Farm Club: Ausseer Almradler
GM: Hansi Huber (fifth GM in team’s history)
Coach: Mike Babcock (replaced Bary Trotz after season 11) (Trotz replaced Mike Johnston after Season 10) (Johnston replaced Bob Hartley after Season 4) (Hartley replaced Claude Noel after Season 3)
Last season: 11th overall, (In playoffs, defeated Olso; lost to Helsinki)
Ins and Outs (Season 11 to Season 12)
Out: Zach Bogosian (free agent), Ryan Johansen (free agent), Alexander Ovechkin (free agent), Wayne Simmonds (free agent), John Klingberg (free agent), Curtis Lazar (free agent), Adam Lowry (free agent), Nikita Nikitin (retired), Karl Alzner (free agent), Colton Sissons (free agent), Drew Stafford (free agent),
In: Jared Spurgeon (free agent), Josh Manson (free agent), Calle Jarnkrok (free agent), Matthias Bieber (free agent), Johan Larsson (free agent), Andrei Loktionov (free agent), Derek Ryan (waivers)
In Place
(Key players signed past Season 12)
Braden Holtby, G; Jack Eichel, C; Nikolaj Ehlers, LW; Olli Maatta, D; Cam Fowler, D
Three Questions
1. Why did the franchise pack its bags, change its identity and move to Austria? The Stockholm Eagles became the Vienna Augustiner soon after Hansi Huber took over the club. Back in 2003, Huber snuck into a meeting of the Swedish Parliament (The Riksdag), convinced the guards he was Kerstin Lundgren of the Centre Party, and gave a 45-minute speech in which he said, among other things, “Falcon beer sucks. In fact, all Swedish beer is inferior.” Soon after, his real identity was discovered and Huber made a formal apology: “Sorry. (hiccup)” He was run out of the country, nonetheless and he can no longer go to Sweden. He moved the franchise to Austria, where he swore allegiance to a beer brewed in Munich, Germany, a move that made little sense to his players. In the team’s first press conference in Austria, team captain Jack Eichel asked, “What the hell is going on here?” The team will now play in the city where the league office is located, leading many to wonder if Huber and league secretary/accountant Rose are involved in a love affair.
2. What do opponents need to look out for when they play the Augustiner? This club made it to the second round of the playoffs last season, so they are no joke. Half of their defense corps is made of up new names, so there will be some questions back there for a while, but up front, they will be nearly impossible to contain with 10 players of OV ratings of 78 or higher. Jack Eichel is the leader of the Vienna team and with Brayden Schenn and Nikolaj Ehlers on his wings, the 25-year-old American could approach 100 points this season. Ehlers and Schenn, both former Helsinki Jokerits who came over in one trade, are other players who could break out with a big offensive season. Neither has ever made it to the top line and if they stay there, expect Ehlers to zoom best his career bests of 20 goals and 50 points; and Schenn to eclipse his top totals of 30 goals and 67 points. The centers behind Eichel on the depth chart don’t get as much publicity as they should. Jacob Josefson and Andrei Loktionov always seem to exceed expectations with their solid two-way games.
3. How is the team’s goaltending? Braden Holtby was the starting goalie in Stockholm since he arrived in a trade with London back in Season 3. But there are hints his time with the team might be getting short. Holtby is 32 and being paid $7.5 million for this year and next. He has been – and still is – a top goalie in the league. He has made the all-star game five times and was the starter for the Northern Conference two all-star games ago. His save percentage has been over 90 every season and the last two seasons were his best, with save percentages of 91.5 and 91.0. Still, Huber signaled he is willing to listen to offers for the goalie. Carter Hart, 22, is just getting his feet wet in the EURO League, but many consider him to be the franchise’s goalie of the future. Hart was drafted as a prospect in the third round of the Season 8 draft, 62nd overall.
