Farm Club: Hamburg (Germany) Freezers 

GM: Eli Broad  (8th GM in team’s history)

Coach: Mike Sulllivan (replaced Craig Berube after Season 6)

Last season: 15th overall, (in playoffs, lost to Bratislava)

Ins and Outs (Season 7 to Season 8)

Out: Talgat Zhailauov (free agent), Craig Smith (trade), Henrik Sedin (free agent), Tomas Fleischmann (free agent), Ryan Wilson (waivers), Josh Bailey (trade), Radko Gudas (waivers), Gareth Roberts (free agent), T.J. Brodie (waivers), John Moore (free agent), Eric Gryba (free agent), Max Talbot (free agent), Daniel Pietta (waivers)

In: Duncan Keith (free agent), Dustin Brown (free agent), David Krejci (free agent),  Andrej Meszaros (free agent), Chris Stewart (free agent), Kevin Dallman (free agent), Ilya Kovalchuk (free agent), Stefan Noesen (free agent), Michael Sgarbossa (free agent), Colin Greening (trade), Cale Makar (draft), Juuso Valimaki (draft), Nikita Zaitsev (draft), Scott Wilson (draft)

In Place (Key players signed past Season 8)

Cory Schneider, G; David Krejci, C; Filip Forsberg, LW; Sean Monahan, C; Kevin Dallman, D

 

 

 

Three Questions

1. The new GM made a lot of changes; are more in store? Eli Broad is new to Websim hockey but he’s not at all tentative. The new guy pushed a parade of Munich players out the door during the off season and ushered in not only a new lineup, but also a new style. Coach Mike Sullivan will have some veteran leadership on the team for the first time in a long time. Dustin Brown. Ilya Kovalchuk, David Krejci, Duncan Keith, Andrej Meszaros and Kevin Dallman are not only stepping into the team’s prime positions, they are also the new leadership core of Munich and Broad is expecting them to guide the younger players up the standings. Kovalchuk was named captain of the team with Brown and Dallman as assistants. Veteran Chris Stewart was also brought in to run security on the second line featuring future Red Bull leaders Fyodor Malykhin and Filip Forsberg. But Broad didn’t handle the financial part of the massive makeover very well and his payroll exceeded the suspension cap, causing the league to take the extreme measure of removing Matt Irwin from the lineup. Munich is still precariously close to the cap and next season, when Malykhin and Sean Monahan will need new contracts, some things on this team roster will have to go.

2. What does Munich need to improve upon? The Red Bulls have a star netminder in place for the long-term in Cory Schneider. Starting goalie is a key piece to any team puzzle. Schneider, if he doesn’t get tired from getting overworked, can make up for a lot of defensive errors in front of him, but Munich would do well to limit shots on him and then clean up rebounds. It would help if they had a few defensive-minded forwards who like to backcheck, but they really don’t have that luxury. Schneider and backup Felix Bruckmann should be fine while veterans Dallman, Meszaros and Keith are on the blue line, but things might get a little hairy for them when 22-year-olds Jindrich Barak and Nikita Zadorov are out there. But the areas where Munich surely needs to improve upon the most is in special teams play. The team’s PP production was 23rd in the league last season and their penalty killing efficiency was dead last. They have the same coach as they did last year, so the improvement will have to come from the players on those units. This season, the powerplay is manned by almost an entirely new group of men who came to Bavaria via free agency. Coach Sullivan is using a group of young players from the bottom six forwards and bottom defense pairing. That group should have plenty of gas in the tank when they get tapped on the shoulder by the coach, but there is a lot of inexperience there. They will have to learn that specialty quickly or else Munich will give up some PP goals.

