Still on the doorsteps of April, and a LONG time before the 2018-19 CCHL season starts in September/October, the Minnesota Norsemen are somewhat quietly (relative to some of the bigger names or rumored bigger names/picks moving in the CCHL) addressing needs and upgrading in spots with relative efficiency.
“There are some motivated teams right now, whether it be new generals putting their stamp on their team, or clubs looking to take the leap or continue building, that have made this a very active environment to be working in,” said Norsemen general manager, Blake Wendt. “With what we accomplished this last season, and seeing what we have going into next season, we are obviously in that transition into contender mode. I don’t expect the Canosa Conference to be any less of a dogfight next season as it was last season. If we want to come out on top of that pile, we have to be smart about where we update and replace our personnel. When we’ve identified an area of liability, we have so far not only plugged that hole but put a quality asset in that spot.”
Going into the 2018-19 season, Minnesota is expected to have some big point producers on their top-two lines. Phil Kessel is likely locked in on the top line at right-wing. From there, the flexibility of some players to play center or on the wings, will keep things fluid and give the head coach, Mike Yeo plenty of options with his lineup on a nightly basis.
The Norsemen are incredibly deep at center. The top line could see Eric Staal, Tyler Seguin or William Karlsson there on Opening Night. There’s also the possibility of slotting Seguin in a 2RW role and/or Karlsson in a 1-2LW role. To give the club depth down the middle if that happens, and to avoid going crazy trying to find that depth at the Free Agent Frenzy, the Norsemen went a trade route and picked up Colton Sissons from Parry Sound on Friday (with forward Tyler Motte for Hunwick and prospect forwards, Forsbacka Karlsson & Bjork). Sissons checks off so many boxes beside being a depth center. The former Kelowna Rocket captain basically locks down the third line role. Size, defensively stout and an ever-improving face-off specialist that ranks as one of the better ones in the game. The departure of Hunwick clears out an enormous amount of money remaining on his deal that was signed in the last Free Agent Frenzy. While also cleaning up some ugly contracts that Wendt has been open in admitting in hindsight, were some bad moves.
To go along with the winger options of Seguin and Karlsson, there are some giants to fill out the remainder of the top-9. Anders Lee, Charlie Coyle, Nick Bjugstad, Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou will take up a lot of space on the ice. Plenty of options and different styles to give Yeo the right mix in the given situation.
The blue line is the perfect mix of cerebral, gifted skating defensemen that Wendt has been trying to piece together for years to his liking. The emergence of Charlie McAvoy will likely see him up on the top pairing with the insanely underrated, Ivan Provorov. Newly acquired Tyson Barrie will be McAvoy’s biggest competition for those 1D minutes on the right side. With him will be either be the equally shifty Nate Schmidt or the smooth-skating, smart Jonas Brodin. Rounding out the bottom pairing will see Deryk Engelland keeping the opposition honest and providing a cannon from the point.
In net will be the greatest strength of the Norsemen. Pekka Rinne is arguably one of the best, if not THE best goaltender in the game today. To think he was acquired WITH future franchise goalie, Carter Hart from Hamilton for Devan Dubnyk! He is a workhorse, but on the rare off day, there will be no drop off in his fellow countryman, Antti Raanta. In a pinch, or if injuries were to unfortunately arise, Minnesotans Alex Stalock or possibly Alex Lyon will be at the ready.
With the Free Agent Frenzy being the next major event in the CCHL, don’t expect the Minnesota Norsemen to be very active, if at all during that process. Whether it be gun shy from the aftermath of last year’s signings, or just not needing much of anything from it.
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