Team Profile: St. Petersburg Red Stars

GM: Michele Castaldini (2nd GM in team’s history)

Coach: Kevin Dineen

Last season: 12th overall

Ins and Outs

(Season 3 to Season 4)

Out: Olli Jokinen (free agent, Madrid)

In: Mats Zuccarello Aasen (draft), Brock Nelson (draft), David Saavrd (draft), Kevin Fiala (draft), Jakub Vrana (draft)

In Place

(Key players signed past Season 4)

Pekka Rinne, G; Brad Richards, C; Marc-Eduoard Vlasic, D; Blake Wheeler, RW; Brent Burns, D

Three Questions

1. How can the sudden drop be explained? The Red Stars will be looking to rebound from a disappointing season that saw them drop 10 spots – from 2nd to 12th overall. All their team statistics got worse except for limiting shots on goal by their opponents. Pinpointing what went wrong is difficult. They are still solid throughout the lineup and Pekka Rinne still stopped more than 90 percent of opponents’ shots, although his goals against average deteriorated by a half a goal. Maybe a lot of other teams got that much better, or perhaps it was a tactical change made by coach Kevin Dineen or maybe even lousy luck. St. Petersburg still seems to be talented enough to challenge the top teams in Season 4. As the third most prestigious team in the league, the Red Stars should be able to court a top-end free agent this week, if they so choose.

2. Is Huberdeau ready to shine? What the Red Stars could use most is another jump in Jonathan Huberdeau’s point total. The 21-year-old scored 34 points in Season 2 and 54 points last season. Brad Richards, 34, will be lucky to see the 70-point plateau again and it will be up to Huberdeau to carry the offense in the future.The young Canadian doesn’t have the creativity Richards has, but he has the speed and skill Richards used to have.

3. Was it wise to draft a 26-year-old? Yes it was. Mats Zuccarello fits right into the lineup today, and with Erik Cole, Willie Mitchell, Olli Jokinen and Richards all on the decline, the Red Stars face a situation where they have to go for it now, and that means avoiding a slow start to the season, a problem that hurt them in Season 1. The future isn’t pitch black for the Red Stars. Trades and drafts have given them a nice infusion of youth lately, with 8 future starters younger than 24 years old currently on the roster across all positions.