GM: Steve Yung
Coach: Michel Therrien
Last season: 10th overall. In playoffs, defeated Minsk; defeated Copenhagen; lost to Helsinki
Ins and Outs
(Season 18 to Season 19)
In: Maxim Chudinov (trade), Mark Stone (free agent), Will Butcher (free agent), Niklas Almari (trade), Ondrej Palat (trade), Justin Schultz (free agent), Ryan McDonagh (trade), Tyler Ennis (free agent), P.K. Subban (free agent)
Out: Colton Parayko (trade), Ryan O’Reilly (trade), Slava Voynov (free agent), Nikita Zapolsky (trade)
Potential Lineup
Filip Forsberg/Elias Pettersson/Mark Stone
Taylor Hall/Nick Schmaltz/Fyodor Malykhin
Ondrej Palat/John Tavares/Steven Stamkos
Mattias Sjogren/Marco Kasper/Kevin Fiala
Ken Kuusk/Maxim Chudinov
Justin Schultz/Will Butcher
Dougie Hamilton/Alex Pietrangelo
Igor Shesterkin/Isak Posch
A Question
Can Paris give their fans more treats in Season 19? Paris fans were treated to two Game 7 wins in the playoffs as the Rouge Eiffels surprised both Minsk and Copenhagen before bowing out to Helsinki in the Conference Finals. Filip Forsberg pushed himself as far as he possibly could for his team. He was hurt in the Minsk series, played hurt against Copenhagen and then was knocked out of the lineup by Helsinki’s Mikko Lehtonen in the Conference Finals. Forsberg is back in Paris this season after a brief look around the league during free agency. He likes France and he likes his teammates. It’s a good group of guys – mature, settled, grounded and all the other adjectives that come with senior citizenry. French fans get most of their heroes from last season back, although the salary cap might have cost them defenseman Colton Parayko who was traded to Bratislava in the off season. Ryan O’Reilly is also not with the team this season. But there are also some new faces in bleu, blanc et rouge sweaters this season. Check that. No face in Paris is really “new” – they are just less old. Justin Schultz and Will Butcher add some wheels and puck skills to the defense corps and legendary Minsk blueliner Maxim Chudinov could start on the top pairing with Ken Kuusk to form a duo with 12 all-star games on its resume. Up front, Mark Stone comes over as a free agent from Zurich, where he scored 64 points last season and he could end up on the top line with Forsberg and the teenager Elias Pettersson (he’s 29, but in Paris that’s technically referred to as a teenager) and those three would be looked at for the bulk of the team’s offensive production. Forsberg scored 80 points last season and Pettersson scored 94 with Fyodor Malykhin (80 points) on the right wing. Stone has more stamina than Malykhin, which is why the newcomer could have an inside track on the top line job. The way things are shaping up so far in the off season, it looks like either Nick Schmaltz or Steven Stamkos will have to be shifted from the right wing to center. Chances are, you will see them and many other forwards bouncing all around this lineup as injuries cause position shuffling this season. Changes like that are nothing new for the Rouge Eiffels. It’s been a recurring theme in Paris. The defense corps is really offensive-minded and Paris management is hoping the team’s shots per game goes up this season, even though the Rouge Eiffels were 8th in the league in that category last year.
Rose’s Focus
“Alright, this is getting ridiculous. Sixteen players on this team have logged more than 1,000 games in the league. John Tavares, Steven Stamkos and Alex Pietrangelo have played 1,399, 1,398 and 1,393 games, respectively. And that doesn’t include the more than 200 playoff games each has skated in. Will they still be playing in the league when I’m dead and gone? I’m very jealous of them. All three will get regular ice time this season, but – understandably – not the top line minutes they have been putting in for what seems like a century. I want to know what they are eating and drinking to be able to keep this up. Paris General Manager Steve Yung won’t tell me. ‘I’m not saying anything until that (expletive) Massaro is out for good,’ he told me last Tuesday. Hey, I want Massaro gone just as much as the next person, but I don’t think anyone wants to see Bratislava winning games, so it’s probably not going to happen.”
