GM: Steve Yung
Coach: Michel Therrien
Last season: 3rd overall. In playoffs, defeated Lisbon; defeated Bern; defeated Berlin; lost in the Finals to Copenhagen
Ins and Outs
(Season 14 to Season 15)
In: Ondrej Palat (trade), Talgat Zhailauov (free agent), Logan Couture (free agent), Artemy Panarin (free agent), Brandon Saad (free agent), Brandon Sutter (free agent), Jakub Voracek (free agent), Jakob Silfverberg (free agent), Alexander Burmistrov (free agent), Anthony DeAngelo (free agent), Brenden Dillon (free agent)
Out: Derek Ryan (free agent), Kjetil Martinsen (free agent), Jake Muzzin (free agent), Tomas Jurco (trade), Reid Boucher (trade), Jamie Benn (trade), Denis Gribko (trade), Simon Despres (free agent), Ryan Spooner (trade), Alexander Toryanik (free agent)
Potential Lineup
Ondrej Palat/Logan Couture/Evander Kane
Andrey Bykov/Claude Giroux/Brandon Saad
Anders Lee/Brandon Sutter/Jakob Silfverberg
Artemy Panarin/Alexander Burmistrov/Brandon Hagel
Ken Kuusk/Anthony DeAngelo
Adam Larsson/Erik Karlsson
Brenden Dillon/Samuel Girard
Chris Driedger/Tanner Jaillet
Three Questions
1. What has changed in France since the Cup finals? When last we met, the Rouge Eiffels beat Berlin in the Southern Conference championship and then lost to Copenhagen in the finals. Most Parisians were thrilled with that season. One might think this team was extremely close to where it wanted to be; good enough to require just a tiny tweak here and a change of oil or something like that. Hand me that screwdriver. General Manager Steve Yung had different ideas. How about a major overhaul instead, he said. He’s not crazy – defense stud Ken Kuusk and the goalies are still in place – he’s just a bit questionable. Half the forwards have been replaced and two of the six defensemen are new to Paris this year. It feels like a brand new start again for the Rouge Eiffels.
2. Can the fans embrace Couture as their new star center? Five seasons ago, when management imported Claude Giroux from Northern Ireland, the fan base was ecstatic. A fancy, entertaining, French-speaking point producer is an automatic fan favorite in Paris. Those are the rules. The fact Giroux averaged more than 30 goals and 90 points a year cemented him as a French legend along with Jean-Claude Killy and Andre the Giant. Last season, Giroux was the team’s leading scorer by a margin of 24 points. How would you like to be the English-speaking guy who pushes Giroux down to the second line? It looks like Logan Couture, who signed a 2-year, $7.5 million free agent contract this off season, will attempt to do just that. The Canadian center played for Berlin for six seasons and then Athens for 8. As a Southern Conference foe, he came to France often in those 14 seasons and always did well. People in Paris grew to dislike him for that. Now he’s the Giroux-replacer, making him as popular as a suggestion to raise the retirement age. The truth is, Couture is in much better physical shape than Giroux is, even though Couture is just a year younger than the 37-year-old Giroux. Captain Claude could probably benefit from the decreased ice time at this point. Couture needs to play his game of hustling, hitting and blocking shots, and then scoring some points (he scored 78 last year) to get the fans on his side.
3. What other new faces will we see? Ondrej Palat, a 33-year-old Czech winger is likely to play on the top line with Logan Couture and Evander Kane. Palat, Kane and Claude Giroux won a Cup or two together when they were in Belfast. The top line shapes up as an outstanding checking line (all three players have defense ratings of 94 or higher) that will score on you right after they break up your plays. Brandon Sutter comes over from Geneva and will be the team’s top faceoff taker and a good defensive forward. From Dublin, Brandon Saad is a smart winger who is also excellent on defense. Speaking of defense, management has brought in a bruiser and a slick puck mover. Brenden Dillon is the size and strength the team was lacking, while Anthony DeAneglo is the kind of offensive defenseman Paris fans have grown used to watching in their arena.
Rose’s Focus
“When the league commissioner told me Paris had revamped its team, I thought he was either drunk, high, or his normal self. I couldn’t tell which. I remember thinking why would the Rouge Eiffels do that after being so close to winning it all a few months ago? But the commissioner was right for once. Paris’ Steve Yung had shuffled up the team big time. Then I looked at the changes and I’ll tell you what: if I was a Paris fan, I would be very excited about my team’s chances. The big names that came in seem much better than the names that left; no offense to a group of guys who did great work last year. And if I was the Berlin general manager, I would put the lid back on that bottle of vodka, tell the lady of night I had to go, find my pants, and get to work because Paris is going to be a handful this season.”
