Season 5 profile: St. Petersburg Red Stars

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

Coach: Paul Maurice (replaced Kevin Dineen after Season 4)

Last season: 23rd overall

Ins and Outs

(Season 4 to Season 5)

Out: Erik Cole (free agent), Martin St. Louis (retired), Magnus Johansson (retired)

In: Alexander Wennberg, Oscar Klefbom, Jamie Oleksiak, Jan Kovar (draft), Stefan Ulmer (draft), Alexander Toryanik (draft), Joakim Hillding (draft), Andreas Englund (draft)

In Place

(Key players signed past Season 5)

Artem Anisimov, LW; Jonathan Huberdeau, C; Cam Atkinson, RW; Jan Kovar, LW; Erik Johnson, D

Three Questions

1. How will talented rookie Jan Kovar be used? The Red Stars had a good mix of young and old players in Season 4. As Season 5 begins, they added a very large helping of youth at a time when two players – Magnus Johansson and fan favorite Martin St. Louis – decided to retire from the sport. GM Michele Castaldini drafted five players and saw three others get their attributes in mid April. One of those eight young men doesn’t have his attributes yet, but the other seven – including three defensemen – have been added to the roster. Czech Jan Kovar is the best of the bunch and is the top left wing in the team’s future. As a rookie, however, he will have to do well to get ice time because that side also includes three talented veterans. He scored a goal in his first EURO game and it’s possible the versatile Kovar could be switched to another forward position from time to time.

2. They outshoot opponents, but will they win more? The Red Stars don’t get outshot in many games. They never have. But something was really wrong last year, either the skaters’ shooting percentage or the goalies’ save percentage … or both. Castaldini probably thought Antti Niemi was the answer, but the Finnish goalie who is on his third team has yet to prove he’s worth his $5 million contract. Highly regarded, Niemi’s 89.3 save percentage was only good enough for 22nd best in the league among goalies. On the topic of shooting percentage, look for Wayne Simmonds to top the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career. The 27-year-old is on the third line with Kovar and Vladimir Sobotka and he is the right wing on the top powerplay unit with Valtteri Filppula and Brad Richards, with Brent Burns on one point. Simmonds won’t be far from the goalie’s mask while the Red Stars have the man advantage and he’ll often be position to cash in on a good number of passes and rebounds.

3. How does the defense corps shape up? St. Petersburg’s defensemen all have good skating ability in common but beyond that, they all seem to excel at different things, They are like the hockey version of The Avengers. Brent Burns has been great for St. Petersburg in his career and since he’s only 30, Castaldini will be looking to sign him to another contract after this season. But during the season, the GM and the rest of the hockey world will see Burns and Erik Johnson work as one of the most versatile defense tandems in the league. Both placed in the top 12 in hits last season and both have cannons for slapshots and good vision on the ice. Their plus-minus ratings were low last year, but why is a mystery. Dmitri Kalinin and speedy Jeff Petry make up the second set of D-men and Kalinin’s passing ability will have him up on the top powerplay unit with Burns. St. Petersburg is trying to bring up two young defensemen who should work well together in the future – tough defensive-minded Brenden Dillon and slick passing Oscar Klefbom.