GM: Mikko Mantykoski
Coach: Dan Bylsma
Last season: 24th overall. Did not make playoffs
Ins and Outs
(Season 17 to Season 18)
In: Tyler Seguin (free agent), Shayne Gostisbehere (trade), Teuvo Teravainen (free agent), Keith Petruzzelli (free agent), Dysin Mayo (free agent), Jacob De La Rose (free agent), Steven Santini (free agent), Anthony Nigro (free agent), Alejandro Hernandez (free agent), Frank Corrado (free agent), Markus Spinell (free agent), Mathieu Oliver (free agent)
Out: Daniel Sprong (free agent), Sean Monahan (free agent), Igor Shesterkin (free agent), Sakari Salminen (free agent), Alex Trivellato (free agent), Kevin Labanc (free agent), Tim Berni (trade), Dmitrij Jaskin (free agent), Eirik Salsten (free agent), Olli Malmivaara (free agent), Jared Cowen (retired), Louis Leblanc (free agent), Tan Hollered (free agent)
Potential Lineup
Christian Dvorak/Tyler Seguin/Matthew Boldy
Teuvo Teravainen/Macklin Celebrini/Cedric Paquette
Eeli Tolvanen/Lewis Houston/Nico Huuhtanen
Jacob De La Rose/Oscar Lindblom/Mathieu Olivier
Shayne Gostisbehere/Simon Edvinsson
Philippe Myers/David Maier
Rami Maatta/Jordan Harris
Keith Petruzzelli/Florian Bugl
A Question
Why is Dan Bylsma still the coach? Do you know who has served as coach of Madrid from Day 1 of this league to today? Dan Bylsma. After the team placed 24th out of 24 teams, you would think Bylsma would be looking for work, but he’s not. Perhaps management thinks it would be a shame to waste the Spanish vocabulary he has picked up in the past 17 years at the helm of the team. Season 17 was a terrible year for the team. How bad was it? Two of the Royals’ first-line forwards had plus/minus ratings of -71 and -66 and the team’s top two scorers played just 15 minutes per game, which puts Bylsma’s decision making under a lot of scrutiny. Left wing Eeli Tolvanen, 26, was the leading scorer with 47 points. That’s not much, but it’s quite a jump from the 15 he scored the season before. Looking back on Madrid’s last year, the highlight was either seeing Macklin Celebrini suit up in the dark blue and gold for the first time; getting Michael Misa with the second pick in the draft; or watching Mikko Mäntykoski destroy the field and win the GM Swimsuit Competition on All-Star Weekend. But Bylsma is back for another season and he has some pretty good pieces to work with this year. Mantykoski obtained Shayne Gostisbehere in a trade and assuming he stays with the team, he will be the leader on defense. He will play as many minutes as his 33-year-old body will allow, he’ll quarterback the powerplay, and he will serve as on-ice mentor for future superstar Simon Edvinsson. Veteran Tyler Seguin, fresh off his week with the EURO Cup as a member of the Helsinki Jokerit, was signed to work with and teach 24-year-old right wing Matthew Boldy, who will be a very important member of the franchise for a long time. Madrid might be able to move up a few places this season. Meanwhile, Bylsma and Mantykoski will surely spend some of their time watching the NHL’s San Jose Sharks to see how they handle Misa. A high PO rating for him would be just what the Spanish franchise needs.
Rose’s Focus
“There is a youth movement under way in Spain, a movimiento juvenil, as they say there, and frankly, I don’t like it. It irks me every time some snot-nosed 40-year-old tells me “better” ways to do my job. Well, Junior, I have been punching calculator keys and doing mathematics longer than you have been chewing food, so just shut up and drink your mocha lotta grande chai or whatever passes for coffee these days for you pipsqueaks. Now I’m all worked up. Where are my pills? Stupid young people. Fans of the Madrid Royals will have to wait for their glory days, but it will still be fun to watch their talented youngsters zip around the ice throwing the puck all over and trying to put together creative plays, and I am personally looking forward to watching rugged Mathieu Olivier pushing people around as a fourth-line winger. I don’t know what number he is going to wear yet, but there is a number in Madrid that caught my attention: 33,359,584. As in $33,359,584 in cap space this season. That gives General Manager Mikko Mäntykoski all kinds of options and possibilities … waiver pickups … deals for overpaid players on cash-tight teams … drugs. This could be a fun season in Spain.”
