Season 5 profile: Prague Wolf Pack

GM: Axel Bode (4th GM in team’s history)

Coach: Patick Roy (replaced Dave Tippett)

Last season: 19th overall, out of the playoffs

Ins and Outs (Season 4 to Season 5)

Out: Antoine Vermette (free agent), Eric Brewer (free agent), Justin Willliams (free agent), Brad Boyes (free agent), Ryan Malone (free agent)

In: Jason Spezza (free agent), Vladimir Roth (draft), Robin Grossman (draft), Viktor Arvidsson (draft)

In Place

(Key players signed past Season 5) Ryan Getzlaf, C; Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C; Alexander Galchenyuk , LW; Justin Schultz, D; Ryan Miller, G;

Three Questions

1. Some blossomed, others wilted; why? In Season 4, the Siamese Cats seemed to have two distinct factions of players. One group improved markedly, the other group was disappointing, development wise, perhaps keeping the group as a whole make the playoffs. It seemed that rather than being one team, Prague was two Siamese twins pulling in opposite directions. Maybe that’s why GM Axel Bode ditched the team nickname and changed it to the Wolf Pack. If everyone on the team progressed like 23-year-old Andrey Bykov did last year, visions of the Cup would be dancing in their heads. In Season 2, when he played 44 games as a rookie, Bykov scored a whole 2 points. Then he scored 19 in Season 3. But is Season 4, on the second line, the Russian scored 26 goals and 58 points. Martin Ruzicka and Marcel Hossa, a Czech and a Slovak, showed similar improvements and scored more than 50 points each. Coaches like it when players get better. In the other clique were young players who seemed to think they were already good enough to keep their jobs forever. Nail Yakupov, Roman Josi, Alexander Galchenyuk, and veteran Andrej Sekera were disappointing. If coach Patrick Roy can get the two sides working together and playing a little more like the Bykov crowd, then Prague will make a lot of noise.

2. How about those centers? With the signing of Jason Spezza, the Wolf pack might have the most talented three playmaking centers in the EURO League. Ryan Getzlaf flirted with 100 points in Season 1, passed it in Season 2 with 107 points, and has had two over-60-point seasons since then. Defense isn’t his job. Getting the puck to snipers is. That’s very similar to the game played by Spezza, who scored between 84 and 114 points in his four seasons with Bern. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored 71 points last year, and at age 22, he already plays the defensive part of the position better than his two elders do. Coach Roy seems to have a lot of flexibility at center and it will be interesting to see what he decides to do with the trio. Bryan Little and Marcel Hossa return as the wings on the top line and they stand to benefit most personally from the competition at the pivot position.

3. How does the goaltending spot look? Prague’s goaltending situation might be an area of concern because Ryan Miller’s numbers have gone down slightly in each of the last three seasons. The 35-year-old had a 87.5 save percentage last season and is on the final year of his $5.2 million contact, with a team option possible. If Miller doesn’t regain his form, Niko Hovinen will be asked to do the job. The highly-regarded Finn is only 21 but he has played in 78 games across three seasons already. Hovinen figures to be the goalie of the future for Prague. Bode already has five defenseman in place who have 83PO or higher. The Prague plan is to have them and Hovinen mature simultaneously. The start of the Hovinen era, however, depends on Ryan Miller’s performance and Patrick Roy’s patience.