NHL Profiles: St. Louis / San Jose / Tampa Bay

Christian Backman (StL) - left Sweden as a rather slow and immature rearguard, who at times struggled to hold on to a spot among the club's top six defensemen .. however he returned last season a much more mobile and well-rounded package .. emerged as the best defenseman in Frolunda and did everything quite impressively .. a stronger skater now - no longer the sluggish kid he was in his late teens and early 20's .. displays a pretty fluid stride and gets where he needs to be, although he'll likely never be considered a quick skater .. strong passer, always very accurate and is good at finding passing lanes in the neutral zone .. also possesses a booming slapshot which he gets on target and makes him a very useful powerplay asset .. very good coverage in his own end, although he can still get into trouble against quick and skilled players who find some time and space .. makes the right decisions all the time now and has matured in every part of the game.

Petr Cajanek (StL) - rejoined Petr Leska last season in Zlin, where he carried the offensive torch for three years before heading to the NHL .. adjusted to the Extraleague quicker than a majority of the locked-out NHL players .. a steady offensive contributor who regularly created strong chances for his wingers .. willing to play chippy and make use of the assets he learned in the NHL .. injuries to Leska and Radek Bonk left him as the only really strong offensive weapon as Zlin headed into the playoff semifinals .. delivered an inspired postseason performance, displaying great heart and determination to lead his squad into the finals where they lost to Pardubice .. competed at the World Cup and Sweden Hockey Games before making the trip to Austria for the World Championships, where he delivered a strong effort en route to gold-medal success .. entering the later stages of his prime though can still serve as a valuable cog in the Blues' offense .. a spirited warrior with playmaking talent .. will prove that his solid earlier NHL showings were no fluke and deliver respectable numbers.

David Fredriksson (StL) - as expected, the big winger bounced between junior hockey, the second league, and the SEL where he took the odd shift .. failed to make a convincing argument at any level last season .. hard to understand exactly what persuaded the Blues to draft him last summer as he's an awful skater whose offensive skills are little more than average .. not far from duties in the SEL, but still technically a mess .. gets knocked off the puck with surprising ease in the offensive zone by players he should be flattening .. handles the puck respectably when given enough time and space though this will be inadequate at the elite level .. his passing game and vision are slightly above average .. has size, which helps to score some points in the junior league, however a big frame alone isn't going to help him one bit in the SEL .. has one year left on his contract with HV, but it's unlikely that he'll even see fourth line duty this season.

Robin Jonsson (StL) - managed to stick in Farjestad for the whole season this time around at least, but didn't see much playing time however .. saw very few shifts in the playoffs .. a good skater who moves fluidly over the ice .. boasts a solid passing game and constantly makes mature decisions in his own zone .. could use some more muscle, though this doesn't hurt his game too much on European rinks .. not a very strong shooter, which is something he should improve to bigger become a factor in powerplay situations .. all in all, he has a fairly good collection of tools and a pretty interesting upside given some time .. should finally grab a top-six spot in Farjestad.

Simon Skoog (StL) - took a step in the wrong direction last season compared to '03-4 .. never quite managed to crack the line-up, partially due to the influx of lockout players .. a physically well-equipped defenseman with a hard but inaccurate slapshot .. however he's not a strong skater - slow strides and mediocre lateral movement .. likes to join the offensive rush at times despite his skating .. decent hockey sense but can still make the odd bad decision due to immaturity .. he's blessed with a decent set of tools and should be able to rebound and establish himself as a top-six SEL defenseman.

Carl Soderberg (StL) - bounced between the SEL, second league and some junior hockey last season .. couldn't gain the confidence of Malmo's coach, who opted for experience rather than young talent when the team started to really struggle .. a very strong offensive package .. boasts natural and confident puckhandling ability - the puck just stays glued to his tape all the time .. his skating is quicker than it seems at first glance due to long powerful strides, though he'll likely never be a truly elite skater .. an excellent playmaker who is constantly creative and finds openings everywhere .. also has a scoring touch, releases his shot quickly and is poised around the net .. despite a big frame though, his physical game isn't a strong point as he lacks aggression and intensity sometimes .. rarely hits anyone .. should try to develop a mean streak.

Jonathan Cheechoo (SJ) - arrived to HV 71 fairly late into last season in order to generate offense and help the team reach the playoffs .. eventually he failed on both accounts .. smooth and fairly quick skater, though doesn't quite have that extra gear .. seemed to have trouble adjusting to European hockey, as he made bad decisions with the puck and simply didn't seem to know what he was suppose to do on the ice at times .. excelled when it came to cycling the boards down low however, and created some scoring chances as a result .. not a true playmaker although he's a pretty good passer with decent hands .. also possesses a very good wristshot, however generally one would expect more poise in front of the net from a player who scored almost 30 goals in the NHL in '03-4.

Nils Ekman (SJ) - set a strong and even scoring pace throughout last season and was Djurgarden's obvious go-to guy offensively .. at least while playing in Sweden, Ekman also has a rather odd mean streak, mostly coming in the form of dirty hits on goaltenders and dangerous stick work .. one particular incident occurred in January when he ran over Timra netminder Miikka Kiprusoff .. Ekman's skating technique is excellent - has very quick, soft strides and turns on a dime .. one of the best stickhandlers in the SEL last season, displaying excellent hand-eye coordination and a wide range of dekes .. also boasts a deadly wrist shot, which he used for scoring most of his goals .. doesn't hesitate in front of the net at all, he just finds the top corners and puts the pucks there, almost uncanny at times .. very good playmaking ability as well, a complete offensive package who isn't afraid to play hard in the corners either .. does his job defensively, even though his intensity level isn't as high in his own end.

