Owner: Bogdan Podarok, entrepeneur

Farm Club: Aalborg (Denmark) Pirates 

GM: Austin Dwyer  (3rd GM in team’s history)

Coach: Randy Carlyle (replaced Guy Boucher after Season 5)

Last season: 19th overall; missed playoffs

Ins and Outs  (Season 10 to Season 11)

Out: Beau Bennett (free agent), Dylan Olsen (free agent), Petr Zamorsky (free agent), Pierre-Marc Bouchard (retired)

In: P.K. Subban (free agent), Jack Hughes (draft), Pyotr Kochetkov (draft),

In Place (Key players signed past Season 11)

Dylan Sikura, C; Petr Vrana, LW; Andrei Svechnikov, RW; Carl Hagelin, LW; Oscar Klefbom, D

Three Questions

1. Was Jack Hughes the right choice? Gothenburg won the draft lottery and moved up from pick number 6 to number 1, snapping up American center Jack Hughes in no time. Was it the right move? It is very likely that it was a big win for Gburg. Frolunda fans will be giddy once Hughes gets his Websim attributes. The 18-year-old is on pace in the NHL for 34 points and 165 shots on goal in 16 minutes of ice time. His defensive ratings won’t be as good, but overall, he should get great grades. In the World Junior tournament, a couple of other Gothenburg prospects showed high-level talent: Sweden’s Rasmus Sandin and America’s Oliver Wahlstrom. Add those three prospects to what Gothenburg already has, and you are looking at a formidable nucleus of U23 players. Hughes will eventually have to compete with Dylan Sikura for the top center job and that won’t be easy. Sikura has already put up point totals of 61 and 55 in his first two seasons in the league. Andrei Svechnikov is a very strong offensive player who should get into the lineup soon.

2. Where will Gothenburg need help? Frolunda management has been very loyal to their fans and players over the years. Stars and fan favorties stay with the orgainzation for a long time. Goalie Pekka Rinne is 39 years old and his backup, Ben Scrivens is 34. If Gothenburg doesn’t need immediate help in goal this season, they will for sure next season. Rinne’s numbers have understandbly deflated in the last couple of years. He used to post goals against averages under 3. His last two seasons saw his average bloat to 3.87 and 3.90, and his save percentage has also declined a lot. The addition of free agent P.K. Subban was an excellent one for Gothenburg and his skating, skill and toughness will help the goalies for sure. With T.J. Brennan and Oscar Klefbom also seeing prime time on the Frolunda blueline, fowards will get plenty of good passes in the opponents’ zone, but they better not neglect their backchecking responsibilities, because team defense will be needed this season.

3. How about the offense? It is simply a given that the top line of Adam Henrique, Jordan Eberle and Petr Vrana will be among the top lines in hockey. All three have mutliple 30-goal seasons on their resumes and they are all in the prime of the their careers. Henrique, who is solid in all areas, is 9th all-time in scoring with 809 points in 807 games. How well the Frolunda will do this season might depend on how the other lines perform. Second-line center Dylan Sikura looks like he could blossom into one of the top scorers in the EURO soon, but that line is a bit fuzzy right now. Will Sikura see Finn Olli Palola on his right? Will 33-year-old Carl Hagelin keep his longtime job on the left wing of that line, or will he be moved down to Louis Leblanc’s side to form a checking line? If so, then look for Linus Klasen to be bumped up to join Sikura. Spencer Smallman, a 25-year-old winger, might have an elevated role this season. He is a feisty, atheletic Canadian whose lack of defensive play has held him back in the past.

History

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

Season 10              19          72            17.3      77.3      27.68       31.26    3.04   4.01     12.39

Season 9              23          65            17.0      79.9      29.16       32.12       2.99    4.05     11.40

Season 8              22          66            17.9      77.3      28.57       31.28       2.71    3.67     12.12

Season 7               10          92            20.5      80.9       29.96      29.39      3.45     3.32      10.20

Season 6                7           96             18.2       83.8      29.55     29.02      3.12     2.91      10.63

Season 5              17            80            16.50    82.20    28.93      31.80      2.84     3.16      10.73

Season 4                8            104          18.6      79.4       29.73     29.84      3.56     2.87       8.06

Season 3              11             91            18.9      83.4       28.96     30.91     3.41      3.46     10.98

Season 2              15            86            17.4      84.6      30.12     30.93     3.44      3.50     11.02

Season 1              14             88           17.4       86.6      30.74     28.65     3.26     3.13      7.95

Top Draft picks

Season 1: Adam Henrique, C, current age 31. Games played: 807; points: 809; -107

Season 2: Petr Vrana, LW, age 30. GP 710; Pts 449; -72

Season 3: Beau Bennett, RW, age 29.  GP 584; Pts 192; -64

Season 4: none

Season 5: Linus Klasen, LW, age 27. GP 259; Pts 103; -13

Season 6: Oliver Kylington, D, 23.

Season 7: Kieffer Bellows, LW/C, age 22.

Season 8: Kailer Yamamoto, RW, age 21.

Season 9: Dylan Sikura, C, 22. GP 159, Pts 116, -13

Season 10: Andrei Svechnikov, RW, age 19. GP 9; Pts 0; -1

Season 11: Jack Hughes, C, age 18.

Trade History

Season 2

Traded Sam Gagner, 2014 Round 1 pick (traded later) (used to draft Jonathan Drouin) and 2015 Round 2 pick (David Savard) to Stockholm for Eric Staal

* missing one trade, probably in this period.

Season 3

Traded Milan Lucic, 2016 Round 1 pick (Sandro Zurkirchen) and 2017 Round 1 pick (Kevin Hayes) to Minsk for Zach Parise

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

Traded 2015 Round 1 pick (Dan Dekeyser) and 2015 Round 3 pick (Alex Tuch) to Milan for Antti Niemi

Season 4

Traded Morgan Rielly, Eric Gelinas and 2017 Round 2 pick (Brayden McNabb) to Oslo for Ryan Suter

Traded Martin St. Louis, Antti Niemi, Erik Johnson, Scott Harrington, Zack Phillips, 2016 Round 3 pick (Andreas Englund), 2017 Round 3 pick (Ivan Trenin) and 2018 Round 1 pick (Jakob Chychrun) to St. Petersburg for Pekka Rinne, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Blake Wheeler

Traded Zach Parise to Lisbon for 2016 Round 1 pick (Linus Klasen)

Traded Ryan Suter and Blake Wheeler to Moscow for Kevin Dallman and 2016 Round 1 pick (Olli Palola)

Traded 2018 Round 3 pick (Trevor Van Riemsdyk) to Moscow for Aleksey Morozov

After Season 5 started

Signed Frazer McLaren (free agent)

Traded 2019 RD 3 pick (Anton Slepyshev) to Copenhagen for Anthony Nigro (formerly named Chris Legge)

Claimed Louis Leblanc (waivers)

Season 6

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

Traded Eric Staal to Stockholm for Mikko Koivu

Season 7

After season started: signed Mike Cammalleri (free agent), signed Pascal Dupuis (free agent)

Season 8

Traded John Carlson and 2021 Round 3 pick (Drake Batherson) to St. Petersburg for Oscar Klefbom, Kevin Fiala and 2021 Round 1 pick (Oliver Wahlstrom)

Season 9

Season 10

Traded 2022 Round 3 pick (Martin Fehervary) to St. Petersburg for 2021 Round 3 pick (Jan Drozg)

Season 11