GM: Steve Stringer
Coach: Andrew Brunette
Last season: 9th overall. In playoffs, defeated Belfast; lost to Copenhagen
Ins and Outs
(Season 14 to Season 15)
In: Pavel Buchnevich (free agent), Tyler Ennis (free agent), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (free agent), Timo Meier (free agent), Dominik Pas (free agent), Michael Del Zotto (free agent), Jindrich Barak (free agent), Erik Andersson (free agent)
Out: Alexander Ovechkin (retired), Jonathan Huberdeau (free agent), Cody Eakin (free agent), Nazem Kadri (free agent), Tomas Zaborsky (free agent), Alexandre Carrier (free agent), Robert Hagg (trade), Travis Hamonic (free agent), Olli Malmivaara (free agent), Danis Zaripov (free agent)
Potential Lineup
Elias Pettersson/Matt Duchene/William Nylander
Tyler Ennis/Pierre-Luc Dubois/Thomas Powell
Timo Meier/Dominik Pas/Pavel Buchnevich
Alexis Lafreniere/Martin Ruzicka/Kaapo Kakko
Hampus Lindholm/Zach Bogosian
Nick Leddy/Michael Del Zotto
Oliver Ekman-Larsson/Jindrich Barak
Alex Nedeljkovic/Rudy Rigoni
A Question
So, if we were to stroll into a Dublin pub, what would they be talking about? Some drunk Irishman will be bragging that Dublin knocks Belfast out of the playoffs every year and trying to convince everyone in the place that his team has the best starting 6 players in the league. Mr. Slurred Speech might have a point. It starts with the forward line of Matt Duchene (100 points) and his Swedish wingers William Nylander and Elias Pettersson, who had a career year and 39 goals last year. But it gets better the more you look behind them. Defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Zach Bogosian have been great individually for years and together they have been very valuable. Two years ago, they were both +50 as partners, although last season they dropped into the +16 area. And goalie Alex Nedeljkovic enters his fourth season as the team’s top goalie, bringing a career 2.93 goals against average and 90.0 save percentage to the party. Dublin has a strong Top 6, but don’t relax when Duchene goes to the bench because Pierre-Luc Dubois will be your next headache. The big Canadian plays a very balanced game and he really embraced a promotion to the third line last season, raising his point total from 24 to 52 and earning a team-best +37 rating.
Rose’s Focus
“I like my men rough and strong. I definitely get revved up by those kind of guys. That’s why I have no trouble focusing on work at league headquarters while Commissioner Massaro is in the office next door. If EURO teams were men, I would be attracted most to the Guinness Chuggers. If they are winning, they hit ya. If they are tied, they hit ya. And if they are losing, they get extra tough and you feel pain. Hurt me. Dublin led the league in penalty minutes last season (11 minutes per game) but it didn’t affect them as much as you would think because their penalty killers were fourth-best in the EURO. But this year, they won’t be the most penalized team. At least that’s what I predict, because although the top two PIM guys on the team (Hampus Lindholm and Thomas Powell) return, the next six men on that list are gone. Those six accounted for 65.5 minutes per player. It looks like Dublin is getting in touch with their feminine side this season. Oh well. Hanover is kind of cute.”
