GM: Igor Kirunov
Coach: Dave Tippett
Last season: 7th overall. In playoffs,
Ins and Outs
(Season 12 to Season 13)
In: Jaccob Slavin (free agent), Thomas Powell (waiver), Robin Lehner (free agent), Petr Vrana (free agent), Attila Adorjan (free agent), Morten Madsen (free agent), Radko Gudas (free agent), Ville Vahalahti (free agent), Eddie Lack (free agent), Keith Kincaid (free agent),
Out: Michael Del Zotto (trade), Carey Price (free agent), Simeon Varlamov (bought out), Nick Schmaltz (free agent), Bobby Ryan (free agent), Cam Atkinson (free agent), David Krejci (free agent), Erik Kallgren (free agent)
Potential Lineup
Petr Vrana/Bo Horvat/Thomas Powell
Talgat Zhailauov/Morten Madsen/Alexander Burmistrov
Craig Smith/Nick Suzuki/Ville Vahalahti
Tim Bozon/Colin White/Ivan Barbashev
Maxim Chudinov/Aaron Ekblad
Jaccob Slavin/Stefan Ulmer
Jake Gardiner/Niclas Almari
Robin Lehner/Attila Adorjan
Three Questions
1. Does Igor Kirunov still love his defensemen? General Manager Igor Kirunov made several substantial moves after his team moved up to 7th place overall in Season 12. But he barely touched the defense corps that has been the backbone of the franchise for a decade. Ryan McDonagh and Kris Russell filtered out of the team a few years ago, and Michael Del Zotto departed for London this season, but Maxim Chudinov and Aaron Ekblad remain to be the leaders of this team. From last year, Stefan Ulmer, Jake Gardiner and Niclas Almari remain and Minsk made a huge pickup in free agency when they won a bidding contest for free agent Jaccob Slavin, a totally reliable and durable blueliner with five seasons in Belfast under his belt. He becomes the slowpoke in a defense corps built for speed. But he has the requisite hockey sense and defensive play-reading ability that the Hussars have turned into an art over the years.
2. How about the goalie position? Minsk scored a coup in free agency in getting Slavin and they might have done better in acquiring goalies through the free agent market. Robin Lehner, who was the main man in Madrid since Season 4 is a Hussar now and he will be expected to carry them deep into the playoffs until he’s 35 years old, signing a multi-year $5.9 million deal with Kirunov a few weeks ago. His save percentage has decreased a little in each of the last two seasons, but Minsk’s defense should make that average go up. We think Minsk did just as well in signing former first-round draft pick Attlia Adorjan to back Lehner up. The Hungary native has been the top goalie in Munich for three of the last four seasons and he’s only 26. It will be interesting to see if he improves his numbers behind Ekblad and Chudinov. We think he will.
3. Who will be doing the goal scoring? Aussie Thomas Powell, 32, is back in black after trying his luck in Munich and Athens. Powell pretty much learned the game in the Hussar system, playing in it for 9 seasons before wanderlust got to him. But he’s home again after topping 30 goals the last two years. He has scored at least 70 points five times now and his career-best total (78) was just a season ago. Look for him to be the one 27-year-old center Bo Horvat (51 assists last year) looks for in the clutch. Or Petr Vrana, a speedy newcomer to the team just might steal the show. The 32-year-old played 11 seasons for Gothenburg and has three 30-goal seasons he can look back at. Like Powell, he just had his career-best season with 34 goals and 77 points. That should be an excellent line with three sound two-way players. Further down the lineup, management will be keen on getting top prospect Nick Suzuki experience and they might choose to have veteran Craig Smith mentor him for a season.
Rose’s Focus
“In Season 8, Minsk was playing in the Cup finals against Bratislava and were trailing 3-1 in the series. I remember Sepp Blatter left his office door open and I heard him say “It doesn’t matter to me; I just want an automatic transmission. And congratulations, Igor.” I figured he had to be talking to either Igor Larionov, Igor Kravchuk or Igor Kirunov. Minsk won the next three games and the Cup. Sepp had a new car a few weeks later. I am not saying there could have been a connection between those two events, but …. OK, maybe I am. Let’s just say I will be keeping a close eye on Sepp and Igor this season.”
