GM: Bryan Camara
Coach: John Stevens
Last season: 21st overall. Did not make playoffs.
Ins and Outs
(Season 15 to Season 16)
In: Robin Lehner (free agent), Matt Dumba (free agent), Spencer Smallman (free agent), Vince Trocheck (trade)
Out: Jordan Bennington (trade), Dmitrij Jaskin (free agent), Patrick Wiercioch (free agent), Peyton Krebs (waivers), Reid Boucher (free agent), Max Jones (free agent), Henrik Borgstrom (free agent)
Potential Lineup
Max Domi/Mat Barzal/Spencer Smallman
Anders Lee/Trevor Zegras/Claude Giroux
Evegeny Solomonov/Vince Trocheck/Alexey Toropchenko
Brock McGinn/Shane Pinto/Emil Bemstrom
Mathew Dumba/John Marino
Brandon Montour/Danny Dekeyser
Mikhail Pashnin/Maxim Noreau
Robin Lehner/Juuse Saros
A Question
Are they going to have trouble scoring goals? Last season, Lisbon finished last in the league in shots on goal and last in goals. Lisbon’s team defense was respectable, though. With Robin Lehner and Juuse Saros in goal, the team should be in good shape if they can keep the puck in the opposing zone more. Fans will put a ton of pressure on the team’s top forwards like Max Domi, Mat Barzal, Trevor Zegras and newcomer Spencer Smallman, who comes over from arch-rival Madrid, where Lehner spent 11 seasons. Linemates Domi and Barzal are both pass-first guys and Smallman has a good shot once he has space. The hope is Domi and Barzal can feed him regularly. Look for another right wing, Russian Alexey Toropchenko, to be an important cog in the machine. Last season, he surprised many with more than 200 shots and 23 goals. He could move past aging Claude Giroux on the depth chart this season. Whatever happens, Lisbon’s players could use more love from Portugal’s fan base than they have been getting. For some reason, Lisbon has really struggled at home the last two seasons. They were second-worst on home ice last season. Amsterdam had one more home loss.
Rose’s Focus
“Have a look at what I wrote in this space last year. Go ahead. I’ll wait. In short, I was saying how great it was that General Manager Bryan Camara was able to keep Steven Stamkos and John Tavares, two of the league’s absolute all-time megasuperstars on the team to continue one of the league’s most legendary tales. Longtime fan Cleto Anacleto of Lisbon’s Campo de Ourique district even gave Camara the family dog in appreciation. So what happened a few months later? The team had a bad season and Stamkos and Tavares were both traded away for future assets. On the surface, it looks like this was all an elaborate plan for Camara to get the Anacletos’ dog, which he refused to return to the family. He even had the nerve to rename the dog Bark-zal after the team’s new top centerman. It marked the end of an era in Portugal and the start of a new one driven by youngsters Trevor Zegras, Logan Cooley, Shane Pinto and Will Smith. That’s somewhat exciting, but in truth, no one is happy Stamkos and Tavares are gone. Not the fans, not the media, not even Camara, Stamkos or Tavares. And definitely not Bark-zal.”
