GM: Tony B
Coach: Dan Bylsma
Last season: 18th overall. Did not make playoffs.
Ins and Outs
(Season 12 to Season 13)
In: Nico Hovinen (free agent), Elias Lindholm (free agent), Kyle Palmieri (free agent), Loic Lamperier (free agent), Thomas Spelling (free agent), Henrik Haapala (free agent), Andreas Eder (waiver), Calle Jarnkrok (free agent), Alejandro Hernandez (free agent), Jordan Kyrou (Season 8 draft), Eeli Tolvanen (Season 8 draft), Igor Shesterkin (Season 13 draft)
Out: Sean Couturier (free agent), Tyler Ennis (free agent), Nick Bjugstad (waiver), Marcus Johansson (free agent), T.J. Brennan (free agent), Lorenzo Maas (free agent), Reid Boucher (free agent), Anders Bjork (free agent), Andreas Athanasiou (free agent), Ryan Spooner (free agent), Mattias Janmark (free agent)
Potential Lineup
Evander Kane/Jeff Skinner/Kyle Palmieri
Loic Lamperier/Elias Lindholm/Filip Sveningsson
Henrik Haapala/Sakari Salminen/Andreas Johnson
Tyler Pertuzzi/Mikhail Grigorenko/Thomas Spelling
Jonas Brodin/Alex Trivellato
Ben Hutton/Ethan Bear
Alejandro Hernandez/Philippe Myers
Nico Hovinen/Sandro Zurkirchen
Three Questions
1. Was this a bad off-season for the Royals? Not bad, but in the early part of it, definitely sad. If you just look at the losses they suffered to the free agent market, it was a a tough off-season for Madrid fans. But don’t overlook the talent that shipped in. Thanks to free agency and the prospect of bigger paychecks and fresh starts, Sean Couturier and Robin Lehner, the team’s heart and spine, were ripped out, leaving the team on the operating table waiting for suitable transplants. Couturier played in every game the franchise ever played. Amazing. (Coach Dan Bylsma has also been with Madrid since Day 1 of the league and he is still there. Also amazing.) Lehner had been the team’s starting goalie in Madrid since Season 4. Both grew to be fixtures in the Royals’ lineup and a season without them in Madrid blue is going to seem weird. General manager Tony B found somewhat comparable replacements for them in Nico Hovinen and Elias Lindholm. Hovinen was the starter in Belfast the last three seasons and his attributes are pretty close to Lehner’s. Lindholm will do OK, but he’s not in the same category as Couturier. Fortunately, the Royals were active and observant enough during the off-season to add several more good pieces to the puzzle. Kyle Palmieri comes in from the Moscow Maniacs. He isn’t a great passer, but on a line with Jeff Skinner and Evander Kane, he will be asked to buzz the net, distract the goalie and pump in loose pucks. Palmieri gives Madrid three players on that top line capable of firing lasers at the opponent’s net. Also added were young veteran forwards Henrik Haapala, Thomas Spelling and Loic Lamperier, a Frenchman who can really dangle.
2. How will the defensemen be? Madrid is now a team of young players. Aside from the trio on the top line, all the forwards are under 30. On defense, where experience could be more of an asset because there is only one teammate behind you, the current lineup lists two 30-year-olds, two 23-year-olds and two players in between those ages. That makes us worry a little. Madrid should concentrate on preventing the opposition from setting up in the Madrid zone. If the bad guys do set up in front of Nico Hovinen, the defensemen can’t let some savvy veteran like John Tavares from the arch-rival Lisbon H.C. team draw them out of position. Head on a swivel, and all that. Of all the players on the Madrid blueline, Jonas Brodin is the leader in every way. From Season 5 on, he has been an important part of the team. Three times he was scored more than 10 goals in a season and four times he has put up more than 40 points. Just as important, he has proven to be a reliable defensive rearguard and is considered a solid two-way player. It’s pretty surprising that he hasn’t been picked to an all-star team yet. After the slick Swede, however, we see a drop-off. Ethan Bear is a very promising player on his way up in the world, and he, Brodin, Alex Trivellato and Alejendro Hernandez give the Royals four skaters with major league speed on defense. That has to help. Ben Hutton is a clever passer and puckhandler who should see a lot of powerplay time, but his defense is suspect.
3. Are any of Madrid’s young forwards due for a breakout season? That would be great for the team, wouldn’t it? It’s possible depth at forward is the Royals’ best asset right now. If you know your Websim ratings, then you know having a team full of only 76 OV and over forwards is a good thing. Madrid will be able to mix up the members of three of the four lines without losing anything at all. You want to keep countrymen together? Sakari Salminen and Henrik Haapala can be one line and Elias Lindholm and Andreas Johnson on another. Want to hook up a sniper with a talented passer? Tyler Bertuzzi can look for Thomas Spelling in the slot. And any way Coach Dan Bylsma wants to shake up the lines, they will always feature dudes in the 25-29 age range, so they can all listen to the same music in the dressing room. Which leads us to the breakout question. We do see one guy who looks like he’s headed for a breakout. Because 25 or 26 seems to be the age when players make large jumps in production and other stats, we’re looking for big things from Bertuzzi. He’s 26, fast, aggressive and he has a decent amount of skill. With more ice time, he will easily fly past his career-best point total of 18. Filip Sveningsson is the perfect age, but we can’t see him being a breakout player. He seems too responsible defensively to start carrying the puck all over town and trying to dipsy-doodle past players. That’s not his game. One more thing about the Madrid before we turn things over to Rose: The Royals are definitely lightweights compared to the rest of the league and they could be bounced around more than they would like. Mikhail Grigorenko is the biggest forward at 6-3, 210 and he has never been confused for a rough customer. Sixth defenseman Philippe Myers is the resident beast on defense, but he is not exactly feared right now.
Rose’s Focus
“The fans in Spain seemed really down when Sean Couturier and Robin Lehner decided to play elsewhere. I am glad for them that GM Tony B signed the only Spanish hockey player I know of to play on the team and it looks like Alejandro Hernandez will at least start the season on the pro team. He’s a good-looking, speedy defenseman from Jaca, wherever that is, and he has a lot of experience with Spain’s national team. I didn’t even know Spain had a national team. For four seasons in the EURO League, Hernandez played in Gothenburg. A Spaniard playing in Sweden. Hmph. That really doesn’t seem to fit. It would be like me adding mint to my cabbage rolls. I’m not sure why I brought cabbage rolls up, but it segues perfectly into my thought that the fans in Madrid will cheer loudly when Hernandez and defense partner Philippe Myers hop over the boards. Hernandez has never scored 30 points in the league and I hope he does it in front of his countrymen this season.”