History
Season Place PTS PP % PK % SPG SAPG GPG GAPG PIM
Season 1 11 93 21.5 80.4 32.61 30.01 3.48 3.28 9.01
Season 2 24 49 12.7 80.0 25.37 34.78 2.33 3.93 11.18
Season 3 24 57 14.5 77.8 25.77 32.01 2.65 3.76 11.02
Season 4 15 82 16.9 79.1 26.33 32.91 3.04 3.26 10.00
Season 5 19 74 15.0 75.6 28.6 32.28 2.82 3.59 10.27
Season 6 8 93 17.6 81.8 29.88 31.88 3.04 3.09 10.46
Season 7 14 86 17.8 82.5 29.89 31.24 3.10 3.00 8.73
Season 8 9 91 16.9 84.4 31.23 29.85 2.96 2.99 8.37
Season 9 16 77 15.9 80.9 30.45 31.11 2.82 3.16 8.18
Season 10 5 106 18.1 84.3 30.90 39.05 3.51 2.63 9.76
Season 11 11 92 15.9 82.5 28.74 30.05 3.29 3.09 9.71
Top Draft picks
Season 1: Cam Ward, G, current age 38. Games played: 459; Save Pct: 89.5
Season 2: Mattias Sjogren, LW, age 29. GP 730, Pts. 239, -15
Season 3: Brendan Gallagher, RW, age 29. GP 724, Pts. 584, -31
Season 4: Olli Maatta, D, age 27. GP 641, Pts. 220, +74
Season 5: Jindrich Barak, D, age 26. GP 292, Pts. 70, -61
Season 6: John Klingberg, D, 28. GP 478, Points 199, +58
Season 7: Louis Domingue, G, age 28. GP 51, Save Pct. 87.4
Season 8: Brady Skjei, D, age 26. GP 326, Pts. 72, +12
Season 9: Joni Ikonen, C/RW, age 22.
Season 10: Ryan Merkley, D, age 20.
Season 11: Matias Maccelli, LW, age 20.
Season 12: Alexander Holtz; RW, age 18.
Trade History
Seasons 2 and 3
Traded Keaton Ellerby to London for 2014 Round 3 pick (Curtis Lazar)
Traded Ryan Ellis to Gothenburg for Zach Boychuk
Traded Gothenburg’s 2015 Round 2 pick (David Savard) to St. Petersburg for Kevin Bieksa
Traded Mikko Lehtonen and Gothenburg’s 2014 Round 1 pick (Jonathan Drouin) to Belfast for Rick Nash
Traded Jaden Schwartz to Milan for Mike Richards and 2015 Round 2 pick (later traded to Madrid in Rick Nash trade) (Jake Virtanen)
Traded Kyle Okposo and 2014 Round 1 pick (gotten back later in a trade) (used to pick Brendan Gallagher) to Milan for Dustin Brown and 2014 Round 2 pick (Marcus Foligno)
Traded Cam Ward to Athens for Miikka Kiprusoff and Michal Neuvirth
Traded Josef Vasicek to Paris for Derek Brassard, Ryan Ellis and T.J. Brodie
Traded Miko Koivu to Paris for Jaden Schwartz and Stockholm’s previously traded away 2014 Round 1 pick (Brendan Gallagher)
Traded Loui Eriksson to Berlin for Mikko Lehtonen and 2014 Round 1 pick (Madrid’s) (Sean Monahan)
Traded Mark Fayne and 2014 Round 3 pick (Guillaume Latendresse) to Oslo for Mark Giordano
Traded Ryan Clowe to Paris for 2014 Round 3 pick (Thomas Hickey)
Traded Mark Giordano and Matthieu Garon to Copenhagen for Jonas Hiller and Darroll Powe
Traded Eric Staal to Gothenburg for Sam Gagner, 2014 Round 1 pick (later traded) (Jonathan Drouin) and 2015 Round 2 pick (later traded in Martin St. Louis trade)(David Savard)
Traded Travis Hamonic to Paris for Dmitri Orlov and 2014 Round 1 pick (Bern’s) (Jake Muzzin)
Traded Thomas Hickey to Milan for Magnus Johansson
Traded Rick Nash and 2015 Round 2 pick (Milan’s) (Jake Virtanen) to Madrid Jeff Carter, Ryan Johansen and 2015 Round 1 pick (later traded) (Tomas Hertl)
