GM: Daniel Podmanicky
Coach: Joel Quenneville
Last season: 15th overall. In playoffs, lost to Paris
Ins and Outs
(Season 15 to Season 16)
In: Jake Guentzel (free agent), Martin Fehervary (trade), Alexander Radulov (free agent), Tomas Zaborsky (free agent), Sam Girard (free agent), Andre Burakovsky (trade), Kent Johnson (trade), Jordan Kyrou (trade), Oscar Klefbom (free agent), Alexander Nylander (free agent), Brandon Hagel (trade), Alexander Lundman (trade), Arber Xhekaj (draft), J.T. Compher (waivers), Adam Ruzicka (free agent)
Out: Colton Parayko (trade), Christian Dvorak (trade), Brandon Carlo (trade), Morgan Rielly (trade), Viktor Arvidsson (free agent), Frank Vatrano (buy out), Derek Stefan (trade), Tanner Jeannot (trade), Jordan Greenway (trade), Stanislav Vrhel (trade), Yegor Chinakov (waivers), Luca Sbisa (free agent), Pius Suter (free agent), Ville Vahalahti (free agent)
Potential Lineup
Dylan Larkin/Anthony Cirelli/Alexander Radulov
Jake Guentzel/Matty Beniers/Valeri Nichushkin
Tyson Jost/Tomas Zaborsky/Jordan Kyrou
Brandon Hagel/Ty Dellandrea/Alexander Nylander
Alexei Bereglazov/Martin Fehervary
Ryan Graves/Sam Girard
Arber Xhekaj/J.J. Moser
Petr Mrazek/Noah Paixao
A Question
What will the new Kosice team look like? When the franchise was in Geneva – at least in recent years – team defense was its calling card. It’s the reason the Generals made it to the playoffs last season. While the team placed 15th or lower in all statistics categories, the Generals were 7th-best in shots against. Anthony Cirelli, Christian Dvorak, Colton Parayko and Ryan Graves were a big part of that success, but two of them (Parayko and Dvorak) were traded away. Tomas Zaborsky was added and he is a seasoned defensive forward. He should fit in very nicely to this squad. So you can basically expect much of the same – despite all the changes – from this team as far as team defense goes. The addition of Alexander Radulov, Jake Guentzel and Sam Girard will boost the offense, perhaps enough to make the playoffs for the fourth straight season. Long-term, new GM Daniel Podmanicky has constructed a younger team than did his predecessor, so that’s a healthy sign for the franchise.
Rose’s Focus
“I was feeling dizzy the other day and got in to see my doctor. He started talking to me about my weight, saying I need to lose a few dozen pounds and suggested I cut pierogies out of my diet. What a quack. A few hours later, my new doctor asked if I was following what’s happening in the EURO League and said my dizziness might be caused by what new GM Daniel Podmanicky is doing with his franchise. He moved it from Geneva, Switzerland, to some place called Kosice, Slovakia. Then he changed the name, the logo, the uniforms, the cheerleaders and most recently, shuffled the roster like 12 times with trades and free agent signings. If you look at the starting lineup, only six of the 12 forwards from last year are still there (including the top 3 scorers in Dylan Larkin, Anthony Cirelli and Val Nichushkin) and Nichushkin has been demoted a line. Half of the defense is different. You can’t even get the same kind of food between periods. But they do have Bryndzové pierogies, which are delicious, so I think I’ll be alright.”
