GM: Jukka Tuominen
Coach: Brent Sutter
Last season: Placed 1st overall. In playoffs, defeated Stockholm, then defeated Copenhagen, then defeated Belfast, then lost to Berlin in the Finals.
Ins and Outs
(Season 12 to Season 13)
In: Jakub Petruzalek (free agent), Sebastian Uvira (free agent), Lorenzo Maas (free agent), Noah Dobson (Season 10 draft), John Hayden (free agent), Taylor Fedun (free agent), Tan Hellerod (free agent), Byron Froese (free agent),Brett Seney (free agent), Michael Sgarbossa (free agent),
Out: Anze Kopitar (free agent), Brandon Montour (trade), Diego Kostner (free agent), Scott Laughton (free agent), Brandon Dubinsky (free agent), Sergei Kostitsyn (free agent), Jiri Tlusty (free agent), Trevor Moore (free agent), Corey Crawford (retired)
Potential Lineup
Brendan Gallagher/Jonathan Toews/Taylor Hall
Kyle Connor/Jakub Petruzalek/Brock Boeser
Alex Debrincat/Sam Bennett/Charlie Coyle
Sebastian Uvira/Jesperi Kotkaniemi/John Hayden
Zach Bogosian/Nerius Alisauskas
Matt Dumba/Henri Jokiharju
Lorenzo Maas/Noah Dobson
Karri Ramo/Alexandar Georgiev
Three Questions
1. Does Jukka really expect Jakub Petruzalek to replace Kopitar? You never know with Helsinki GM Jukka Tuominen – the guy is a good GM – but we are going to go to the casino and place a bet that Petruzalek won’t lead the league in scoring as a second-line center for Helsinki. If he does, he will equal what Kopitar did last season. The Slovenian Kopitar left in free agency and signed for $3.2 million in Bratislava. The 32-year-old Petruzalek signed for $2.8 million in Finland, so as it turned out, Helsinki could have fit Kopitar under the cap after all. But don’t sell the Czech Petruzalek short. Jonathan Toews and Kopitar joined Helsinki last year and both promptly put up the best seasons of their impressive careers. The same could happen for Petruzalek, who will be playing with accomplished wingers in Brock Boeser and Kyle Connor. Both Boeser and Connor scored 82 points last season. Petruzalek was a Moscow Maniac in Season 12, scoring 59 points and taking more than 200 shots on goal for the second time in a career that started in Season 3. He has become a solid, well-rounded player who has turned in positive turnover ratios for the last 7 seasons. It looks like he will be rested when Helsinki has the powerplay but expect to see him out there killing penalties for the Jokerit.
2. Why didn’t they win the Cup last season? Helsinki and Oslo were the class of the league throughout the regular season and oddsmakers had them neck and neck for the Cup. But the Smurfs played spectacular, unbeatable hockey in the playoffs and no one could touch them. Helsinki did nothing wrong, they just met up with a good foe on a real roll. Helsinki was the highest scoring team in the league last season and they had the highest scoring invididual too. That guy, Anze Kopitar, has been lost to free agency and that could be a huge loss for the team. But the Jokerit didn’t take much of a hit elsewhere in their lineup, so it could be another successful season for the Jokerit. By the end of the season, people will realize Brendan Gallagher is one of the very best wingers in hockey. Not only does he buzz around causing mayhem, he produces offense too. Like 38 goals last season and an average of 33 the four years before that. He had 71 giveaways and 135 takeaways. Good grief. Playing another season with Jonathan Toews and Taylor Hall as his linemates won’t hurt him at all, will it? You can also expect great plus/minus numbers from a third line of Sam Bennett, Charlie Coyle and Alex Debrincat.
3. How will they be at stopping pucks this season? Zach Bogosian set a league record for plus/minus last season at +76. That means that on average, he was out there for an extra goal almost every game. His name my be in the record book permanently. The northern New York state native was part of the league’s best defense. Kari Ramo in goal was great. He had a 91.5 save percentage and a 2.09 goals against average. The fact those numbers were so much higher than he achieved in Lisbon over the pervious 10 seasons tells you that Helsinki’s team defense is top of the line. Bogosian, 33, and Nerius Alisauskas, 29, are back as the top defense duo. Bogosian has been an all-star the last 3 seasons and Alisuaskas the last 2 seasons. That tells you the kind of defense pair they are. Matt Dumba is back too on the second pair, but his partner from last season, Jack Johnson, has been sent to the farm club. And the youngster of last year’s group, Henri Jokiharju will have a new partner too, because Brandon Montour was traded away. Who did GM Jukka Tuominen and Coach Brent Sutter pick to replace Johnson and Montour? Well, money was a concern. The new guys had to be cheaper, unfortunately. Lorenzo Maas, 29, played for Milan for two seasons and was a minor leaguer last season in Madrid’s system. He is undersized – except in the heart department – and he is good with a puck. Johnson was a better defensive defenseman. And young Noah Dobson, one of two first-round picks the Jokerit made in Season 10, has made the team and will play on the bottom pairing. Scouts worry about his defense but like Maas, he is good with the puck.
Rose’s Focus
“I always wondered why Sam Bennett was ranked so high when the 2014 NHL draft came around. He was picked 4th overall by Calgary and I’m still waiting to see why. Nice mustache and all, but show me something more, Bennett. But then I see what he did in Helsinki one year and it was pretty amazing. Two seasons ago, he scored 66 points in just 12 minutes of ice time per game. Last season his TOI was down 3 minutes and he points plummeted to 27. This season, we expect to see him bounce back and lead the third line with Alex Debrincat and Charlie Coyle and I think that trio will be the key this season for the Jokerit. If they have a down year, it might be a lost year for the team. That’s just my opinion, but in my head, I have an awesome BRR (Being Right Rate). Bennett should outscore his wings by a lot because I believe he will be rewarded with a prime ice time role. It appears Coach Brent Sutter will be cautious about overloading the Toews line with ice time and therefore Bennett is penciled in as the center on the lead PP unit with Brock Boeser and Kyle Connor on the wings.”
