GM: Jared Smith
Coach: Jim Montgomery
Last season: 17th place overall. In playoffs, lost to Berlin.
Ins and Outs
(Season 12 to Season 13)
In: Robin Grossman (trade), Connor Brown (waiver), Nick Bjugstad (waiver), Pavel Zacha (waiver), Jason Brancheau (waiver), Ilya Sorokin (Season 13 draft), Artem Zub (Season 13 draft), Alexey Toropchenko (waiver), Anders Bjork (waiver)
Out: Thomas Powell (waiver), Attila Adorjan (free agent), P.K. Subban (trade), Olli Malmivaara (free agent), Loic Lamperier (free agent), Josef Vasicek (free agent), Dominik Pas (free agent), Calle Jarnkrok (free agent), Josh Manson (free agent), Ilya Mikheyev (free agent), Alejandro Hernandez (free agent)
Potential Lineup
Filip Forsberg/Derek Stepan/Clayton Keller
Miks Indrasis/Fyodor Malykhin/Connor Brown
Lawson Crouse/Nick Bjugstad/Oliver Bjorkstrand
Casey Mittelstadt/Pavel Zacha/Mathieu Joseph
Maxim Noreau/Cale Makar
Jindrich Barak/Robin Grossman
Travis Dermott/Alexis Vanier
Joonas Korpisalo/Ilya Sorokin
Three Questions
1. This team has some speedsters, doesn’t it? Definitely. The top players on Munich could probably outskate your slowpoke players. And they are all young, so they will get faster each season. American Clayton Keller, 23, might be the fleetest of the bunch and he can deftly handle the puck even at 100 mph. He just needs to play a little bigger near the opposition net to become a big-time goal scorer in this league. Teammate Filip Forsberg has been a good example for Keller to follow. The Swede has three 30-goal seasons on his resume and he could get another 3 or more before he’s finished. The top two centers in Munich – Derek Stepan and Fyodor Malykhin – are fast and as skilled as they come. There are also speedsters on defense with the likes of Robin Grossman, Cale Makar and others. One would think the Red Bulls will get more odd-man rushes than most teams due to their speed and give up fewer thanks to that speed along the blueline.
2. What do you see in the team stats that stands out? First of all, that’s a nice powerplay you’ve got going there, Red Bull fans. Munich tied for 4th in the league with a 21.2 percent PP efficiency rate. The season before, they were 18th. Credit forwards Fyodor Malykhin, Filip Forsberg, Derek Stepan and Thomas Powell – and defensemen Cale Makar and P.K. Subban with the improvement. The four forwards all had either 11 or 12 powerplay goals, meaning their opponent’s penalty killing team never knew exactly who to keep an eye on as the main threat. But Powell and Subban have departed and Munich will need to find suitable replacements for them if they want that PP efficiency rate to stay high. We also noticed that the team defense over a full game was suspect. Munich ranked 18th best in shots against per game and 16th best in goals against per game. The defense has four guys who care about defense in Maxim Noreau, Robin Grossman, Jindrich Barak and Alexis Vanier, so fans have to wonder if the forwards are doing their job when the other team gains possession. Veteran Derek Stepan is a superb defensive forward, but he needs help, especially when he’s playing on the top line and both specialty teams. … And just like that – poof! – help came via the waiver wire. Connor Brown is now a Red Bull and he can expect to be a primary penalty killer for the team. Munich can outscore a lot of teams, but it needs to hold up the opposing offenses more if they hope to go places in the playoffs.
3. Is their goaltending good enough? Much of Munich’s hope rests with Joonas Korpisalo, their 27-year-old Finnish goalie. Based on Korpisalo’s performance last season, observers are optimistic he is the guy who can lead the Red Bulls up the standings. In Season 12, Korpisalo went from promising to good when his GAA dropped from 3.72 to a career-best 2.88 and his save percentage rose to 90 for the first time in his 6 seasons with Bern and Munich. The big question about him is endurance. Is it a coincidence that his best season came when his workload dropped to 38 games? Is he better with rest than as a 60-game starter? We’re likely to find out this season. The only other goalie in the lineup is Ilya Sorokin, a Russian who Munich drafted this season. When that pick happened, Munich let another former first-rounder go. Attila Adorjan, 26, was the main goalie in Bavaria last season, but Korpisalo definitely performed better. Adorjan was signed by Minsk as a free agent this season.
Rose’s Focus
“Czech defenseman Jindrich Barak is obsessed with the fact his last name and Cale Makar’s share four of the five letters in each. He thinks it’s a sign from God that coach Montgomery should move him up to the top pairing so the last name brothers can be together. He tells that to reporters, office staff, fast food restaurant workers and to various pets (Not farm animals, though. That would be weird). Makar doesn’t see the connection and sits away from Barak on team flights and train rides. Still, Barak keeps it up. He says he has the offensive skills to be Makar’s perfect soul match. He says, ‘The letters don’t lie.’ And then he stares out a window. I worry about him.”
