GM: Tony B
Coach: Dan Bylsma
Last season: 16th overall. In playoffs, lost to Lisbon
Ins and Outs
(Season 13 to Season 14)
In: Jan Kovar (free agent), Dmitry Orlov (free agency), Spencer Smallman (free agent), Tim Bozon (free agent), Maxim Sushko (free agency), Nick Bjugstad (free agency), Linus Klasen (free agent), Ryan Gunderson (free agent), Michael Hutchinson (free agent), Rickard Rakell (free agent), Mattias Backman (free agent) Cody Hodgson (free agent), Ivan Barbashev (free agent), Dominik Pas (free agent), Jamie McGinn (free agent), Lewis Houston (draft), Tim Berni (draft), Lukas Vashco (draft)
Out: Evander Kane (free agency), Elias Lindholm (free agent), Jonas Brodin (free agent), Jakob Silfverberg (free agent), Andreas Johnson (waivers), Jake Virtanen (free agent), Alejandro Hernandez (waivers), Sandro Zurkirchen (waivers), Igor Shesterkin (free agent), Alexander Wennberg (free agent), Mikhail Grigorenko (free agent), Ian McCoshen (bought out)
Potential Lineup
Henrik Haapala/Jeff Skinner/Jan Kovar
Rickard Rakell/Cody Hodgson/Nick Bjugstad
Tyler Bertuzzi/Dominik Pas/Spencer Smallman
Filip Sveningsson/Sakari Salminen/Ivan Barbashev
Ryan Gunderson/Ethan Bear
Dmitry Orlov/Philippe Myers
Alex Trivellato/Mattias Backman
Nico Hovinen/Michael Hutchinson
Three Questions
1. Will this be a different-looking Madrid? Yes. When Season 13 ended in a first-round loss to their top rival in Portugal, many key players saw their contracts expire. Evander Kane and Jonas Brodin were probably the best of at least seven players who left the regular lineup. Kane and Brodin will see their ex-teammates a lot this year because they both now play for other Demitra Division teams. Royals fans have seen a vigorous shuffling of players this off season. They could have more than a half-dozen new faces on the forward lines and three on the defense to cheer for this season. Next off-season should be a lot calmer because almost all of the team is signed through Season 15. Key forwards Jeff Skinner and Kyle Palmieri are two who could leave next season as unrestricted free agents, but General Manager Tony B will worry about that later. Just before the season started, he still had some sorting out to do for this year’s squad. That included signing a backup to goalie Nico Hovinen. Tony had oodles of cap space available and could use it on whatever free agents remained or to take on bloated salaries in trades. But he might be a little out of practice for the latter. The last trade he made was in Season 11, and it was a good one, when he acquired Skinner from London for Nardo Nagtzaam and Reto Suri. So he went the free agency route and signed 8 players in about 40 minutes, including Michael Hutchinson, who was Geneva’s main goalie last season. Madrid also reached the roster maximum of 40 players and is still $2 million under the league salary cap.
2. Is the defense corps strong? This is where Madrid could have used some help last season. New Madrid goalie Nico Hovinen did his job well and the team’s goals against rank was 3 better than its shots against average, which was 4th worst in the league. A look at this season’s defensemen’s attributes shows there is plenty of speed back there, with a few who are good with the puck, but they could really use some big bulldozers who can get rough in front of Hovinen. The individual defense ratings among Madrid’s defensemen are below average right now except for newcomer Mattias Backman, who was an Oslo Outlaw last year, but the good news is this group is relatively young. Ethan Bear, 24, has the most promise and he has already proven his worth through two full seasons. He could stick in the lineup and play an important role for another decade. Fans are hoping the addition of veteran Dmitry Orlov will lead the team to better play and stats. The 33-year-old is solid in every area although his skating isn’t at par with the rest of the team. His smarts and experience make him an important player who should get good minutes.
3. Where will the goals come from? Jeff Skinner was the team’s leading scorer last season and he should again be at the top of the list by the end of this season. Skinner, 32, has scored 30 or more goals 5 times with London and Madrid and he has 880 points in his career. He is very active and gets involved at both ends of the ice. In fact, no EURO League forward blocked more shots than he did last season. He ranks 11th all-time in that category. He was also 10th in the league in takeaways last season. Newcomer Jan Kovar has the best shot on the team and he topped 30 goals once and has put together seven straight seasons of at least 60 points. Kyle Palmieri, another experienced forward, was third on the team in scoring last year and it was the best season of his career by a healthy margin. His turnover ratio was +18 and he looks like a key player this season. And we think Rickard Rakell might have the opportunity to show off some moves he never had the chance to before in his EURO career. The Swedish wing had been in the Geneva organization since Season 8, but he has never played more than 8 minutes per game on average. He is a good skater with a good head for offense. He should be able to be helpful to Skinner, Kovar and Palmieri this season. And Nick Bjugstad. The big wing is 32 now and back in Spain, his fourth team in four years. The last time he was a Royal, the American scored 19 goals and added 30 assists. A late addition, Spencer Smallman scored 26 goals two seasons ago with Gothenburg, but his minutes might be tamped down because Kovar and Palmieri are ahead of him on the depth chart.
Rose’s Focus
“Can a generous general manager get more out of a player than a GM who is … well, a cheapskate? Disgruntled Smurf Jan Kovar signed with Tony B fresh off two successive Cup wins. The Czech plays a good all-around game and can rack up the points. But my keen eye sees something that makes me question his conditioning and work ethic. His 78 stamina rating makes it tough for a coach to trust him with top line minutes. Fortunately he now plays for Dan Bylsma who has a history of balancing ice time throughout his lineup. Bylsma has no problem playing an $8.2 million forward on the second or even third line. Kovar is 32 years old now but I think he will keep up his level of play under General Manager Tony B and Bylsma because now he will play most games sober.”
