Owner: Ralph Schwarz, from the Schwarz-Lidl discount store family, hockey and Alpine skiing fan extraordinaire.

Farm Club: Hamburg (Germany) Freezers 

GM: Grant Sayle  (9th GM in team’s history)

Coach: Paul Maurice (replaced Mike Sulllivan after Season 9; Sullivan replaced Craig Berube after Season 6)

Last season: 19th overall, (did not make playoffs)

Ins and Outs (Season 9 to Season 10)

Out: Daniel Sedin (retired), Eric Gryba (free agent), Teddy Purcell (free agent), Jordan Caron (free agent), Scott Wilson (free agent), Kyle Clifford (free agent)

In: Jesper Bratt (draft), Oliver Bjorkstrand (draft), Cale Fleury (draft), Jack McBain (draft)

In Place (Key players signed past Season 10)

Attila Adorjan, G; David Krejci, C; Filip Forsberg, LW; Sean Monahan, C; Fyodor Malykhin, C; Clayton Keller, RW

Three Questions

1. Why didn’t Munich make many changes? General Manager Grant Sayle has given the Red Bull organization something it hasn’t had in a while: stability. Sayle is the 9th GM in 10 seasons. No other franchise has experienced that many leadership changes. Sayle inherited the results of a few and moves that didn’t work out as well as his predecessors had hoped, and he’s living with some big money contracts that are definitely speed bumps in his path. Seven players who are 33 years old or older tying up $47.9 million in salaries. It’s true that many of those seven are among the better players on the team, but four of them have been sent to the farm team in Hamburg to start the season. Once those big contracts expire, Sayle will have more flexibility in the trade and free agent markets. The quiet off-season has its subtle benefits. Munich’s younger players now have the chance to grow together with a semblance of security. That is, management has shown some faith in them to gain experience in the organization and that has rarely been the case in the past in Bavaria.

2. What does Red Bull see in Jesper Bratt? Bratt was the first player selected in the last draft. He went ahead of highly touted Rasmus Dahlin of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. Bratt now has huge expectations to live up to. His selection was surprising. So is the fact that while second-round pick Oliver Bjorkstrand will start the season on Red Bull’s third line, Bratt, who’s only 19, will get some needed seasoning on the the farm with the Hamburg Freezers. Scouts see him eventually developing into a quick-strike offensive weapon, but he definitely back checks and they like that a lot. We see this line soon materializing in Munich: Sean Monahan at center with Bratt and Bjorkstrand on his wings. The team already has playmaker Fyodor Malykhin and sniper Filip Forsberg as a young dynamic offensive duo, so opponents can plan on having their hands full with some clever, quick and skilled forwards in Munich.

3. What will Munich fans see this season? One thing they are used to seeing is their team being outshot in a game. Between Seasons 2 and 9, the Red Bull team has had a higher shots allowed average than a shots for average. They are likely to see that again this season, especially with veteran defenseman Andrej Meszaros starting the season in Hamburg. Last season, two Munich defensemen did a good job of joining the offense and they will be back at it this season. Kevin Dallman (43 points in Season 9) and Thomas Hickey (33 points) will get good minutes at even strength and on the powerplay. Goalie Attila Adorjan was really, really good in his rookie season and there is a lot of excitement about him in Germany and around Europe. Because of Adorjan, veteran Cory Schneider is starting the season in Hamburg. Up front, Munich fans have some exciting and dynamic players to cheer on. Coach Paul Maurice has two expert shooters he’s trying to match with clever passers. Look for David Krejci to dish off sweet passes to Filip Forsberg on one line and for Fyodor Malykhin to set up Ilya Kovalchuk right after Krejci makes it to the bench on line changes. And flashy Clayton Keller could be on the ice with either pair at any time to give defenders fits. Add Monhan to that fivesome and you have the makings of two dangerous powerplay units. Chris Stewart and Miks Indrasis add some beef to the lineup and both can score goals.

History

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

Season 9 19 71 18.1 78.9 28.79 31.59 2.94 3.65 7.67

Season 8             20          67        18.70   79.40       28.70    31.66      2.80     3.35        8.23

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 34. Games played: 599; Save Pct 91.3

Season 2: Talgat Zhailauov, C, age 30. GP 627, Pts 414, +2

Season 3: Andrew Shaw, RW, age 28. GP 451, Pts 126, -15

Season 4: Radko Gudas, G, age 29. GP 424, Pts 117, -59

Season 5: Fyodor Malykhin, LW, age 26. GP 374; Pts240; +14

Season 6: Jack Eichel, C, 23. GP 289; Pts 191; +12

Season 7: Clayton Keller, C, age 20. GP 82, Pts 29, -25

Season 8: Cale Makar, D, age 20.

Season 9: Attila Adorjan, G, age 23. GP 53; Sv Pct. 90.3

Season 10: Jesper Bratt, LW, age 19.

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 (Isaac Ratcliffe) to Lisbon for 2019 Round 2 pick (Nikita Zaitsev)

Traded Craig Smith and Josh Bailey to Madrid for Colin Greening, 2020 Round 2 pick (Linus Hogberg) and 2021 Round 2 pick (Cale Fleury)

After Season 8 started:

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

Lost Jordan Caron (waivers)

Season 9

Season 10