League News - Edit News

News From :

News Title :

News :

Yesterday evening, GM Julien was very generous with the journalists by offering them a press point to talk about the latest movements that took place among the Great Whites. Several very interesting topics were covered, so without further ado, here is all that was said.

Regarding the move of the Monsters to Krakow in Poland : *For starters, I heard between the branches that several Mike Ness supporters took this announcement as an insult because the team had just come out of the American League final.I would like to continue by telling them that personally I had nothing against their city. It's just that we thought that if the team moved to Europe, we would have more visibility internationally. Also, several cities were on our list, but Poland went all out by showing us around the beautiful city of Krakow in the company of former players like Krzysztof Oliwa as well as Mariusz Czerkawski. The decision was then easy to take. Finally, to conclude on the choice of the name of the team, it was very simple. The organization thought Krakow and Lumberjack went well together, so we went in that direction.*

Regarding the 2020 draft: *The 6 choices I made make me very proud to be frank with you. At first I was a little frustrated that my team went down in the final lottery standings, but after a few checks I noticed that I was going to have the chance to draft a very promising young player. This is what happened when I selected Marco Rossi in 7th place. He's the player I was aiming for from the start and I could only be happy to see that he was available at my rank. It's not complicated, he's an under-sized center with great hands, super stick-handling and great positioning. With him and Alex Turcotte who should arrive in the coming seasons, I can only be satisfied with the future at the center. With my 2nd round pick, I went to the Finland side by picking out Roby Jarventie, a big 6 ft 2 left winger. From what I've seen of him he's not a complete player, but he has very good speed. He's also a modern player who uses his large size to protect the puck. Finally, he is not afraid to go to the net and he has a very good shot. Another left winger Luke Tuch, goaltender Drew Commesso, defensemen Daemon Hunt and left winger / center Artyom Galimov were my other 4 choices. In my opinion, they are 4 players who have the potential to come and play in the organization of the Great Whites in the seasons to come.*

Concerning the UFA market: *Looking at my team, I immediately noticed 2 immediate needs for the next season. The Great Whites just needed a center and a top 6 winger. Several people around the team recently asked me why I had decided to bring back Ilya Kovalchuk and not Evander Kane. The reason is very simple. Evander Kane is a great player there is no doubt. However, he seems to have some attraction to the penalty box and that's what really bothered me about him. On Ilya Kovalchuk's side, he's a well-respected veteran who only has a taste for playing hockey. It is for this reason that he accepted the 1-year contract and $ 770,000 that he was offered in recent weeks. He wanted to sign as soon as possible to be ready for the next season. Coming back to the need I had targeted, I have been very active in the cases of Nazem Kadri and Mike Hoffman. They received several offers from me, but I had set a certain limit and in the end it was reached in both cases. So I went to see for plans B and I am very happy to announce that Mats Zuccarello and Paul Byron will wear the colors of the Great Whites for the next 2 seasons. A native of Norway, Zuccarello has accepted a 2-year contract that will earn him $ 4.675,000 million per season. He's a small forward who will bring a lot of speed to the Great Whites and he's also capable of getting on the scoresheet. Maybe he should have time on the power play as well, but the decision will be up to the head coach. As for Paul Byron, he also accepted a 2-year contract which will allow him to pocket $ 3M per year. He is a small forward that will bring depth to the bottom 6 of the Great Whites. He is also very useful on the penalty kill. For the center, besides Kadri, we could not find someone who matched our criteria. That's why I acquired Eric Staal from the Hellcats last Friday. To get it, I only shelled out a 4th round pick in 2022. It's an excellent price for a center that is still capable of amassing around fifty points. He and Kevin Hayes will share a different task on the Great Whites' top 6. Young Mark Jankowski as well as Gabriel Fontaine were also acquired in a transaction. In return, Tobias Rieder took the road to Regina. Jankowski is expected to act as the Great Whites' # 4 center and he will certainly have time on the shorthanded as well. On the Fontaine side, he will bring depth to the Lumberjacks.*

Finally, GM Julien did not want to reveal if he had other movements to complete. He simply ended by saying that he was always ready to make changes if the opportunity presented itself.

Password :

Note:
#1 : If you can�t find a Team Name in the � News From � drop box, it�s because the team has no password configured in the STHS.
#2 : The league commissioner can create, edit or delete news on behalf of Team with the League Web Password.

Back to the Top