Traded Dustin Brown to Moscow for Marcus Johansson and James Van Riemsdyk
Traded Magnus Johansson to Munich for Anton Babchuk
Traded Sam Gagner, Michal Neuvirth and 2015 Round 1 pick (Madrid’s) (later traded) (Tomas Hertl) to London for Braden Holtby
Traded Jordan Caron to Paris for Mike Green
Season 4
Traded Shane Doan, Anton Babchuk and Corey Potter to Bern for Mike Cammalleri and Dalton Prout
Traded 2017 Round 3 pick (later traded) (Calle Jarnkrok) to Minsk for 2015 Round 2 pick (Julius Honka)
Traded 2018 Round 3 pick (Nick Merkley) to Paris for Viktor Fasth
Traded T.J. Brodie to Copenhagen for Colin Greening
Traded Jonas Hiller to Madrid for Tomas Vokoun and 2015 Round 2 pick (Nikita Scherbak)
Season 5
Traded James Van Riemsdyk and Jakub Petruzalek to Dublin for Bobby Ryan
Traded Dmitri Orlov and Jake Muzzin to London for Zach Bogosian
Traded Nikita Scherbak to Helsinki for 2016 Round 2 pick (Connor Bleackley) and 2016 Round 3 pick (Oslo’s) (Ryan Gunderson).
Season 6
Traded Karl Alzner to Bratislava for Luke Adam
Traded Jeff Carter to Copenhagen for Steve Chalmers, 2017 Round 2 pick (Daniel Sprong) and 2017 Round 3 pick (Linden Vey)
Traded Mike Richards to Paris for Mikko Koivu, 2017 Round 2 pick (Mirco Mueller) and 2017 Round 3 pick (Vladislav Namestnikov)
Traded 2019 Round 2 pick (later traded to London and used to pick Martin Necas) to Berlin for Erik Ersberg
Traded Pavel Datsyuk to Helsinki for 2017 Round 3 pick (Johan Larsson)
Traded Marcus Foligno to Lisbon for Adam Lowry
Traded Mikko Koivu to Gothenburg for Eric Staal
Traded Sean Monahan, Craig Smith, Jindrich Barak, Cody Ceci and 2018 Round 1 pick (Alexander Nylander) to Munich for Jack Eichel, Charlie Coyle and 2018 Round 2 pick (Sam Steel)
After Season 6 started:
Traded Marcus Johansson to Prague for Bryan Little
Traded Simon Despres to Bratislava for Mark Pysyk
Traded J.T. Miller and Connor Bleakley to Prague for Tomas Jurco
Season 7
Traded Jeff Carter and 2020 Round 1 pick (Ryan Poehling) to Berlin for David Krejci and 2020 Round 2 pick (Joni Ikonen)
Traded Mattias Sjogren to St. Petersburg for Mats Zuccarello and 2018 Round 2 pick (Louis Domingue)
after season started: Traded Tomas Jurco and Dalton Prout to Copenhagen for Ilya Nikulin and Lars Eller; lost Riley Nash (waivers).
Season 8
Traded Ilya Nikulin to St. Petersburg for Joakim Hillding
Traded 2020 Round 3 pick (Dylan Samberg) to Milan for 2019 Round 3 pick (Carter Hart)
Season 9
Traded 2022 Round 2 pick (Alexandar Georgiev) to Zurich for T.J. Oshie
Traded Brendan Gallagher to Helsinki for Nikolaj Ehlers and Brayden Schenn
Season 10
Traded 2021 Round 1 pick (Jesperi Kotkaniemi) to Helsinki for 2021 Round 1 pick (Ryan Merkley) and 2021 Round 2 pick (Veini Vehvilainen)
Traded Andrew Ladd, Michael Grabner, Aleksi Heponiemi, 2022 Round 1 pick (traded away, Oskar Lindblom) and 2023 Round 2 pick (Jacob Perreault) to Helsinki for Blake Wheeler, Kyle Okposo, Filip Chytil, Adrian Kempe, 2022 Round 3 pick (Geneva’s, Matias Maccelli) and 2023 Round 3 pick (Daniel Torgersson)
Season 11
Season 12
