Farm Club: Venice (Italy) Griffins
GM: Dennis Sullo (4th GM in team’s history)
Coach: Mike Sullivan (replaced Craig Berube after Season 9, Berube replaced Peter Laviolette after Season 8) (Laviolette replaced Paul MacLean after Season 4)
Last season: 22nd overall. Did not make playoffs,
Ins and Outs (Season 11 to Season 12)
Out: Tomas Tatar (free agent), Mats Zuccarello (free agent), Robert Hagg (waivers), Tanner Pearson (free agent), Lawson Crouse (waivers),
In: Nikita Kucherov (trade), Tyler Toffoli (free agent), Rasmus Andersson (waivers), Andrew Mangipane (free agent),
In Place (Key players signed past Season 12)
John Gibson, G; Ryan Strome, C; Jacob Trouba, D; Charlie McAvoy, D; Alexander Polunin, RW; Brayden Point, C
Three Questions
1 Did Zurich learn anything from that unsuccessful season? If you look at who the Lions drafted over the last five seasons, you might notice they all were immediately thrust into starting roles on the team. The result is the team has some young – yet experienced – players. Anthony Duclair got better defensively in Season 11, while Brayden Point, Jake Debrusk and Alexander Polunin picked up a lot of experience points and they are all just 24 now. Playing young stars hurts in the short term, but it could pay dividends down the road. Milan and Oslo are good recent examples of that. John Gibson was drafted as the goalie of the future and last season, after 4 years as a backup, he became the number one. Quinn Hughes and Neal Pionk took some lumps in their first season, but they will be better for it, too, in the long run. Aside from Patrice Bergeron and backup goalie Alexandar Georgiev, every player in the pro team lineup – plus 3 scratches – have PO ratings of 80 or higher. Expect a steady climb up the standings in Zurich.
2. What is the best part of Zurich’s game? Zurich did very well when someone – on either team – was in the penalty box in Season 11. They placed 8th in the league with the man advantage and 9th in penalty killing. The team’s leading scorer Jakob Voracek was a big part of both units. He led the team in PPG with 11 and tied for the team lead in shorthanded goals. Jake Debrusk is another forward who excelled on the PP. Ten of his 23 goals last season came with a man advantage. Tyler Toffoli scored even more PP goals last year (13) with Bratislava, and he is now a Lion after signing a long-term deal as a free agent. Expect him to be plugged right into a Zurich PP unit to make it even better. As has always been the case, the Lions relied on Patrice Bergeron on both special teams units. The first-ever Lion has seen his ice time reduced over the last two seasons, and he has definitely benefitted from the extra breathers. His plus-minus ratings those seasons were much better than it had in the previous five seasons. Bergeron, the face of the franchise, turned 37 years old during the off season, right about the time both he and GM Dennis Sullo realized they can’t live without each other. Bergeron signed a 2-year contract over the summer. He is still captain of the team and he has been a great mentor for Ryan Strome, who is quietly emerging as the heir apparent to Bergeron as team leader.
3. How are they at stopping the opposition? For the last three seasons, Zurich’s shots for and shots against averages have both been going in the right directions. Like the forward lines, the Lions defense is filled with fast skaters. Tyson Barrie represented the team in the Fastest Skater event of the Skills Competetion, and opponents know dumping the puck in against him and partner Jacob Trouba doesn’t work as well as it does against most defense duos. Coming up through system are Neal Pionk and Quinn Hughes, who are already skating at Barrie’s level. All six of the team’s defense seem to specialize in different parts of the defenseman’s job. Max Noreau will stay at home while Pionk joins the rush. Quinn Hughes will not be able to control himself in showing off his sick skating and passing skills, but that’s OK because Charlie McAvoy reads the ice like Sullo used to read Dr. Seuss books and he’ll have Hughes covered. Trouba has the best slapper on the team and Barrie is the PP quarterback. Both men in that pair are good leaders and at 85OV, the best all-around pair on the team. If the defense lacks anything, it’s size. Sullo added Adam Pelech and Rasmus Andersson to address that issue, but Andersson will start the season on the scratch team and Pelech will be with the Venice Griffins farm club.