Evgeni Nabokov (SJ) - one of the later NHL players to join the RSL .. the talented netminder signed with Metallurg Magnitogorsk and was hailed as the club's ultimate solution to a gaping problem in the net .. team management had first signed a Czech goalie, who did not pan out, and then their backup was unable to keep the club afloat until the transfer period, eventually giving way to young Anton Khudobin for a couple of games before the break .. however Nabokov's tenure with Magnitogorsk wasn't consistent as he struggled early at the Spengler Cup tournament and, after seemingly getting back on track and delivering several excellent performances in a row, was then felled by a groin injury for about three weeks .. he played well upon his return, though not as spectacular as the club had hoped .. Metallurg was knocked out early in the playoffs and, while Nabokov can't be blamed entirely for the exit, he did fail to carry his team as he had frequently done for San Jose.

Dan Boyle (TB) - the Stanley Cup winner continued just where he left off in North America during his stay in Sweden last season .. performed great on the powerplay and always displayed remarkable poise with the puck, however he did experience some dreadful mistakes in his own end during the semifinals against the eventual champions Frolunda, errors that cost Djurgarden a chance to win a pair of games .. not a blistering skater at all, but knows how to get from point A to point B at the right time .. his puckhandling skills are certainly elite and the trait that makes Boyle stand out in the crowd .. always calm and confident with the puck and he's a superb passer .. excellent vision, especially offensively .. conversely, his physical game and defensive-zone coverage are not much more than average though, and certainly less than one would expect from an NHL veteran .. sometimes sloppy and over-confident with the puck in his own end, which led to dangerous turnovers .. also boasts an excellent wristshot, quick and accurate, though his slapshot is not nearly as impressive.

Pavel Kubina (TB) - missed nearly half of the regular season in '04-5 to injury, but, when healthy, the Vitkovice captain emerged as one of the most feared defensemen in the Extraleague .. jumped into the plays often and punished opposing players with regularity .. the heart and soul of the Vitkovice team in the playoffs .. raised his game up considerably in the postseason, impressing with his 'take-no-prisoners' style in the back end while scoring at nearly a point-per-game clip .. was the primary factor in the first-round sweep of favoured Sparta Praha though couldn't avoid the elimination by Zlin in the semifinals .. filled a rugged two-way role at the World Championships, where he won a gold medal .. created an off-ice furor after publicly accusing the Czech referees of corruption and was fined $10,000 at the end of the season .. upset by the frequent behind-the-scenes game shuffling in the Czech Extraleague, Kubina is ecstatic about being back in the NHL .. will pick up where he left off and serve as one of the cornerstones of the Bolts' defense.

Vincent Lecavalier (TB) - joined Ak Bars Kazan last November along with fellow Tampa Bay teammate Brad Richards .. the duo promised to boost Kazan's already formidable offense yet the pieces never all came together and they were embarrassed in the opening round of the Super League playoffs .. in hindsight though, the RSL was likely still the best alternative for Lecavalier as the league allowed him to continue competing at a high level of hockey .. unlike Richards, Lecavalier remained with the club for the rest of the season and established himself as a premier scoring threat .. consistently demonstrated his formidable mix of speed and aggressiveness .. actually played quite well in the playoffs despite the disappointing end to Kazan's season.

Fredrik Modin (TB) - much was expected of Modin last season following his performance in the World Cup, however he generally failed to deliver .. didn't play all that badly during the regular season , but was the invisible man in the postseason, registering just two measly points in seven games .. struggled with his skating upon returning to the larger European ice surfaces, slow first strides and generally sluggish, and even his top speed was underwhelming .. possesses a great frame and won a lot of battles along the boards, though he wasn't really an intimidating physical factor .. at least his shooting abilities haven't diminished, still owns a booming slapshot and a hard accurate wrister, which makes him a real scoring threat once in position .. but he often struggled to get there due to his poor skating .. generally lacked intensity in his whole approach with Timra and clearly underachieved, especially considering what he had accomplished in 2004.

Vaclav Prospal (TB) - signed with his parent Ceske Budejovice to them make the leap from Div I hockey to the Extraleague .. the most dominant player in the lower senior league, dominating on a line with fellow NHLer Radek Dvorak .. flourished particularly on powerplays to wind up the Div I scoring champion .. scored over two points per game .. reached the 60 assists mark and finished just two goals shy of hitting the 30-goal plateau .. continued his excellent performance in the playoffs, almost singlehandedly destroying Usti nad Labem in the Div I league finals and playing a main role in the series against Jihlava, which won Budejovice promotion to the Extraleague .. also led all playoff scorers .. a mainstay on the Czech national team, registering a point-per-game average in international games .. won a gold medal with a very good offensive showing at the World Championships .. having successfully delivered his hometown team back to the Extraleague during a season of dominance in Europe should boost his confidence .. still isn't the prettiest skater, but should be a prime offensive asset to the Lightning and post solid numbers.

Brad Richards (TB) - started off strong with Ak Bars Kazan on the same line with his Tampa Bay teammate Vincent Lecavalier before succumbing to a bad groin injury soon after arriving .. went back to the U.S. in January and never returned to action after undergoing surgery.