Leading up to the start of 2019-20 season, we will preview every team in the PHL

Last year Zaglebie Sosnowiec was able to buy their way into the PHL shortly before the season began. This left a roster made mostly for the 1st league. They finished third to last in the PHL. This year Zaglebie is back for vengeance. They went out and had one of the biggest offseasons for any team in the PHL. Their biggest signings included signing the Russian trio of Daniil Orekhin, Robert Korchokha, and Semyon Garshin. The Russian trio dominated the PHL last year propelling KH Torun to 6th place in the league. Loaded up with some nice imports and young talent, Zaglebie Sosnowiec could potentially shock the league.

Forwards

Semyon Garshin – Daniil Orekhin – Robert Korchokha

Blazej Salamon – Damian Slabon – Tomasz Kozlowski

Filip Stoklasa – Nikita Butsenko – Dominik Nahunko

Michal Bernacki – Lukasz Rutkowski – Jakub Blanik

Other forwards: Adam Jaskolski, Aleksander Gniewek, Andrzej Stojek, Kamil Sikora, Patryk Jarosz, and Vasili Yerasov. 

This forward group has so much talent. The Russian Trio of Daniil Orekhin, Robert Korchokha, and Semyon Garshin give them a line that can match up with any top line in the PHL. Blazej Salamon had a rough time in GKS Tychy last year, but still showed how much he can produce offensively with Polonia Bytom and Sosnowiec. Some of the young talents include Jakub Blanik and Michal Bernacki. Blanik was the captain of the Polish U18 team last year and had quite the strong performance. Bernacki was a goal-scoring machine during his junior days. Really excited to see what these players can do in a strong offense. Of the mid-tier teams in the PHL, they may have the best offense.

Defensemen

Vyacheslav Tryasunov – Marek Kaluza

Matej Cunik – David Turon

Lukasz Podsiadlo – Kamil Charousek

Other defensemen: Adrian Duszak, Marcin Horzelski, Michal Domogala, and Michal Dzialo.

The defense is pretty good but is nothing special. It is pretty veteran-led, with, in my opinion, only one player of their best six being under 30-years-old. Vyacheslav Tryasunov is an exciting import currently on a try-out basis right now. Tryasunov is a defensive first guy with experience in the KHL and has represented Kazakstan at the World Championships. I think he is the exact kind of player that young players like Adrian Duszak and Marcin Horzelski could learn a lot from. Matej Cunik is another good import. I think he brought a lot of value to Gdansk late last year and is a really great second pairing guy in the PHL.

Goalies

Rafal Radziszewski

Michal Czernik

Make no mistake Rafal Radziszewski is one of the best Polish goalies of all time, but he is no longer at his former status. Among goalies with at least 15 games played, he ranked 8th last year in the PHL for save percentage with .914. I would have liked to see them add another goalie, potentially a younger one, to split starts with Radziszewski. I think there were plenty of PHL goalie free-agent options for that like Michael Luba, Nick Vilardo, or Tomasz Witkowski. Michal Czernik has shown potential in the past but really struggled in the PHL so far. I think they could have really used another goaltender in that room to play some games.

Prediction: 7th

Zaglebie Sosnowiec is taking a big step forward this season, but a lot of veteran options need to help bring along the young talent this team has. As who knows how long some veteran players can keep up their production and play. Their goaltending is going to be in the bottom half of the PHL, and that prevents me from ranking them higher despite my high praise for their offense. This team is going be similar to KH Torun last year. A big part of Turon was the performance of Patrik Spesny in net, something Sosnowiec won’t likely have.

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