History
Season Place PTS PP % PK % SPG SAPG GPG GAPG PIM
Season 1 22 58 17.1 81.9 28.72 31.37 2.83 3.88 10.55
Season 2 8 97 17.7 83.1 30.04 28.27 3.26 2.91 11.27
Season 3 15 85 15.8 81.3 31.13 29.44 3.52 3.54 11.99
Season 4 9 96 19.0 81.3 31.60 28.98 3.60 3.22 9.71
Season 5 15 82 20.2 80.4 29.66 30.71 3.29 3.38 7.39
Season 6 14 86 16.6 79.4 28.63 30.74 3.11 3.30 7.83
Season 7 18 71 14.8 78.9 29.33 29.34 2.96 3.44 8.50
Season 8 24 60 15.4 82.6 28.10 29.07 2.52 3.57 9.93
Season 9 17 73 17.7 81.7 25.90 33.10 2.66 3.43 8.23
Season 10 17 77 14.1 81.1 26.33 32.20 2.94 3.51 7.26
Season 11 22 63 18.3 82.5 28.46 30.87 3.10 3.79 7.33
Top Draft picks
Season 1: Patrice Bergeron, C, currently age 37. GP 869, Pts 813, -157
Season 2: Alexander Radulov, RW, age 30. GP 778, Pts 673, -12
Season 3: Tyson Barrie, D, age 30. GP 618, Pts 250, -57
Season 4: Tomas Tatar, LW, age 31. GP 646, Pts 367, -92
Season 5: Alexander Weiss, D, age 29. GP 455, Pts 168, -13
Season 6: John Gibson, G, age 27. GP 186, Save Percentage 88.4
Season 7: Anthony Duclair, RW, age 25. GP 293, Pts 106, +6
Season 8: Brayden Point, C, age 24. GP 309, Pts 189, -126
Season 9: Alexander Polunin, RW, age 24. GP 245, Pts 163, -149
Season 10: Quinn Hughes, D, age 21. GP 41; Pts 23; -10
Season 11: Neal Pionk, D, age 24. GP 29; Pts 7; -7
Season 12: Quinton Byfield, C, age 18.
Trade History
Season 1 (picks without years listed are from initial draft)
Traded Brad Richards to St. Petersburg for Patrick Kane
Traded Michael Ryder to Prague for Jussi Jokinen
Season 4
Traded Brian Elliott to Copenhagen for Roberto Luongo
Traded Alexander Radulov to Helsinki for Jacob Trouba
Traded Martin Thornberg to Copenhagen for 2016 Round 3 pick (Michael Keranen)
Traded Patrick Kane to Minsk for Jakub Voracek, Nathan Beaulieu and 2016 Round 1 pick (Sandro Zurkirchen)
Traded 2019 Round 3 pick (Drake Caggiula) to Belfast for Devan Dubnyk
Season 5
After Season 5 started Signed Ondrej Roman (free agent), signed Jimmy Hayes (free agent)
Season 6
After Season 6 started: Traded Janne Niskala to Minsk for Dmitrij Jaskin
Signed Nick Palmieri (free agent); claimed Mark Giordano (waivers), claimed Jori Lehtera (waivers), lost Jimmy Hayes (waivers)
Season 7
Traded Ilya Kovalchuk to St. Petersburg for Artem Anisimov, Brad Richards and 2019 Round 3 pick (Matt Benning)
after season 7 started: Claimed Jesper fast (waivers), Joonas Donskoi (waivers); lost Ben Smith (waivers)
Season 8
After Season 8 started: Claimed Mikael Granlund (waivers); Lost Michael Keranen (waivers); Signed Jaroslav Halak (free agent); Bought out Cam Ward
Season 9
Traded Charlie Coyle and Mark Pysyk to Bern for Jamie McBain
Traded T.J. Oshie to Stockholm for 2022 Round 2 pick (Alexandar Georgiev)
Traded Alexander Weiss and a 2021 Round 3 pick (Benoit-Olivier Groulx) to Bratislava for a 2021 Round 1 pick (Barrett Hayton)
Season 10
Traded Sandro Zurkirchen to Madrid for Danton Heinen
Season 11
Traded Carey Price and 2022 Round 2 pick (Cameron York) to Helsinki for 2022 Round 1 pick (Oskar Lindblom)
Season 12
Traded 2026 Round 3 pick to Dublin for Nikita Kucherov
Traded Maxim Noreau and Ilya Mikheyev to Munich for Ryan Gunderson and Alex Nylander
