GM: Mikko Mantykoski
Coach: Dan Bylsma
Last season: 18th overall. Did not make playoffs
Ins and Outs
(Season 16 to Season 17)
In: Mattias Sjogren (free agent), Frederik Andersen (trade), Cedric Paquette (waivers), Jared Cowen (free agent), Olli Malmivaara (free agent), Cale Tanaka (free agent), Brendan Lemieux (free agent), Eirik Salsten (free agent), Tan Hellerod (free agent), Louis Leblanc (free agent)
Out: Eliezer Sherbatov (free agent), Brandon Carlo (trade), Ethan Bear (trade), Stanislav Vrhel (trade), Tyler Bertuzzi (trade), Denis Malgin (free agent), Jonas Holos (free agent), Ross Colton (free agent), Peter Thome (free agent)
Potential Lineup
Christian Dvorak/Jeff Skinner/Nico Huuhtanen
Mattias Sjogren/Sean Monahan/Daniel Sprong
Kevin Labanc/Sakeri Salminen/Dmitrij Jaskin
Eeli Tolvanen/Cedric Paquette/Matthew Boldy
Alex Trivellato/Philippe Myers
Tim Berni/Jordan Harris
Rami Maatta/David Maier
Igor Shesterkin/Frederik Andersen
A Question
Is Madrid going to be alright on the blue line? Surely, the defense corps will be a concern for first-year general manager Mikko Mantykoski. Among his first acts as GM was to trade away Ethan Bear and Brandon Carlo, the team’s top two defensemen. Why? Draft picks. That’s why. With those trades and one that moved winger Tyler Bertuzzi out of Spain, the Royals gained a first-round pick, two second-rounders and two third-rounders. But soon after the youth movement started came a head-scratcher of a deal. Madrid sent 23-year-old defensive forward Stanislav Vrhel to Helsinki for 37-year-old goalie Frederik Andersen, with the Jokerit retaining half his $7.5 million salary. Andersen and steadily improving Igor Shesterkin give Madrid strength between the pipes, but the defensemen in front of them are not that good. We bet Andersen would prefer the team be in win-now mode since he’s … well … old. He won’t be around when Madrid’s current young stars mature and do great things on the ice. We’re talking about forwards Matt Boldy, Nico Huuhtanen, Lewis Houston and perhaps Lukas Vashco. They are all promising U23s today and they will be joined soon by future superstar Macklin Celebrini. And in a few seasons, four members of the current defense corps that we’ve been picking on here will all be nearing their 79-80 PO ratings. And surprise! Simon Edvinsson will be joining the team when Celebrini does and he should have good ratings. That’s a pretty good foundation upon which to build – and that doesn’t include the extra draft picks Mantykoski has won.
Rose’s Focus
“Madrid has always buzzed around the standings and often gave people the impression they were close to putting together a good run for the EURO Cup. But luck never seemed to smile on the Royals. It sure grinned from ear to ear on draft day though, didn’t it? Thanks to an unforeseen hiccup in the Websim system, Madrid won the draft lottery and the first overall pick even though the Royals made the playoffs the previous year. That’s not supposed to happen and it only did because we realigned divisions, Paris moved to the Northern Conference … yada, yada, yada. Now the most prized possession of the draft – Macklin Celebrini – is about four months away from debuting in the EURO League wearing the dark blue and gold of Madrid. I would say he looks good in that color, but like a certain girl I see in the mirror every day, he can make any outfit glow. Celebrini got injured for a while but he has an impressive 15 points in 18 games for the San Jose Sharks. If he stays healthy, he should have an amazing PO rating in Websim. In the meantime, there are a couple of worried forwards in Spain wondering if Celebrini will bump them out of job. Celebrini should work on his Spanish. Actually, he should learn some Swedish, Italian and German too – to start – because he is going to be one popular guy among reporters in Europe. My guess is he will come to me for advice on how to handle the fame. They all do.”
