Season 11: Minsk Hussars

Farm Club: Vitebsk Bears

GM: Igor Kirunov (only GM in team’s history)

Coach: Dave Tippett (replaced Guy Boucher, who replaced Lindy Ruff, who replaced Claude Julien)

Last season: 10th overall, (In playoffs, lost to Copenhagen)

Ins and Outs

(Season 10 to Season 11)

Out: Thomas Powell (free agent), Pavel Zacha (trade), Sergei Kostitsyn (free agent), Andrew MacDonald (free agent), David Schlemko (free agent), Colin Greening (free agent), Tyler Kennedy (free agent)

In: Talgat Zhailauov (waiver), Jyri Marttinen (free agent), Niclas Almari (trade), Warren Foegele (free agent), Brandon Davidson (free agent), Vasily Podkolzin (draft), Lasse Thomson (draft), John Beecher (draft), Kirill Marchenko (draft)

In Place (Key players signed past Season 11)

Simeon Varlamov, G; Ryan McDonagh, D; Michael Del Zotto, D; Jacob Josefson, C; Bo Horvat, C

Three Questions

1. Can the Hussars challenge for the President’s Trophy again? Minsk got a little better in Season 10 than they did the year before, so they are going in the right direction, but don’t expect them to be the team they were with Carey Price, Nicklas Backstrom, Patrick Kane and Milan Lucic in the lineup. They should be able to remain in the Top 10 in the league, though, because they will have high OV ratings out there – at every position – for about 45 minutes every game. By that, we mean their top two forward lines, their top four defensemen, and goalie Simeon Varlamov, should be able to compete with almost any lineup the EURO League wants to throw at them. The only real question with that top set of players is Kjetil Martinsen, the left wing skating on Line 2 with Bo Horvat and Alexander Burmistrov. Martinsen is a 27-year-old Norwegian who tends to shy away from contact, but he moves well and thinks well on the ice. Last season, he scored 15 goals and 45 points and was a +28 … so there you go; he can do the job. Still, he’s a level below the other five forwards on the Hussars’ top lines.

2. Are they in danger of losing games because of a lack of depth? Not really. Not more than most teams, at least. Minsk’s bottom 6 forwards and 3rd D pair will do well. Minsk’s top two forward lines take their defensive responsibilities very seriously and Hussar fans are proud of the fact their star players are all good two-way players. The third and fourth lines … not so much. The trio of Anton Lazarov, Derick Brassard and Nick Schmaltz will work some pretty plays and score some points for Minsk, but they tend to stay up ice a little too long to backcheck effectively. Coach Dave Tippett will fidget more on the bench when Tamir Ganbold and newcomer Niclas Almari are the only defensemen back there, but it’s all relative. They can’t possibly look good compared to the four players ahead of them on the depth chart, and their 78 and 72 OV ratings are good for a third pair. Swedish backup goalie Erik Kallgren gave team officials a good feeling when he had a 7-game tryout in Season 9 and saved pucks at a 91 percent rate, but he let them down a bit in Season 10 with a save percentage that dropped to 85.1 in 15 games. Now, what seemed like a safe bet a year ago at this time is a shaky one with Kallgren between the pipes.

3. Is the defense still strong? Maxim Chudinov and Michael Del Zotto are great. Period. And the 27-year-old Chudinov has yet to reach his development peak. His defensive skills are excellent, but they probably won’t catch up to his incredible skill with the puck. He can deftly maneuver the puck out his zone and find forwards at high speed. He has become one of the league’s fastest men and he has developed a wicked shot. Last season, Chudinov scored 18 goals and he once scored 20. Watching him play makes you wonder how he hasn’t notched 30 goals in a season … yet. Del Zotto has put a lot of miles on his skateblades in Minsk, averaging 24 minutes per game for 10 seasons. He still does everything well, but he IS past 30 now and the Hussars need to shift into Win Now mode while Del Zotto and Ryan McDonagh can still jostle and get jostled with the younger guys; and while they are still under contract. Aaron Ekblad is just 24 and he already has six full seasons behind him. Many in hockey think he can become the best defenseman in franchise history. If he wasn’t on the Minsk team with its superstar defensemen, he’d be logging 24 minutes or more per game. He is not as physical as Chudinov, Del Zotto or McDonagh, but he makes up for it with smart play and great stickhandling.

History

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

Season 10 10 92 13.9 81.8 33.50 26.18 3.41 3.10 8.84

Season 9 14 89 15.2 82.1 32.39 26.16 3.32 3.02 10.61

Season 8 1 119 19.3 84.4 36.04 24.96 3.94 2.49 9.37

Season 7 1 120 20.7 84.1 34.57 24.84 4.00 2.55 9.48

Season 6 1 144 20.1 84.2 35.04 25.32 3.96 2.13 9.96

Season 5 3 117 17.1 86.6 34.85 26.24 3.70 2.45 10.57

Season 4 7 106 19.0 83.4 33.55 28.05 3.24 2.67 12.18

Season 3 18 77 17.3 78.6 29.57 30.85 3.15 3.40 12.91

Season 2 19 74 15.1 81.9 26.40 31.21 2.71 3.41 10.29

Season 1 24 54 13.3 79.8 25.59 32.46 2.12 3.50 9.82

Top Draft picks

Season 1: Carey Price, G, current age 34. Games played: 676; Save Pct. 90.3

Season 2: Maxim Chudinov, D, age 27. GP 708; Pts 343; +178

Season 3: Valeri Nichushkin, RW, age 26. GP 581, Pts 213, +29

Season 4: Aaron Ekblad, D, age 24. GP 491; Pts 225; +158

Season 5: Kevin Clark, RW, age 26. GP 6, Points 0, 0

Season 6: Kevin Hayes, RW, age 27. GP 360; Pts 118, -65

Season 7: German Rubtsov, C, age 22.

