GM: Eugene Wilkinson
Coach: Barry Trotz
Last season: 9th overall. In playoffs, defeated Lisbon; defeated Paris; lost to Berlin.
Ins and Outs
(Season 16 to Season 17)
In: Luke Kunin (trade), Semyon Varlamov (free agent), Juuso Parssinen (draft)
Out: Jean-Gabriel Pageau (free agent), Adam Henrique (free agent), Tomas Nosek (free agent), Sandro Zurkirchen (free agent)
Potential Lineup
Clayton Keller/Dylan Sikura/Oliver Björkstrand
Casey Mittelstadt/Nick Paul/Jesper Bratt
Samuel Bucek/Luke Kunin/Mathieu Joseph
William Eklund/Juuso Parssinen/Alexander Volkov
Moritz Seider/Cale Makar
Noah Hanifin/Alexis Vanier
Jacob Bryson/Tobias Bfornfot
Niko Hovinen/Semyon Varlamov
A Question
Can they make it to the Cup Finals? Most definitely. This season and/or the next several seasons, in fact. In Game 7 of last year’s Southern Conference, Berlin led Munich by 2 goals late. But the Red Bulls fought back and tied it and forced OT before Loic Lamperier scored his third goal of the game. Munich’s season ended on a sour note, but overall it was a sweet season. New General Manager Eugene Wilkinson made a big difference, it seemed. His acquisition of Dylan Sikura certainly made a difference. The Canadian was a consistent point scorer and at one point during the season, put together a 30-game scoring streak. He will be the offensive leader of the forward corps that features two solid lines. But if you think you can beat Munich by focusing on Sikura, well … those guys blowing past you are probably Munich’s defensemen. The Red Bulls have an incredibly good Top 6 on the blueline. The lowest OV rating among the first two pairs of D is 84. Every team has to be envious of Munich’s defense top two pairs consisting of Cale Makar, Moritz Seider, Alexis Vanier and Noah Hanifin. It’s a group of – first and foremost – skillful players who can really move the puck up and around the ice. And they don’t do that at the expense of playing defense. The team was 7th in the league in shots against last season. We can foresee this nucleus becoming the best defensive foursome in the league, but as Chris Stapleton sings in his song “White Horse,” they ain’t there yet. Their best years are still two or three seasons from now. By then, they will have become used to pursuing the President’s Trophy and the Cup.
Rose’s Focus
“If I was a young hockey player today, I think I would like to join the Red Bulls. Yes, they have the best cheerleaders in Germany, but there is more. Munich is one of the top-ranked cities in the league and the Red Bulls seem to be a team firmly on track and following a long-term plan. They remind me a lot of Copenhagen in its earlier stages. How many players did they add in the off season? Just two: Luke Kunin in a trade and old goalie Semyon Varlamov, who – at age 37 – was a few years out of hockey and just waiting to get old enough for Paris to call on him. I don’t know what last’s year backup goalie Sandro Zurkirchen did wrong to be ushered out of Bavaria, but maybe it was as simple as wanting to be paid $3 million. The budget was getting a little tight. But my focus this season will be on the centers of Munich’s lines 2 and 3. You’ve got new faces there and we’ll see how they gel with the wingers. Jean-Gabriel Pageau is gone and huge, tough looking Nick Paul (I’d like a closer look at that man. Just sayin’.) is taking his place on the second line. Kunin will handle Paul’s old job on line 3. I think Paul will struggle to skate with Jesper Bratt and Casey Mittelstadt on his wings, but his size and work along the boards should free up his fancy pants little wingers to dance into open spaces more often. I’m not saying Bratt and Mittelstadt are soft … OK, I am. Even I could take either one of them. And I haven’t stuck one of my Gilad workout tapes in the video tape player for about a year.”