3. Will Munich’s forwards have a different style this year? Yes. Munich has long featured players with finesse and creativity but they weren’t considered two-way or well-rounded by many. The many changes this season give the Red Bulls a more balanced group. David Krejci, Filip Forsberg and Daniel Sedin keep Munich strong in the finesse department; Kovalchuk brings a more direct, north-south approach; and right wingers Brown, Stewart and Scott Wilson like to bang, which is a trait that has been missing in Munich for several seasons. The more diverse skill set should keep opposing defenses from being able to settle into systems and Red Bull forwards and offensive-minded defensemen will find more holes to exploit than they did last year. Team toughness might become an issue. The team has some beef in the current lineup, but Chris Stewart is the only forward with a history of standing up for his teammates. He is unlikely to get much backing from the defensemen other than from 6-5, 220-pound Zadorov who once banged out 256 hits in a season for Munich.

History

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

Season 7             15          82        13.1      77.5        28.35     32.17     2.95      3.56        8.70

Season 6              10         90        18.3       84.2        28.74    31.72     3.13      3.09          9.54

Season 5             21         60         12.50     78.2        26.55    33.70      2.48     3.57         9.67

Season 4             21        70           17.0       83.0       26.46    34.98     2.96     3.51             12.99

Season 3              5         103          18.4       85.6       30.66    31.72    3.40     2.74              12.24

Season 2              4         104          21.4       82.9      29.95     30.85     3.22        2.63                11.82

Season 1              5         104         19.0        84.0        32.62     28.73    3.50        2.88               9.41

Top Draft picks

Season 1: Jonathan Quick, G, current age 32. Games played: 466; Save Pct 91.5

Season 2: Talgat Zhailauov, C, age 28. GP 464, Pts 291, -7

Season 3: Andrew Shaw, RW, age 26. GP 293, Pts 77, +2

Season 4: Radko Gudas, G, age 27. GP 279, Pts 75, -25

Season 5: Fyodor Malykhin, LW, age 24. GP 211; Pts 111; +16

Season 6: Jack Eichel, C, 21. GP 125; Pts 74; +7

Season 7: Clayton Keller, C, age 19.

Season 8: Cale Makar, D, age 18.

Trade History

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

Traded Round 8 pick (used to draft Tomas Fleischmann), Round 10 pick (James Wisniewski), and Round 16 pick (Nikita Nikitin) to Dublin for Round 9 pick (used to draft Joe Corvo), Round 11 pick (Milan Hejduk) Round 13 pick (Josh Bailey) and $10,000

Season 2

Traded Tomas Zaborsky and Brooks Laich to Copenhagen for Dany Heatley and David Bolland

Traded Anton Babchuk to Stockholm for Magnus Johansson

Season 4

Traded 2015 Round 3 pick (David Pastrnak) to Berlin for Ryan Wilson

Traded Dion Phaneuf to Copenhagen for Mark Giordano, Nikita Zadorov and Charlie Coyle

Season 5

Traded Jonathan Quick to Belfast for Cory Schneider and Filip Forsberg

Traded Mark Giordano to Minsk for two 2017 Round 3 picks (Calle Jarnkrok and (later traded – Oliver Kylington))

Transactions after the start of Season 5:

Lost Steve Downey (waivers)

Signed Francois Beauchemin (free agent)

Signed Denis Gribko (free agent)

Traded David Bolland and 2017 Round 2 pick (Petr Mrazek) to Copenhagen for T.J. Brodie and Gareth Roberts

Season 6

Traded Braydon Coburn and 2017 Round 3 pick (Oliver Kylington) to Gothenburg for Patrick Marleau

Traded Jack Eichel, Charlie Coyle and 2018 Round 2 (Sam Steel) pick to Stockholm for Sean Monahan,  Craig Smith, Jindrich Barak, Cody Ceci and 2018 Round 1 pick (Alexander Nylander)

After Season 6 started: Claimed Miks Indrasis on waivers.

Season 7

Season 8

Traded 2020 Round 2 pick to Lisbon for 2019 Round 2 pick (Nikita Zaitsev)

Traded Craig Smith and Josh Bailey to Madrid for Colin Greening, 2020 Round 2 pick and 2021 Round 2 pick

After Season 8 started:

Signed Matt Irwin (free agent), Thomas Hickey (free agent)

Lost Jordan Caron (waivers)