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL, two late first-round draft picks and two second-rounders. The four forwards who played last season have a combined 35 goals and 114 points and they are all between 21 and 27 years of age. In another trade, Milan sent 30-year-old Greek Dimitrios Kalyvas to Athens – you knew he would end up there – for Johnny Boychuk.
Stockholm, which was super active at the trade deadline, was just as active in the last week under new owner Michael Sauer. Right wing Rick Nash, who spent two years in Belfast with Sidney Crosby, is now house hunting in Stockholm, where he will join the aforementioned Brown and Richards, and defenseman Kevin Bieksa of St. Petersburg as the four newest Eagles. Stockholm still has Shane Doan as its captain, with Brown already being named an assistant. Shipped out in exchange for the four were Okposo, Schwartz, 20-year-old Mikko Lehtonen and three draft picks.
Another big name that moved this week was Zach Parise, 29, who was a two-time 40-goal scorer in Prague. He was traded to Minsk for budding stars Alex Galchenyuk and Roman Josi. In Minsk, Parise will probably be placed on a line with Nicklas Backstrom and Jakub Voracek or Patric Hornqvist. In Prague, meanwhile, the Cats are accumulating some very promising forwards in Galchenyuk, Nail Yakupov, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Martin Ruzicka.
Copenhagen, not satisfied with just one team trophy last season (President’s Trophy), made two trades in the last week. Dany Heatley (35 goals and 84 points last year) and David Bolland (14 goals, 37 points) are out and have been replaced by Munich forwards Broooks Laich (25 goals and 64 points) and 20-year-old Tomas Zaborsky (3 goals, 12 points). Copenhagen also traded a second-round pick for a good young goalie in Andres De La Garma, a Mexican formerly with Minsk.
