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

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

Last season: 12th overall, Lost to Moscow in Round 1

Ins and Outs

(Season 5 to Season 6)

Out: Miikka Kiprusoff (retired)

In:  Tobias Rieder (draft), Jiri Sekac (draft), Iakov Trenin (draft), Colton Sceviour (draft)

In Place

(Key players signed past Season 6)

Brent Burns, D; Antti Niemi, G; Jonathan Huberdeau, C; Jan Kovar, LW; Erik Johnson, D

Three Questions

1. They improved from 23rd to 12th? Yes, the Red Stars made quite a jump in the standings from Season 4 to Season 5 and GM Michele Castaldini appears happy with the progress. He made no changes. The only player from last year’s team not on the squad in Season 6 is goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, who decided to hang up the blocker and catching glove for good. Kiprusoff, the one-time Berlin and Stockholm starter, rode out his final years as Antti Niemi’s backup in Petrograd, doing an admirable job.  Niemi played well and was a main reason for the team’s good showing last season. This season, with unproven Jacob Markstrom backing him up, Niemi will have to be at the very top of his game if the Red Stars are to hold their place in the Kharlamov Division.

2. Where is St. Pete strongest? The Red Stars have solid lineup with a lot of interchangeable parts. Depth seems to be their strength. They have so much balance that players have to do well in practices and games or else they could easily lose ice time. The left wing position, for example, features four players of pretty equal ability. It must be tough for Coach Paul Maurice to try to keep all of them – Valtteri Filppula, Jan Kovar, Artem Anisimov and Mats Zuccarello-Aasen – happy. Even with Danis Zaripov in the lineup for the injured Anisimov to start the season, the team has three good lines and a combative, muscular fourth line of Zaripov, Devante Smith-Pelley and Brian Boyle. On the right wing, Viktor Stalberg, 30, showed a lot of improvement last season and he has been promoted to the top line with Filppula and Jonathan Huberdeau. Wayne Simmonds will surely try to bump Stalberg down a line, and Brad Richards and Vladimir Sobotka will be gunning for some of Huberdeau’s ice time at center.  On defense, Maurice has the same situation. David Savard played 69 games for the Red Stars last season, but he’s watching from the press box to begin this season. Oscar Klefbom and Brenden Dillon get first dibs on the third defense pairing, but they know Savard will suit up for games if either of them stumble.

3. Who is the face of the franchise? Image what the face of a team that plays in cold, rugged Russia would be. Are you picturing a big lug with an uncooperative, bushy beard and a few teeth missing? Yes, Brent Burns remains the face of the franchise after signing a contract in the off season for another two years and a player option at $4.1 million. Castaldini did well in getting Burns to stay for that price. He has been a top-pairing fixture on the team since the EURO League began and three times, he has been voted onto the Northern Conference all-star team. Last season, at age 30, Burns scored 19 goals and 48 points, placing him 10th in the league among defensemen. Only 5 other defensemen scored more goals than he did. He will be double-shifted when the Red Stars have the powerplay and he will have a chance to rest when they are shorthanded. Erik Johnson, who scored 41 points and had 234 hits last season, will be Burns’ partner when teams are playing 5 a side.

History

Season             Place        PTS        PP %      PK %      SPG        SAPG     GPG     GAPG    PIM

Season 5             12              85            17.3       82.4         30.27    29.70       3.10      3.22       11.10

Season 4              23             57          14.20      85.60      30.07    30.96       2.52       3.46       12.02

Season 3              12               89          16.8        82.8        30.6     29.72       3.16       3.29       12.60

Season 2              2             106         17.1        84.9        32.87      29.78      3.29        2.65       10.95

Season 1              3             118         20.5        83.7        32.41     27.82        3.60        2.44        9.05

Top Draft picks

Season 1: Pekka Rinne, G, current age 34. Games played: 337; Save Pct. 91.0

Season 2: Danis Zaripov, LW, age 24. GP 160, Pts 35, +16

Season 3: Cam Atkinson, RW, age 26 GP 198, Pts 57, -27

Season 4: Mats Zuccarello, LW, age 28.  GP 162,  Pts 47, +3

Season 5: Jan Kovar, LW, age 24. GP 82, Pts 48, +9

Season 6: Tobias Rieder, RW, age 21.

Trade History

Season 1 (picks without years listed are from initial draft)

Traded Round 6 pick (used to draft Patrik Berglund) and 2013 Round 1 pick (Thomas Powell) to Minsk for Round 4 pick (used to draft Brent Burns)

Traded Patrick Kane to Zurich for Brad Richards

Traded Round 18 pick (Brandon Gormley) to Milan for Round 20 pick (Jonathan Bernier) and Round 22 pick (Jakub Kindl)

Traded James Neal, Andrei Kostitsyn and Karl Alzner to Edinburgh for Marc-Eduoard Valsic, Blake Wheeler and Artem Anisimov

Traded Daniel Alfredsson to Milan for Viktor Stalberg, 2104 Round 1 (Cam Atkinson) and $1 million

Traded Kyle Wellwood to Edinburgh for David Steckel and 2013 Round 3 (Jamie Oleksiak)

Season 2

Traded Jarome Iginla to Helsinki for Martin St. Louis and 2015 Round 3 pick (Jakub Vrana)

Traded Martin St. Louis to Gothenberg for Devante Smith-Pelley, Ales Hemsky and 2016 Round 2 pick (Alexander Toryanik)

Season 3

Traded Kevin Bieksa to Stockholm for (unknown)

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

After Season 6 started: Traded Stefan Ulmer to Berlin for 2019 Round 2 pick

Season 7

Traded Devante Smith-Pelly and 2018 Round 1 pick (Shayne Gostisbehere) to Oslo for 2018 Round 1 pick (Patrik Laine)

Traded Mats Zuccarello-Aasen and a 2018 Round 2 pick to Stockholm for Mattias Sjogren

Traded Artem Anisimov, Brad Richards and 2019 Round 3 pick to Zurich for Ilya Kovalchuk

Traded Wayne Simmonds and 2019 Round 2 pick (Berlin’s) to Lisbon for Marcus Foligno, Darnell Nurse and 2019 Round 3 pick