GM: Ronnie Walker
Coach: Jim Hiller
Last season: 12th overall. In playoffs, lost to Belfast.
Ins and Outs
(Season 18 to Season 19)
In: Miro Aaltonen (free agent), Jonathan Huberdeau (free agent), Robin Lehner (free agent), Andres De La Garma (trade), Alexander Nikishin (draft), Calvin Thurkauf (free agent), Nardo Nagtzaam (free agent), Morgan Rielly (trade), Victor Olofsson (free agent), Andreas Johnson (free agent), Andre Burakovsky (trade), Tomas Hyka (trade), Thomas Spelling (trade),
Out: Sam Reinhart (trade), Matt Duchene (trade), Juuse Saros (trade), Alexander Nylander (free agent), Michal Kristoff (free agent), Eliezer Sherbatov (free agent), Jason Dickinson (trade), Travis Dermott (trade), Ty Dellandrea (free agent), Evgeny Kuznetsov (free agent), Taylor Raddysh (free agent), Jack McBain (free agent)
Potential Lineup
Lucas Raymond/Sean Monahan/Victor Olofsson
Calvin Thurkauf/Miro Aaltonen/Andreas Johnson
Marian Studenic/Jonathan Huberdeau/Andre Burakovsky
Matthew Knies/Dylan Cozens/Tomas Hyka
Owen Power/Thomas Chabot
Kaiden Guhle/Morgan Rielly
Darnell Nurse/Alex Vlasic
Robin Lehner/Elvis Merzlikins
A Question
How high in the standings should we expect to see the Vikings? Buoyed by their great fans in Estonia and their brilliant play on home ice, Tallinn went from 20th place in Season 17 to 12th last year, and don’t be surprised if the Vikings make another jump this season. General Manager Ronnie Walker has used free agency like an artist these last two seasons and he now has a roster in place that could conceivably make a run for the Cup this year. But for that to happen, a few pieces have to fall into place. The team has to show the kind of trust in goalie Robin Lehner that Walker showed in signing the 37-year-old. His 88 Goalie Rating indicates Lehner kept in shape this off season and the 60 games he played for Lisbon last season with a save percentage over 90 are indicators the Swede can still perform with the best of them. Directly in front of him is a defense corps the fans have grown used to cheering for. Five starters from last year are back with only Morgan Rielly in as a newcomer in place of Travis Dermott. But up front … that’s where the focus of the fans and coaching staff will be at the start of the season. Of this year’s 12 starting forwards, only five were in Tondiraba Ice Hall for home games last season. All four right wings this season were on other teams last year and two were Bern Bears. So for Coach Jim Hiller, line combinations will be a work in progress for a while as he sees what each guy brings to the table. He will be looking closely to see if anyone is capable of replacing 30-goal scorers Sam Reinhart and Matt Duchene, who are now playing for Northern Conference rivals Helsinki and Copenhagen. And he should be looking at who can help the Vikings improve their special team rankings from 20th with the man advantage and 22nd in penalty killing. Tallinn was in the top half of the rankings in goals for and goals against, so if they can improve those special teams numbers, they’ll do very well.
Rose’s Focus
“Not to sound repetitive, but I like me a good young man. Tallinn’s coaching staff does too, apparently. They have thrust the three captaincy designations on three 24-year-olds (Lucas Raymond, Owen Power and Kaiden Guhle. At least that’s how the lineup reads today.). If that doesn’t say, ‘Fellas, you are in our long-term plans,’ then I really don’t know what does … except, of course, just saying to them, ‘Fellas, you are in our long-term plans.’ General Manager Ronnie Walker hasn’t shown the same kind of commitment to older players. If his first full year in charge is any indication, Walker kind of treats free agency like a dating app. He sees a few players he might like, spends some cash on them, and then when the sun is coming up on a new season, he logs back onto FreeAgentMatch.com and signs a whole new batch. It must have felt like an 82-game blind date with Walker to players like Sam Reinhart, Matt Duchene, Juuse Saros and others who were signed onto the team for Season 18 and then jettisoned without a good night kiss as it was approaching Season 19 o’clock. I know the feeling and it’s a great feeling. Dumping guys, I mean. Do I feel sorry for men when I dump them and see the sadness on their cleanly-shaven faces? No. Not really. I just move on to the next guy. This year, Walker’s next guys are people like Miro Aaltonen, Calvin Thurkauf and Victor Olofsson. Enjoy the ride, fellas, but notice you weren’t considered for the captaincy.”
