Farm Club: Bergen (Norway) Bandits 

GM: Carl Choiniere (4th GM in team’s history)

Coach: Peter Laviolette (replaced Dave Cameron, who replaced Dave Hakstol after 1 game of Season 8. Hakstol replaced Claude Julien after Season 6, who replaced Peter Laviolette after Season 3)

Last season: 13th overall; In playoffs, lost to Stockholm

Ins and Outs

(Season 10 to Season 11)

Out: Devante Smith-Pelly (free agent), Brock Nelson (free agent), Andrej Sekera (free agent), J.T. Brown (free agent)

In: Niklas Danielsson (free agent), Jordan Binnington (draft), Adam Erne (draft), Christian Jaros (draft)

In Place

(Key players signed past Season 11)

Tyler Seguin, C; Connor McDavid, C; Tomas Hertl, LW; Zach Werenski, D; Shayne Gostisbehere, D

Three Questions

1. Choiniere. That doesn’t sound Norwegian. What’s this guy doing in Oslo? New General Manager Carl Choiniere is as Norwegian as any of us and he has taken over a team that has as much upward momentum as any team in the league. It’s shocking that Choiniere’s predecessor stuck with the team through its many dark days – pitch black, really – and then got out as budding superstars like Connor McDavid, Zach Werenski and several others are ready to soar. Choiniere and Coach Peter Laviolette will get to plug in first round draft pick Jordan Binnington as the backup goalie if they want (they do) to save $1.8 million of payroll. This team and its fans have been very patient and they are now ready to start their time as a EURO League bully – if they can stay out of each other’s way, that is. Laviolette might have some egos to massage because either McDavid or longtime Outlaw leader Tyler Seguin will have to play fewer minutes on the second line and there are four or five defensemen on the team capable of playing on the top pairing. This team will be fun to watch. It’s the most exciting thing to happen in Norway since the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
2. Who is the best defenseman on the Outlaws? All six starters from Season 10 are back this season and seriously, none is the best. They all contribute in different ways. Calvin De Haan led the group in plus/minus (+13), Morgan Rielly in points (36), Zach Werenski in blocked shots (108), Viktor Antipin in takeaways (74), Shayne Gostisbehere in shooting percentage (11.4) and 22-year-old Jacob Moverare in hits per minute of ice time (he had 167 in 17 minutes per game). The biggest problem they had last season was that the players who played the most had the worst plus/minus ratings. They were a young group that was overmatched by the league’s top units. But they are a year older and more experienced now and maybe Coach Laviolette can find a different way of using them so that one pair isn’t exposed too much.
3. Can former Rookie of the Year Niklas Danielsson ignite this team? Choiniere let right wing Devante Smith-Pelly leave through free agency and signed Swede Niklas Danielsson to replace him. Smith-Pelly was a big guy who could plant himself in front of the net, but he had trouble keeping pace and meshing with Tyler Seguin and Tomas Hertl on the Outlaws’ top line. Danielsson brings the promise that comes with 30-goal seasons the last two years. He has played with John Tavares and Steven Stamkos, so he should have the confidence to play with the elite Seguin, or with Connor McDavid if the situation arises. He is also a former Rookie of the Year trophy winner, the second in Oslo’s lineup. Shayne Gostisbehere is the other. In pre-season games, Danielsson has played on the second powerplay unit with veteran Zach Parise and big Anthony Mantha. McDavid played right wing on the top unit with Seguin, Hertl, Werenski and Gostisbehere. The message to other teams is clear: take bad penalties at your own risk.

History

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

Season 10            13         82      16.9      78.5    29.56     31.39     3.24     3.43 6.56

Season 9            20         69      19.9      76.2    25.85     34.98     3.00     3.80 6.70

Season 8            23         60      17.7      75.1     25.28     34.43      2.49      3.67  6.34

Season 7              20         67    17.6      80.9    25.00      35.32      2.65     3.54   7.65

Season 6             24        54     17.5      78.3      25.51      35.61     2.50     3.90   8.54

Season 5              24       41    10.9       78.5     23.34      34.59    2.22   3.83   8.71

Season 4              24         47    17.9     72.3   25.56    35.09   2.50     4.05   11.59

Season 3              21          75    16.2    83.4    27.82    33.43   3.07    3.66    12.21

Season 2              13         91  19.0    84.1    29.43    29.89    3.43    3.13    14.78

Season 1              10          93   17.6    80.8    31.83    29.71    3.66    3.35    10.80

Top Draft picks

Season 1: Shea Weber, D, current age 36. Games played: 778; points: 481; +196

Season 2: Fredrik Norrena, G, age 41. GP 71, Save Pct. 88.8 (retired)

Season 3: Elias Lindholm, C, age 27. GP 310, Pts 97, -16

Season 4: Tomas Hertl, LW, age 27. GP 508, Pts 341, -169

Season 5: Viktor Antipin, D, age 24. GP 488, Pts 106, -195

Season 6: Connor McDavid, C, 23. GP 338, Points 306, -72

Season 7: Shayne Gostisbehere, D, age 26. GP 307, Points 144,  -85

Season 8: Matt Murray, G, age 25. GP 205, Save Pct. 89.7

Season 9: Jacob Moverare, D, age 22. GP 131; Pts 35; -10 

Season 10: Ty Smith, D, age 19.

Season 11: Jordan Binnington, G, age 25.

Trade History

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

Traded Round 5 pick (used to draft Andrew Ladd) and Round 7 pick (Alex Goligoski) to Copenhagen for Round 3 pick (Jimmy Howard)

Traded Round 4 pick (Radim Vrbata) and Round 6 pick (Johan Franzen) to Bern for Daniel Sedin and Round 12 pick (Max Talbot)

Traded Round 17 pick (Zac Rinaldo) and 2013 Round 1 pick (Alex Galchenyuk) to Minsk for Round 8 pick

Traded Round 8 pick (Andrej Meszaros) and Round 12 pick (Boyd Gordon) to Copenhagen for Alexandre Burrows

Traded Justin Williams to Geneva for Matt D’Agostini, 2014 Round 2 pick (Andrei Loktionov) and $250,000

Traded 2014 Round 3 pick (Samuel Morin) to Milan for Dustin Penner

Season 2

Traded Thomas Vanek to Prague for P-A Parenteau

Traded Mark Giordano to Stockholm for Mark Fayne and 2014 Round 3 pick (Guillaume Latendresse)

Season 3

Traded Jimmy Howard to Berlin for Semyon Varlamov and Jarkko Immonen

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

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

Season 4

Traded 2016 Round 3 pick (traded later to Stockholm – Ryan Gunderson) to Helsinki for Wojtek Wolski

Season 5

Season 6

After Season 6 started: Signed Devan Dubnyk (free agent)

Season 7 

Traded 2018 Round 1 pick (Patrik Laine) to St. Petersburg for Devante Smith-Pelly and 2018 Round 1 pick (Shayne Gostisbehere)

Season 8

Traded Semyon Varlamov to St. Petersburg for Kari Lehtonen and Anthony Mantha

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11