Farm Club: Cool Mokum Amsterdam (Netherlands)

GM: Gayle Rock  (Fourth GM in team’s history)

Coach: Bruce Cassidy (replaced Paul MacLean after Season 7; MacLean replaced Dave Tippett after Season 4; Tippett replaced Alain Vigneault after Season 3)

Last season: 17th overall, (Missed the playoffs)

Ins and Outs (Season 8 to Season 9)

Out: James Van Riemsdyk (free agent), Ryan Murray (trade), Vladimir Sobotka (free agent), T.J. Galiardi (free agent),

In: Dion Phaneuf (trade), Brent Burns (trade), Brad Marchand (free agent), Artem Anisimov (free agent), Christian Dvorak (trade), Marian Gaborik (free agent), Calvin Thurkauf (draft), Troy Loggins (draft),

In Place (Key players signed past Season 9)

Hampus Lindholm, D; Dustin Byfuglien, D; Jakub Silfverburg, RW; Brad Marchand, LW; Pierre-Luc Dubois, C; Cody Hodgson, C

 

 

 

Three Questions

1. Where are the Fighting Irish improving? Under the leadership team of GM Gayle Rock and Coach Bruce Cassidy, Dublin is going in the right direction and you can tell when you look at their team statistics. Their defensive numbers improved last year and for the first time in the franchise’s history, the Irish permitted fewer than 30 opponent shots per game. They improved in offensive numbers too, like goals and shots per game, and you might be surprised to learn that Dublin had the most potent powerplay units in the league last season. Dustin Byfuglien, Hampus Lindholm and James Wisniewski made major contributions from the point on the PP and Clarke MacArthur led the team in PP goals with 12, followed by Cody Hodgson and Patric Hornquist with 10 each. Free agent acquisition Brad Marchand should add nicely to the powerplay, although he might cost MacArthur some minutes there.

2. What’s their biggest issue? The Irish have a good goalie in Cam Talbot and five strong defensemen and if Rock can find a way to get Matt Carle’s salary under the cap, then they will have six excellent blueliners with OV ratings of 77 or higher. Defensively, it seems the Irish are solid and the addition of Dion Phaneuf gives them two Top 20 hitters (Dustin Byfuglien is the other). Up front, the Irish should have two strong lines with Cody Hodgson and Jakub Petruzalek as centers, Patric Hornquist and Jacob Silfverburg on the right and newcomers Brad Marchand and Artem Anisimov on the left. Fitting all the aforementioned players under the cap will be a nifty trick and if Rock is able to do it, it might come at the expense of well-paid players like MacArthur, Jordan Schroeder, Magnus Paajarvi and others. So the biggest issue for Dublin right now is finances.

3. How far will they go? Dublin just missed making the playoffs last season, but with the improvements Coach Cassidy has made and with the personnel Rock has added, the Irish seem to be a good bet to climb the standings this season. There are some key things to look for in Ireland this year. The Irish need strong goaltending from Brian Elliott when he gives Talbot a break, and they need Phaneuf and Byfuglien to figure out how to play their tough, banging style while staying out of the penalty box. Phaneuf was 5th in the league in penalty minutes last season (154 minutes) and Byfuglien had the most on his team with 96, placing him 30th in the EURO League. Cassidy would like their leadership qualities and defensive skill on the ice, not in the sin bin. But the real key could be a guy like Emerson Etem. The 27-year-old American is likely to play third-line minutes and the team will need depth scoring to succeed. Who else will play on that line – and the fourth line – won’t be known until Rock can find a salary cap solution, but whoever those players are, they could be key parts of this machine.

