GM: Chris Patton
Coach: Alain Vigneault
Last season: 3rd Overall. In playoffs, defeated Gothenburg, then defeated Oslo, then lost to Helsinki
Ins and Outs
(Season 12 to Season 13)
In: Alexander Salak (trade), Sean Couturier (free agent), Vladimir Tarasenko (free agent), Patrick Wiercioch (free agent), Slava Voynov (free agent), Evgeny Malkin (free agent), Tyler Ennis (free agent), Bobby Ryan (free agent), Eric Tangradi (free agent), Justin Fontaine (free agent), Mitchell Stephens (free agent), Brandon Manning (free agent), Nick Seeler (free agent)
Out: Matt Duchene (waiver), Jonathan Huberdeau (waiver), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (waiver), Nico Hovinen (waiver), Jaccob Slavin (free agent), Brock McGinn (free agent), Siim Livik (free agent), Rhett Rakhshani (free agent), Steven Kampfer (retired), Victor Bartley (retired)
Potential Lineup
Gabriel Landeskog/Nathan MacKinnon/David Pastrnak
Onrej Palat/Sean Couturier/Mitch Marner
Tyler Ennis/Evgeny Malkin/Vladimir Tarasenko
Bobby Ryan/Brett Howden/Scott Sabourin
Alex Pietrangelo/Slava Voynov
Patrick Wiercioch/Jakob Chychrun
Layne Viveiros/Andrej Meszaros
Alexander Salak/Scott Wedgewood
Three Questions
1. How good will the Giants be this year? Belfast is always good and Season 13 will be no exception. The four-time winners will have their work cut out for them to get a fifth Cup, but it’s definitely within reach. We see Belfast as being a tad weaker among its best players, but deeper throughout the lineup than they were last season when they came a win away from another trip to the finals. Belfast parted with some big guns but they scored victories in free agency like winning the bidding for Sean Couturier, the longtime Madrid center and one of the best defensive forwards there is. He can also score (101 points two seasons ago) and Belfast fans – and the rest of the hockey world – expect big things from him in Northern Ireland with Mitch Marner and Ondrej Palat on his wings. The team also landed a whole new third line in free agency in veterans Tyler Ennis and Russians Evgeny Malkin and Vladimir Tarasenko. Damn Malkin has scored 1.15 points per game in his career, which ranks him 5th all-time. And in goal, they traded to get Czech star Alexander Salak with a year at $5.8 million left on his contract. Some say he’s got the most raw talent in the league. The 32-year-old had spent all of his 11 previous years in Moscow and his save percentage has always been above 90. Last season in 62 games, it was 90.3. What’s more, his career playoff save percentage is better than his regular season average. Expect big things from Belfast again.
2. What exactly was that off-season dance? Hockey historians are going to wonder what happened to Belfast’s roster between Seasons 12 and 13 so we’ll recount it briefly for their sake. Faced with a major salary cap problem due to too many big, multi-year contracts, GM Chris Patton made the highly unusual move of waiving his leading scorer, his all-star defenseman, his top goalie and Jonathan Huberdeau, who is an 87 OV center. The move sent shockwaves through the league and prompted the commissioner to take the unprecedented step of proposing a new rule midway through free agency. So with top scorer Matt Duchene out of the picture, look for Nathan MacKinnon, 28, to step into the spotlight as the team’s premier offensive force. He scored 99 points and 320 shots last season and he once scored 43 goals and 107 points (Season 9) so you know he has explosive talent. And the top wingers are back to play with him. Gabriel Landeskog, 31, has five 40-or-more goal seasons in the last 6 seasons and he’s scored 91 or more points in the last four seasons. That’s as good as it gets. Talented 26-year-old David Pastrnak scored 35 goals two seasons ago and his last two season point totals were 84 and 83.
3. How are the top 6 defensemen? Frankly, it was easier to project the Giants’ blueline when they had names like Pietrangelo, Faullk, Ekman-Larsson and Slavin in it. But far be it from us to question GM Chris Patton’s assessment of talent. In the current group of defensemen in Belfast are two younger players and four experienced blueliners including 8-time all-star Alex Pietrangelo, 33, who is still one of the best in the game. He blocked 100 shots and scored 12 goals and 42 points last season for the Giants. He will be joined on the top duo by either Jakob Chychrun or veteran Slava Voynov. There is a 9-year difference in the two in age and you can probably guess what is different about their play. Voynov, who has won two Cups with Copenhagen, is skilled, clever and careful with the puck. But he will get injured easier than most. Chychrun is durable and loves to lay the body on people. Veteran Patrick Wiercioch is a better passer than both of them and he is smart, careful, a good team player with not too many blemishes aside from a penchant for taking inopportune penalties. The free agent pickup doesn’t have the endurance for the top pair, but he will be an excellent anchor for the second duo with either Voynov or Chychrun. The bottom pairing will feature Austrian Layne Viveiros, who hits often and shoots the puck hard, with Andrej Meszaros, a steady veteran to you can expect to play fewer than 82 games. Brent Burns, who like Meszaros is 38 years old, may also see time in the lineup this season.
Rose’s Focus
“Goals. Belfast is known for high-powered offenses and scoring goals. No team got more shots on goal last season than the Giants did, so make sure your goalie has a full water bottle with him when you play Belfast. You don’t want him to get dehydrated. I have been a dehydrated a few times and let me tell you, it kind of sneaks up on you. The next thing you know, you are fainting and wondering where you are. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. Belfast was second in the league last season at 4.02 goals per game while they gave up just 2.98 goals per game. Why was their defensive average so good? I am giving team defense and possession has much credit as I’m giving former goalie Nico Hovinen. Belfast only gave up 26.13 shots per game, which was only bested by Helsinki.”
