GM: Mark Stefanski
Coach: Paul Maurice
Last season: 19th overall. Missed playoffs
Ins and Outs
(Season 13 to Season 14)
In: Oliver Ekman-Larsson (free agent), Gregory Beron (free agent), Rasmus Asplund (free agent), William Von Barnekow (draft), Mason Marchment (draft), Alexander Barabanov (draft)
Out: Mikhail Pashnin (waivers), Olivier Roland (waivers), Chris Martenet (free agent), Paul Stastny (retired), Daniel Fernholm (free agent), Luke Schenn (free agent), Ilya Nikulin (free agent), Blake Coleman (free agent), Chad Johnson (retired),
Potential Lineup
Alexander Radulov/Dominik Lakatos/Mikko Rantanen
Loic Lamperier/Nardo Nagtzaam/Reto Suri
Tyson Jost/Casey Cizikas/Danton Heinen
Andrew Shaw/Mark Garside/Martin Necas
Michael Del Zotto/Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Gregory Beron/Will Butcher
Brenden Dillon/Ryan Lindgren
Martin Jones/Kevin Lankinen
Three Questions
1. What do the team stats tell you about London? They tell us the hockey team didn’t get the city as revved up as Queen Elizabeth did for her birthday jubilee. If these guys can’t compete with a 96-year-old lady, how are they supposed to skate with the likes of Helsinki, Copenhagen, Belfast and Minsk? London was right smack dab in the middle of almost all statistical categories. The fact they finished 6th from the bottom in the standings tells you they play in a very competitive conference. The only stat area where they were at one end of the spectrum was in PIMs, where they led the league. That oftentimes self-destructive tendency is a carry-over from the team that Mark Stefanski inherited when he took over as general manager. In time, those penalty minutes will go down, offensive chances will increase and London’s goalies will face fewer point-blank shots.
2. Where did they improve since Season 13? London entered free agency with $9.5 million to fill two holes. One of them was in goal. Then Martin Jones agreed to a long-term contract which means he will spend his entire career in London. After 580 career games so far, he has kept his goals against average under 3.00 and his save percentage over 90. He was an all-star once, in Season 5, when he was voted to be the starter for the Northern Conference. The biggest name to join the team is Oliver Ekman-Larsson, a dynamic veteran defenseman who has now completed the EURO League British Isles Tour as a member of Edinburgh, Belfast, Dublin and now London. He has put up 50 points in each of the last two seasons and should be a great help to London’s defense and also its forward lines. Gregory Beron, who can play any position on the ice other than Jones’ position, rejoined London as a free agent. He was a drafted by London back in Season 5. He played the last 3 seasons in Bratislava after one in Bern. Beron can generate 50 or more points if he plays as a forward, but he’s also good as an offensive defenseman and can play the point on the powerplay. Perhaps their biggest improvement is in the fact 11 of their 18 skaters matured and got better naturally because they are under 30 years old. Even their older players aren’t much over 30, so we shouldn’t see any age-related slide from this group.
3. Who gets top line minutes at center? London loves Nardo Nagtzaam because he is so good in the faceoff circle. For eight seasons, the Dutchman has been among the very top draw men in the league. Last season, only John Tavares bettered Nagtzaam’s 60.1 win percentage. All-time, only Jonathan Toews has been better than Nardo. But Dominik Lakatos seems poised to be the dominant force in the league. Last season, he led London in scoring with 81 points while centering the second line. And he was by far the leader in turnover ratio with 108 takeaways to 56 giveaways. Lakatos, a Czech, is just 23 but he already has EURO League seasons of 82, 98, 76, 93 and 81 points on his resume. Mikko Rantanen, 27, made major strides last season, jumping from 14 goals to 26 and from 36 points to 54. Expect Coach Paul Maurice to have veteran Alexander Radulov (soon to be known as Benjaxander Buttonulov) join Lakatos and Rantanen on Line 1. Radulov is 32, but still much faster than his linemates and almost all of his teammates. He has scored 70 or more points four times in his career, and he should be able to make if a fifth 70-point season playing prime minutes with Lakatos. Nagtzaam will center the second line with Reto Suri – who is the one guy who can beat Radulov in a race – and stickhandler-supreme Loic Lamperier.
Rose’s Focus
“London’s GM Mark Stefanski sent me a lovely greeting card for no reason at all last season. It was between Christmas and Valentine’s Day and he sent me cards on both of those occasions too. My heart is with London. They have tried being rough and beating up the bullies in the Northern Conference, and that didn’t work. I hope to see them skate and stickhandle the bullies into submission. They have plenty of speed and finesse on the forward lines. The defense is where I saw need for a change. Daniel Fernholm, Michael Del Zotto, Marc-Andre Bourdon and the rest of them spent too much energy trying to turn opponents into wallpaper when they should have been worrying more about getting the puck to smooth skating wingers like Reto Suri, Alexander Radulov and Danton Heinen up the boards. There. A new recipe for success. Stefanski already took my advice and released Fernholm while sending Bourdon to the minors. Oliver Ekman-Larsson was an excellent ingredient for Stefanski to throw into his stew, and he has also sprinkled in some French cuisine with Gregory Beron. This year’s blue line group is a different kind of unit from past years, and I think it will be better. “
