GM: Martin Sayle
Coach: Ken Hitchcock
Last season: 2nd overall. In playoffs, defeated Amsterdam; defeated London; defeated Dublin; defeated Paris to win the Cup.
Ins and Outs
(Season 14 to Season 15)
In: Jacob Trouba (trade), Patrik Kane (free agent), Cedric Paquette (free agent), Alejandro Hernandez (free agent), Dalton Prout (free agent), Cody Hodgson (free agent), Blake Coleman (free agent), Calvin De Haan (free agent), Slim Liivik (free agent), Ryan Spooner (free agent)
Out: Danis Zaripov (free agent), Riley Sheahan (free agent), Lance Bouma (free agent), Jordan Caron (retired), Louis Leblanc (free agent)
Potential Lineup
Johnny Gaudreau/Auston Matthews/Marko Dano
Boone Jenner/Anton Lundell/Cedric Paquette
Anthony Beauvillier/Simon Hjalmarsson/Joakim Hillding
Alex Newhook/Michael McLeod/Nils Höglander
Jacob Trouba/Dougie Hamilton
Seth Jones/Nikita Voles
Dalton Prout/K’Andre Miller
Jonas Korpisalo/Ville Husso
Three Questions
1. Can Copenhagen win a 4th Cup? We tried to get inside the mind of General Manager Marty Sayle in an attempt to figure out how he always builds powerful teams, but it was a scary place. Wildlife dressed in women’s clothing; faucets that pour hot chocolate and melted butter … a mannequin dressed as Hans Christian Andersen … we just had to turn around and leave. We’ll just imagine that he dons a mad scientist lab coat, stays up through the night analyzing every player in the league, does countless calculations, and then leans back in his chair with a smile when he identifies the missing piece of the puzzle. This year, after successful negotiations to resign Boone Jenner and Joonas Korpisalo, Jacob Trouba is the puzzle piece. The hard-hitting, tough and talented defenseman who played with Zurich the last 11 seasons will probably push Seth Jones down a pairing, but the duo of Trouba and Dougie Hamilton seems like one that could lineup up together at All-Star time and then lead the Tridents a long way down Playoff Lane.
2. What can stop the Tridents? Time heals everything, they say. So maybe everyone else’s wounded hopes and dreams will disappear once players like Johnny Gaudreau and Marko Dano get too old to star. That’s not Season 15, but it will eventually happen. But not long after that, Nils Hoglander and Anton Lundell will be the thorns in our collective side. The young forwards have seemingly come out of nowhere to be very formidable young players. Hoglander, a quick Swedish wing, has two seasons of 20 and 25 points on his resume already, and the Finn Lundell scored 34 as a rookie last season when he showed promise to be one of the best two-way forwards in the league someday. And in the back, big K’Andre Miller looks to be a future anchor of the Tridents’ blueline.
3. Can’t you please give us some bad news about the Tridents? That depends who the audience is. If everyone outside of Copenhagen is the audience, then here’s some bad news: Of the top 20 scorers on the Tridents, 17 of them are still on the roster right now including the top 8. GM Martin Sayle even tried to waive players like Drew Doughty, Victor Hedman and some others who were part of a Cup-winning team and we were too nice (or something else) to claim them. And they added Jacob Trouba, Cedric Paquette and a bunch of other players. Is that the bad news you were hoping for? The good news (for us) is they are tinkering with the team that keeps winning. Jakub Petruzalek is out as second-line center and it appears youngster Anton Lundell is mature enough to handle that job.
Rose’s Focus
“Sepp Blatter gave me a secret assignment and I have been thinking of how to accomplish it for a few days now but nothing seems to be viable. I think I’m down to jinxing some people. So … I think Auston Matthews, Marko Dano and Johnny Gaudreau will have another great year together. Last season, they scored 35, 35 and 41 goals respectively and only put 888 shots on opposition goalies. Oh, and they all averaged more than a point per game through 23 playoff games. I think they can do much better, especially now that Jacob Trouba will be on the ice with them. I think Dano and Gaudreau will each score 51 goals and Matthews will score 131 goals this season. I have no doubt. Boone Jenner and Joakim Hillding scored 75 and 78 points, respectively, last season as second-line players. I think they will finish 4th and 5th in league scoring with 121 and 118 points. Wait a minute. They just signed Patrick Kane. You might want to change Hillding to Kane in the preceding sentence. I think you all know the three players who I think will be above them on that list. And Joonas Korpisalo will not lose a game in goal after Jan. 1. There. Done. Sepp, that’s the best I could do.”
