Ferencváros is a proud club with tradition laden rich hockey history. However the team has not won a league title in 20 years. On the bench the team has found stability as Kjell Lindqvist is entering his third season coaching the club.
Last season Fradi brought in Peter Sevela to be a bonafide starting goalie, however there was no depth behind him and when he was suspended for one game during the season and also missed some time with an injury the club was really in trouble. In the offseason they made it a point to have stability in net regardless of what happen with either goalie. József Pleszkán was brought in who is a solid and durable goalie, which means Ferencváros will always have a mentally and physically health netminder during the season.
Just like last season the club believe they can find Hungarian talent to score goals, but it will be harder to find quality defencemen, thus is the reason that they used import players to reinforce the blueline. Juha Hietamäki is back for his third season with the club and Henrich Jabornik also returns have a solid 2016-17 campaign. The other two imports is the veteran Joni Tuominen who was signed from DVTK and the young American Nick Owen just graduated university and is in is first full season of professional hockey. The bottom four defencemen are all in their early twenties, Levente Lengyel is in his second season with the club, Levente lakatos and Dávid Jászai came over from MAC and Gergely Korbuly was a strong addition with EBEL experience from Fehérvár.
Ferencváros returns four out of their top of scoring forwards as Tommy Sumi retired during the offseason. Jeremy Tendler who is in his third season with the club has become one of the top scoring forwards in the league. Lindqvist has the advantage of being able to play nearly anyone with Tendler on one line. Vladimir Dubek had a bounce back season last year and hopes to continue this during the 2017-18 season as well. Attila Rafaj is a quick forward who has smooth hands, a real artist which also means sometimes it is hard to find linemates who can read his game. Dávid Szappanos hopes to have a bounce back year after last season. Management went out and brought in three forwards that are proven scorers in the league, with the four previously mentioned players Ferencváros will not have an issue scoring goals. Preston Shupe was a point per game player for Fehérvár the past two seasons, Áron Könczei is a young forward that already has made his debut for the Hungarian national team. The most intriguing addition to the team this offseason is Attila Németh who is coming off of a career year with Debrecen, where he had 42 points in 34 games. The team also has three young forward that have a scoring touch and can play in the top two lines if needed in Renátó Tóth, Zalán Fliszár and Bence Bödök. The energy line duties will be split between Viktor Kovács, Simon Farkas, Ákos Inglis and Tamás Virág.
Kjell Lindqvist is in his third season with Fradi and his fifth overall in the league as he previously worked with Miskolc and Brasov. In both cases his teams made a surprising playoff runs to the finals. Lindqvist and Fradi are hoping to have one of those types of season this year as well.
Jeremey Tendler: We want to make the playoffs, the first step in winning the championship you need to make the playoffs. We need to finish in the top eight, but realistically we can finish in fourth or fifth place, right behind teams like MAC and DVTK. We have well balanced roster with four lines. We have a well rounded team, our goal tending and defending has gotten stronger and we are a better scoring team. We are younger and in better condition. If everyone gives 100% and win our home games we will be fine. That is something we have is home ice advantage, no one likes to play in our rink, but it's ours and we love it.
Key Additions: József Pleszkán, Attila Németh (Debrecen), Bence Bödök, Dávid Jászai, Áron Könczei, Levente Lakatos (MAC), Gergely Korbuly, Preston Shupe, Renátó Tóth (Fehérvár), Joni Tuominen (DVTK), Nick Owen (Columbus, SPHL), Tamás Virág (UTE)
Key Departures: Tamás Erdélyi (Dunaújváros), Péter Gágyor (KMH), Ádám Garbacz, Tommy Sumi(retired), Mike Schwindt, Gábor Üveges, Richárd Hardi, Ákos Kiss, Csaba Papp, Carter Shinkaruk (unknown)