Team Owner: C. Montgomery Burns, owner, Springfield Nuclear Power Plant

Farm Club: Tottenham Templars

GM: Eric Smith (5th GM in team’s history)

Coach: Barry Trotz (replaced Darryl Sutter after Season 7, who replaced Ken Hitchcock after Season 6)

Last season: 21st overall; did not make the playoffs

Ins and Outs

(Season 8 to Season 9)

Out: Kevin Shattenkirk (free agent), Anders Lee (waivers), Gregory Beron (waivers), Sam Gagner (free agent), Jordan Caron (free agent), Jean-Francois Berube (free agent)

In: Phil Kessel (free agent), Olivier Roland (free agent), Janne Niskala (free agent), Dominik Lakatos (draft), Andreas Eder (draft), Jiri Patera (draft), Eduard Zarkharchenko (draft)

In Place

(Key players signed past Season 9)

Taylor Hall, RW; Jeff Skinner, C; Brandon Saad, LW; William Nylander, LW; Martin Jones, G;

 

 

 

Three Questions

1. What’s the most newsworthy thing to happen in London in the last 14 days? A lot of people are going to point to the birth of Prince Louis on April 23, or the retirement of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, but those events pale in comparison to the drafting of  Dominik Lakatos first overall by the new-look London Ice Gods and General Manager Eric Smith. Lakatos is only 18 and he will have to wait a few years to earn top-line minutes, but he is the real deal, the realest deal in fact to come along since Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine. Lakatos, a Czech, isn’t a speedster by any means, and his defensive skills will be good, but not great; but his hockey sense and hands are off the charts. In London, which is and always has been loaded with slick, skilled young forwards, Lakatos should thrive. In fact, it’s probably the best possible scenario for both player and team – a match made in heaven.

2. Smith has been making a lot of moves. Why? Even teams loaded with young talent have to adhere to the salary cap and London had to waive some decent players. In the process of losing Gregory Beron and Anders Lee, the Ice Lords got more savvy in veterans Phil Kessel and Olivier Roland. Defense star Kevin Shattenkirk refused to resign with the team (unofficially due to quarrels he had with goalie Martin Jones – but you didn’t hear it here) and Smith replaced him with a solid, underrated guy in Janne Niskala. The three signings this week signal a shift to a more seasoned, older team. Still, if you look down the “age” column on the Ice Lords roster, you see alot of 21s and 26s. Jake Gardiner was the oldest at 29 until the dinosaurs Kessel, Niskala and Roland joined the team. If the extra experience helps cut the shots against totals down a bit  (London was 5th worst in that category last year) that could translate into a little more puck time for the creative offensive players.

3. Was Taylor Hall sick last season? Taylor Hall was 7th on the London team in scoring last season. Let that sink in a little. Hall led London in scoring twice and he’s usually right around Jeff Skinner at the top of the team scoring list. But last year was miserable for Hall. His 40 points was his lowest total in 6 seasons. His ice time was cut dramatically from 26 minutes per game in Season 7 to 14 minutes in Season 8. That -68 plus/minus rating surely had something to do with that. But Hall has scored 30 or more goals three times in his career and he’s in his prime years at age 28. Maybe GM Smith will influence Coach Barry Trotz to at least start Hall out on the top line with Skinner before Lakatos pushes him aside for good. Reporters in London say that’s how it looks from watching early training camp sessions – Hall is skating with Skinner and Brandon Saad. And in a clear example of the depth and balance on the London team, last year’s leading scorer Jason Zucker is penciled in on the fourth line with Nikita Kucherov and Jake Guentzel. And here’s a sidebar we want to write about London: Fans have been waiting for years for Swedish winger Jimmie Ericsson to show why scouts loved him in his draft year (he went 10th overall in Season 2) and if you look at his stats, he hasn’t answered that question yet. Coaches and GMs have given him ample opportunity to shine, but it seems he is still the guy with potential – at age 26. But look closer and you will see a strange development with Ericsson. He was supposed to be an offensive force who might some day win the Sportsmanship Trophy and he wasn’t supposed to be a good defensive player or someone who uses his size well. Just the opposite seems to be happening with Ericsson. Last year, he tied for the team lead in hits among forwards and his defensive numbers were pretty good. Fans and media people might have to change their expectations for the Swede.

History

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

Season 8              21         67            16.2     81.7    26.34    31.51   2.89    3.59   6.06

Season 7              23          62            13.5    81.0    27.48   32.38    2.60    3.66   7.59

Season 6              11          89           20.2   81.0   28.93   31.40      3.33    3.33   8.35

Season 5              10          93          16.6     79.4  28.82   30.26    3.26   3.00    7.99

Season 4              16           81         16.2    81.5   29.68    31.62     3.12    3.40     8.61

Season 3              21           75         16.3    75.7   30.24    30.94     3.09    3.51    11.10

Season 2              23           56         16.2    77.2    26.96    34.29    2.66    3.84    11.24

Season 1              15           88        14.9    83.5    30.79    29.77    3.07    3.13    10.79

Top Draft picks

Season 1: Marc-Andre Fleury, G, current age 35. Games played: 478; Save Pct: 89.7

Season 2: Jimmie Ericsson, LW, age 26. GP 362, Pts 146, -7

Season 3: Braden Holtby, G, age 29. GP 387, Save pct: 90.4

Season 4: Martin Jones, G, age 28. GP 250, Save Pct. 90.2

Season 5: Artemy Panarin, RW, age 28. GP 268, Pts 104, +3

Season 6: Anders Lee, LW, age 27. GP 177, Points 65, -21

Season 7: Ryan Spooner, C, age 25. GP 123, Points 35, -30

Season 8: Jake Guentzel, LW, age 23. GP 82, +18

Season 9: Dominik Lakatos, RW, age 18. GP 31, +18

Trade History

Season 2

Traded Semyon Varmalov to Berlin for Andrey Bykov, Tim Erixon and 2014 Round 2 pick (Robert Hagg)

Traded 2016 Round 3 pick to Minsk for Tobias Stephan

Traded Tobias Stephan to Minsk for 2016 Round 3 pick

* missing two trades, one which sent Bykov to Oslo.

Season 3

Traded Tyler Seguin and Luca Sbisa to Oslo for Pavel Datsyuk and Shea Weber

Traded Braden Holtby to Stockholm for Sam Gagner, Michal Neuvirth and 2015 Round 1 pick (Nikita Kucherov)

Traded Shea Weber to Copenhagen for Kevin Shattenkirk, Teddy Purcell and Carl Gunnarsson

Season 4

Traded Zach Bogosian to Stockholm for Dmitri Orlov and Jake Muzzin

Season 5 

Season 6

After Season 6 started:

Traded Erik Forssell and 2018 Round 3 pick (Adam Mascherin) to Berlin for 2018 Round 2 pick (Bern’s – Joonas Donskoi) and 2019 Round 2 pick (Stockholm’s) (Martin Necas)

Season 7

After season started: Traded 2019 Round 2 pick (Klim Kostin) to Berlin for Dion Phaneuf; signed Theo Peckham (free agent), Justin Braun (free agent), lost Ryan Spooner (waivers), lost Joonas Donskoi (waivers)

Season 8

Traded Dion Phaneuf and Michael Grabner to Lisbon for Damon Severson and 2021 Round 3 pick

After Season 8 started:

Claimed Jordan Caron (waivers)

Season 9

Traded 2021 Round 3 pick to Berlin for 2020 Round 3 pick (Eduard Zakharchenko)