Season 8: Nick Suzuki, C, age 20.

Season 9: Tim Bozon, LW, age 25. GP 69; Pts 10; -6

Season 10: Adam Boqvist, D, age 19.

Season 11: Vasily Podkolzin, RW, age 18.

Trade History

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

Traded Round 4 pick (used to draft Brent Burns) to St. Petersburg for Round 6 pick (used to draft Patrik Berglund) and 2013 Round 1 pick (Thomas Powell)

Traded Round 8 pick (traded later) (Andrej Meszaros) to Oslo for Round 17 pick (Zac Rinaldo) and 2013 Round 1 (Alex Galchenyuk)

Traded Round 12 pick (Dan Winnick) to Bern for Round 14 pick (Matt Cllen), Round 25 pick (later traded) (Dan Paille) and 2013 Round 3 pick (Nathan Beaulieu)

Traded Matt Cullen to Athens for Round 15 pick (Stefan Elliott)

Traded Matt Hunwick Round 25 pick (Dan Paille) and Round 25 pick (Alexei Emelin) to Edinburgh for Nick Bjugstad

Traded Vernon Fiddler and $1 million to Geneva for Alex Chiasson

Traded Round 21 pick (Raffi Torres) to Geneva for Brian Dumoulin

Traded Round 10 pick (Mikael Granlund) to Belfast for Round 11 pick (Romas Josi) and Round 15 pick (Andrej Sekera)

Season 2

Traded Andrej Sekera to Prague for Nicklas Grossman and 2015 Round 3 pick (Jon Merrill)

Traded Brayden Schenn and Kyle Clifford to Helsinki for Alexander Burmistrov

Traded Tobias Stephan to London for 2016 Round 3 pick (later traded)

Traded 2016 Round 3 pick (from London – Erik Forssell)) to London for Tobias Stephan

Traded Jonas Holos to Frankfurt for 2014 Round 2 pick (later traded) (Viktor Fasth)

Traded Patric Hornqvist and Mathis Olimb to Berlin for 2015 Round 1 that was later traded in Aaron Ekblad deal and used to pick (Sami Vatanen).

Season 3

Traded 2014 Rd 2 pick (Hunter Shinkaruk) to Helsinki for Sven Baertschi

Traded Roman Josi and Alexander Galchenyuk to Prague for Zach Parise

Traded Andres De La Garma to Copenhagen for 2015 Round 2 pick (later traded) (Julius Honka)

Traded Zach Parise to Gothenburg for Milan Lucic, 2016 Round 1 pick (later traded to Zurich in Patrick Kane deal – Sandro Zurkirchen) and 2017 Round 1 pick (Kevin Hayes)

Traded 2015 Round 3 pick (Brandon Montour) to Helsinki for Nick Spaling

Season 4

Traded Nick Bjugstad, Magnus Paajarvi and 2015 Round 1 pick (Sami Vatanen) to Frankfurt for 2015 Round 1 pick (Aaron Ekblad)

Traded Valeri Nichushkin, Sergei Kostitsyn and Ilya Nikulin to Geneva for Michael Del Zotto

Traded 2015 Round 2 pick (Julius Honka) to Stockholm for 2017 Round 3 pick (later traded to Munich in Mark Giordano trade and used to pick Calle Jarnkrok)

Traded Jon Merrill to Bern for 2017 Round 3 pick (later traded to Munich and used to pick Travis Dermott)

Traded Jakub Voracek, Nathan Beaulieu and 2016 Round 1 pick (Sandro Zurkirchen) to Zurich for Patrick Kane

Traded Patrik Berglund and Nick Leddy to Madrid for Jordan Staal

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

Traded two 2017 Round 3 draft picks (used to pick Calle Jarnkrok and Oliver Kylington (by Gothenburg)) to Munich for Mark Giordano

Season 5

Season 6

Traded 2017 Round 2 pick (Mathew Barzal) and 2017 Round 3 pick (Evgeny Svechnikov) to Lisbon for 2017 Round 2 pick (Colin White)

After Season 6 started:

Traded Dmitrij Jaskin to Zurich for Janne Niskala

Traded Kevin Hayes, 2018 Round 2 pick (Brandon Davidson) and 2019 Round 2 pick (Jimmy Vesey) to Edinburgh for Olivier Roland and 2018 Round 3 pick (Yegor Korshkov)

Claimed Jimmy Hayes off waivers

Lost Mark Giordano and Matt Martin off waivers

Season 7

Season 8

Traded Colin Wilson to Athens for 2019 Round 2 pick (Denis Malgin) and 2020 Round 3 pick (Erik Kallgren)

After Season 8 started:

Signed Tyler Kennedy, Sergei Kostitsyn and Colin Greening (free agents)

Claimed Michael Keranen (waivers)

Claimed Luke Adam (waivers)

Season 9

Traded 2021 Round 2 pick (Michael DiPietro) and 2023 Round 3 pick to Copenhagen for Henrik Lundquist

Season 10