History

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

Season 8              17            77              22.1       81.3       29.73      29.99     3.13     3.37      8.37

Season 7              16            75              19.7       81.3       28.77     31.87      2.96     3.46    7.52

Season 6              18             77              17.0      79.6       29.94     30.21      3.11    3.59    8.06

Season 5              13             85              16.8       84.9      28.37     32.17      3.07    3.12      8.13

Season 4             20             71              20.9       81.3      29.43     33.35      2.88     3.73     10.15

Season 3              7              99              17.4       84.6       29.83     31.34     3.66      3.18     9.35

Season 2              7              98              19.5        84.9       31.22    30.45     3.56     3.11      9.98

Season 1              13             90            17.9        81.3      31.07     30.33      3.39    3.30     8.95

Top Draft picks

Season 1: Alexander Ovechkin, LW, current age 34. Games played: 639; Points 605; -26

Season 2: Olexander Pobyedonostsev, D, age 33; GP 454; Pts 133; -100

Season 3: Jake Allen, G, age 28

Season 4: Brendan Perlini, LW, age 22

Season 5: Nardo Nagtzaam, C, age 25. GP 244; Points 27; +7

Season 6: Jori Lehtera, C, age 30. GP 48; Points 16; plus-minus 0

Season 7: Pierre-Luc Dubois, C/W, age 20.

Season 8: Elias Pettersson, C/LW, age 19.

Season 9:

Trade History

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

Traded Round 7 pick (used to draft Chris Kunitz) , Round 22 pick  (Bryan Allen) and $250,000 to Geneva for Round 8 pick (Olli Jokinen), Round 10 pick (Petr Sykora) and 2013 Round 2 (Ryan Murray)

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

Traded Alexander Ovechkin and 2014 Round 1 pick (Darrell Nurse) to Moscow for Phil Kessel and Bobby Ryan

Traded Scott Hartnell, Tim Gleason, 2013 Round 1 pick (later traded) (Nail Yakupov), 2015 Round 1 pick (later traded) (Matt Nieto) and $5 million to Athens for Evander Kane and Alexander Sulzer

Traded 2013 Round 2 pick (Niclas Danielsson) and $1.35 million to Milan for Zbynek Michalek and Jaroslav Spacek

Traded Boone Jenner to Helsinki for Jakub Silfverberg and 2013 Round 2 pick (Olexander Podbyedonostsev)

Season 2 

Traded Tomas Fleischmann to Copenhagen for 2014 Round 1 pick (Jake Allen)

Season 4

Traded Bobby Ryan to Stockholm for Jakub Petruzalek and James Van Riemsdyk

Season 5

Traded 2017 Round 2 pick (Pavel Zacha) to Minsk for Renat Mamashev

Traded Tim Thomas and 2017 Round 1 pick (Noah Hanifin) to Copenhagen for Brian Elliott

Season 6

Traded Evander Kane and Nardo Nagtzaam to Belfast for Alexander Ovechkin and Cody Hodgson

After Season 6 started:  Traded 2018 Round 2 pick (Frank Vatrano) to Lisbon for Clarke MacArthur;

Claimed Colton Gillies (waivers), Mattias Tedenby (waivers)

Lost Jori Lehtera (waivers)

Claimed Brian Campbell on waiver and then lost him on waivers

Season 7

Traded 2019 Round 2 pick (Cal Foote) to Belfast for Cam Talbot

Traded Brendan Perlini to Lisbon for Matt Martin

Traded Alexander Ovechkin and a 2020 Round 3 pick (Charles Williams)  to Bratislava for Dylan Strome, Teuvo Teravainen, Leon Draisaitl and a 2020 Round 1 pick (Troy Loggins)

Traded Ryan Kesler to Lisbon for Magnus Paajarvi and Emerson Etem

After season started: Signed Troy Brouwer (free agent) but lost Brouwer (waivers), signed Carlo Colaiacovo (free agent)

Season 8

Traded 2021 Round 3 pick to Lisbon for Yannik Weber

Traded Ryan Murray to Berlin for Christian Dvorak

Traded 2020 Round 2 pick (Alexis Vanier) to Lisbon for Dion Phaneuf and 2021 Round 3 pick

Season 9

Traded 2021 Round 2 pick to Helsinki for Cody Eakin

Traded 2022 Round 2 pick to Copenhagen for Brent Burns