GM: Delwin Y
Coach: Willie Desjardins
Last season: 14th overall. Missed playoffs
Ins and Outs
(Season 13 to Season 14)
In: Devin Shore (free agent), Markus Steinkasserer (draft), Sarah Nurse (draft), Topi Niemela (draft), Jacob Peterson (free agent), Temuri Vedyapin (free agent)
Out: Jared Spurgeon (free agent), Jacob Josefson (free agent), Andrei Loktionov (free agent), Mike Richards (retired), Leo Komarov (retired), Matthias Bieber (free agent), Karl Alzner (free agent),
Potential Lineup
Nikolaj Ehlers/Jack Eichel/Patrick Kane
Luke Adam/J.T. Miller/Jakub Voracek
Filip Chytil/Devin Shore/Michael Grabner
Sam Steel/Adrian Kempe/Daniel Sprong
Olli Maatta/Brady Skjei
Eric Gelinas/Roope Laavainen
Patryk Wajda/Jeremy Lauzon
Braden Holtby/Carter Hart
Three Questions
1. What do Stockholm’s fans want? Stockholm has slipped a tiny bit down the standings in each of the last four seasons. Swedish fans don’t want to go any further down from 14th place. They also want to make some sense of the individual statistics they saw last season. Defensemen Eric Gelinas and Jared Spurgeon got second-pair minutes last season, but they out-performed the top pair in plus/minus by a decent margin. Gelinas even led the defense corps in scoring with 11 goals and 32 assists. There was also some upside-down-ness up front, where the third line of Andrei Loktionov, Jacob Josefson and Michael Grabner out-performed the lines above them in plus/minus. Patrick Kane and Jakub Voracek were both very good in their first season in Stockholm, and the team will count on them to be the primary playmakers on the team. They dished out a combined 84 assists last year, but at age 35 and 36, how much can you expect out of them?
2. Should Olli Maatta get the minutes he gets? Definitely. The Finn doesn’t get a lot of fanfare, but he’s a top defensive defenseman. He was 7th best in the league in shot blocks and 16th best in hits. General Manager Delwin Y was wise to sign him to a long-term contract. If anything, they could use an Olli Jr. in this lineup. Actually, that might have one in first-round pick Markus Steinkasserer, but he’s very green yet and the fans will have to be patient with his development. It would also help to have another strong defensive forward like Michael Grabner, who is 37 now. Grabner has been playing since Season 1 and is still getting the job done. He hasn’t recorded a minus season since he played for London in Season 7. Stockholm was in the middle of the pack in almost all team stats last season except they were lower in shots allowed (18th) and penalty killing (20th). Stockholm is an offensive-minded group, which is fine if you can score more than you give up. They did that, but by only 10 goals, last season.
3. Is Carter Hart ready to take the starter spot? Stockholm has a very nice mentor/student relationship going in goal. Braden Holtby isn’t done yet as Stockholm’s starting goalie. Last season was his 11th as the main man in Stockholm and he did well. His goals against average was 3.01 and his save percentage was over 90, as it has been in all but one of his seasons. Holtby, now 34, has a year remaining on his $7.7 million contract and Carter Hart, who is a decade younger, hasn’t yet proven he can equal Holtby’s numbers. Still, Delwin and the fans would like to see Hart show more this season because he is on the last year of his Type 2 deal. Investing long-term in Hart will be less stressful if he can get his save percentage to 90. If he shows progress this season, then maybe Hart will lock down the job and be the mentor to some young goalie in about 5 years.
Rose’s Focus
“Leadership. I have it. The league office would pretty much fall apart without me there. Stockholm needs a Rose of their own. They need someone to take the bull by the horns – or elsewhere – if they want to win. Their top four scorers in Season 13 were within 5 points of each other. It was like no one wanted to look “too” good. I want someone to rise above the rest like Jack Eichel did the season before. Balance is great but it’s only going to make you steady. Leaders make you fly.”
