Chasing the playoffs again. Dinamo Riga season preview

In its traditional summer column, KHL.ru talks about the offseason and the prospects for the upcoming season for the league’s 24 clubs. In the 2020-2021 campaign, Dinamo Riga failed to qualify for the playoffs, leading to significant changes within the team.

Last season

The 2020-2021 regular season was a rocky one for Riga, with only 9 wins in 60 games, good for 28 points, and last place in the league’s standings. Moreover, Dinamo was among the first team to mathematically lose any hope for playoff qualification. The team suffered from severe problems due to the pandemic, as the four forfeit losses suggest. If that’s not enough, in October, the Latvian franchise had a fourteen-game losing streak (including two forfeits). In the second half of the season, however, things got better for Riga, who had a series of excellent results against the league’s top teams, defeating SKA (after SO), CSKA and Dynamo Moscow in regulation and Ak Bars in OT. Many experts considered the OT win over Kazan Dinamo Riga’s best game in 2020-2021.

Roster

Arrivals

Goalies: Johan Mattson (Frolunda, SHL), Matej Machovsky (Sparta Prague, Czech Republic); 

Defensemen: Nerijus Alisauskas (Slovan Bratislava, Slovakia), Frank Corrado (MODO, SHL), Ralfs Freibergs (Kometa Brno, Czech Republic), Oskars Cibulskis (Litvinov, Czech Republic), Karlis Cukste (San Jose, AHL); 

Forwards: Filips Buncis (TO, Krefeld, DEL), Sebastian Wannstrom (Assat, Liiga), Martins Karsums (Krefeld, DEL), Jere Karjalainen (HC Sochi), Edgars Kulda (TO, Metallurg Nk, VHL), Gints Meija (Black Wings Linz, IceHL), Alexander Protapovich (Avtomobilist), Emil Paurier (Kosice, Slovakia), Lukas Radil (Spartak), Peter Tiivola (Assat, Liiga), Rudolf Cerveny (Pelicans, Liiga), Hunter Shinkaruk (Kunlun Red Star, trade).

Departures

Goalies: Janis Voris, Stanislav Galimov (Karpat, Liiga); 

Defensemen: Nikita Mateiko, Ernests Osenieks, Miks Tumanovs; 

Forwards: Rihards Bukarts, Roberts Bukarts (Viktovice, Czech Republic), Emils Gegeris (Anglet, France), Evgeny Grachyov (Admiral), Andris Dzerins, Martins Dzierkals (Kunlun Red Star, player rights), Patriks Zabusovs, Gleb Zyryanov (Amur), Miks Indrasis (Vityaz), Danila Larionovs (Saryarka, Kazakhstan), Denis Parshin, Gennady Stolyarov.

Dinamo Riga had an exciting offseason, signing Lukas Radil and Martins Karsums, who are already adapted to playing in the KHL. Other than Karsums, another five newcomers have already lined up for Riga in the past: Nerijus Alisauskas, Ralfs Freibergs, Oskars Cibulskis, Gints Meija, and Alexander Protapovich. Moreover, Dinamo strengthened its forwards’ lineup with Peter Tiivola, representing Finland at the recent IIHF World Championship in Latvia.

Regarding the losses, one of the most significant will be Martins Dzierkals — the rights on last year’s second top scorer were traded to Kunlun Red Star in exchange for Hunter Shinkaruk. Miks Indrasis moved to Vityaz, Evgeny Grachyov returned to Admiral, while Gleb Zyryanov joined Amur. Moreover, Stanislav Galimov and Roberts Bukarts left the KHL.

Coaching

Sergei Zubov will lead Dinamo Riga in the 2021-2022 campaign. He already worked with SKA and HC Sochi — last year, he started the regular season on the Black Sea’s shores but left his seat in October to join the Dallas Stars’ hockey operations staff. Zubov has recently told KHL.ru that he intends to get his team playing faster, more entertaining hockey.

Goaltending

Dinamo Riga will start the 2021-2022 campaign with a new goaltending duo — the Latvian franchise signed Matej Machovsky from Sparta Prague and Johan Mattsson from Frolunda. Machovsky was among the top five goalies in the Czech Extraliga for the goals-against average (2.26) and finished the season in 12th place for saves percentage (91.3%). In Prague, he shared games with former KHL veteran Alexander Salak. Mattsson played slightly worse than Machovsky, at least stats-wise, saving 90.5% and posting a goals-against average of 2.47. However, this will hardly play a role for Dinamo’s coaches before the season, and now both goalies have equal chances at becoming the Latvian side’s starting netminder.

Defense

The defensive leader of the team will be Kristaps Sotnieks, with his 653 career KHL games. Moreover, should he score more than 25 points, he can become one of the top-three scorers among all Latvian defensemen in the history of our league. Other top defensemen should be Ralfs Freibergs, Oskars Cibulskis, and Nerijus Alisauskas. In addition, Dinamo Riga can also count on the young but experienced Kristaps Zile. The 23-years-old blueliner already has over 200 KHL games under his belt. The team also retained Reece Scarlett, who was last year’s top-scoring defenseman in Riga with 17 points. Canada’s Frank Corrado also joined the team; the defenseman has experience in the NHL and the AHL and spent his latest term in Sweden, scoring about half a point a game.

Offense

Last year, Riga scored a mere 126 goals in the whole season — the second-last result in the entire league. To get back to the playoffs, Zubov must get the team to improve its offensive potential. The task looks even more challenging considering that last year’s top scorers, Miks Indrasis and Martins Dzierkals, changed teams this summer. However, the Latvian franchise signed Martins Karsums and Lukas Radil as replacements, with the latest producing 32 (19+13) points for Spartak last year. Veteran Lauris Darzins will play yet another season in Riga, and this will undoubtedly help Zubov.

Youngsters

Dinamo Riga decided to build its team on experience, but there are a few exciting youngsters as well. 20-years old Eriks Vitols and Janis Svanenbergs have already lined up for Riga in the KHL, with Svanenbergs opening his account for the club and netting four goals in his debut season. Mikus Mintautiskis is another exciting option for the future, but he’s yet to get his feet wet in the KHL.

What to expect

Dinamo Riga misses the playoffs for seven years now, with its latest appearance in 2014. In the new season, they can hardly be considered one of the sure-fire postseason teams. The Western Conference will likely have five top teams (CSKA, SKA, Dynamo Moscow, Lokomotiv, and Jokerit), with another four battling out for the remaining three playoff spots (Spartak, Torpedo, Dinamo Minsk, and Severstal). However, Zubov showed his worth leading HC Sochi to the postseason twice in a row, and he may also repeat his excellent results in Riga.