GM: Jason Haupt
Coach: Paul MacLean
Last season: 22nd overall. Did not make the playoffs
Ins and Outs
(Season 18 to Season 19)
In: Jesper Wallstedt (draft), Berkly Catton (draft), Nick Lardis (draft), Gavin Brindly (draft), Danila Yurov (draft)
Out: Max Jones (trade); Chris Martenet (trade), Jake Middleton (free agent), Pyotr Kotchetkov (free agent), Nick Robertson (trade), Jason Brancheau (free agent)
Potential Lineup
Andrei Svechnikov/Jack Hughes/Matvei Michkov
Dillon Dube/Gabe Vilardi/Oliver Wahlstrom
Bartek Bison/Kent Johnson/Mackie Samoskevich
Nick Lardis/Berkly Catton/Gavin Brindley
Danilo Tomasevic/Lane Hutson
Adam Boqvist/Adam Fox
Arber Xhekaj/Pierre-Olivier Joseph
Jesper Wallstedt/Rudy Rigoni
A Question
How is this rebuild coming along? Gothenburg centerman Tommy Novak was riding the bench at the end of Season 18 and that’s a good sign if you are a supporter of the Frolunda. Novak, 28, played second-line minutes for 75 games in Season 17 but two seasons later, he has basically been bumped right out the door. That’s because Gothenburg’s younger forwards are increasingly becoming part of the long-term focus. That focus has been on prospects and draft picks and it’s paying off. The key question is General Manager Jason Haupt’s focus. The salary cap’s shadow is finally starting to be visible in Gothenburg and to maximize his youth, he should give the young players experience points, right? Does he have the cap room to do that? Will he shift his focus to the present and trade some of his future assets, or will he keep this youth movement rolling like a conveyor belt in a young hockey player factory? The rebuild got a turbo boost this off season when Swedish goalie Jesper Wallstedt got his Websim attributes after playing 35 games for the Minnesota Wild. His 91.5 save percentage, 2.61 goals against average and his tender age of 23 give him a super bright future in the EURO League. He seems like the stereotypical franchise goalie. The way Gothenburg played last season was not good for goalies, so Frolunda fans should temper their expectations for Wallstedt in Season 19, but he will clearly be a top goalie in the league somewhere down the line.
Rose’s Focus
“If the insecure, incompetent commissioner ever gives me a decent chunk of PTO (personal time off), I’ll be heading to Denmark to see the Aalborg Pirates play. I bet you my hearing aids that they will win the games I attend. The Pirates are the farm club of the Gothenburg Frolunda. Gothenburg might not make the EURO playoffs this season but their system is stacked with good young players. The big club already has 20 or so players under 27 who are capable contributors and Gothenburg has about two dozen prospects in the pipeline including Cole Hutson, Igor Chernyshov, Anton Frondell and Quentin Musty. I want to see them play and I know I’ll have to journey to Aalborg to do so. The Frolunda also got four good young skaters in the off season when they went from prospects to players and I’m anxious to see if Nick Lardis, Danila Yurov, Gavin Brindley and Berkley Catton will be wearing Pirates sweaters or Frolunda duds this year. I might hit some games in Gothenburg too, I guess.”
