Category: San Jose Barracuda

Forwards, depth chart, retention

This is the third post in a series looking at the depth in the organization, by position, and considering whether the Sharks should retain the player.

Finally, the forwards.

Sharks were 24th in faceoff wins (48.4%), which was a strength in the past. Sharks had 146 goals, ranked 25th; this has been identified as a significant issue. And 29th power play (14.1%). Lots of room for improvement.

Rocky Thompson resigned due to medical issues that prevented him getting the Covid vaccine (required for league protocols to be near/next to players), and the Sharks hired John MacLean (formerly of Arizona) and he’ll be working with the forwards and responsible for power play; his impact could have a significant impact on the team for the upcoming season.

Lots of areas that need attention.

And one elephant in the room: Evander Kane. Kane is under investigation from the league for allegation of betting on NHL (and he’s declared bankruptcy and getting divorced). A number of stories have surfaced that Kane has been a locker room issue (including lack of follow through by coaches, including Boughner, not holding him accountable for punctuality issues and not following other team rules).

Related, is that major locker room influencers Thornton and Pavelski are no longer around. Couture does not have the same gravitas (and continuing presence due to injuries) to rein in the team and change direction.

Approximate depth chart, by lines:

Timo Meier – Logan Couture – Kevin Labanc / Alexei Barabanov – Tomas Hertl – Evander Kane / Rudolfs Balcers – Nick Bonino – John Leonard / Andrew Cogliano – Dylan Gambrell – Matt Nieto / NHL extras: Nick Merkley, Lane Pederson

AHL: (Noah Gregor) – Joel Kellman – Joachim Blichfeld / Jonathan Dahlen – Alexander Chmelevski – Jake McGrew / Jayden Halbgewachs – Zach Gallant – Jeffrey Viel / Dilion Hamaliuk – Jasper Weatherby – Timur Ibragimov / AHL extras: Adam Raska, Scott Reedy, Joe Garreffa, Krystof Hrabik, Kyle Topping, Evan Weinger

CHL/Europe potentials: William Eklund, Daniil Gushchin, Tristan Robins, Ozzy Weisblatt

Noah Gregor is unsigned as of the publication of this post.

Recently, Ivan Chekhovich requested his contract to be terminated and signed in the KHL; Vladislav Kotkov also requested contract termination. Hertl is a pending UFA; fans of lots of other teams lusting after him; without a strong Sharks performance this season, and a strong indication the organization will be contending in the next few seasons, he may choose to play elsewhere and/or be dealt before the trade deadline.

Of course, the lines are really up in the air until we’re at least halfway through camp. I also haven’t seen the team play in person in nearly two years, and it’s been 3+ years since I saw them practice. It’s possible that one or more of the kids might make the NHL (or in Eklund’s case, the AHL) rather than head back to their junior/European teams. With the split squad preseason games against Anaheim and Vegas, almost every guy will be on the ice that day, so real opportunities for guys to show what they can do.

But who is not playing up to their contract? (Context is that entire team was down in production, but some of the larger contracts stand out worse….) Couture has not been as productive as his contract $$s would indicate, mainly due to injury (but would he be the same player if he weren’t as physical?). Meier fell productively after signing big contract. Labanc also seems overpaid for his production.

Hertl is about the only “valuable” (veteran) asset the Sharks could use to trade for more offensive production, but I just can’t see the team getting a significant enough return to improve the squad this season.

(One continuing point I keep hearing from pundits around the league is that the Sharks long term contracts of unproductive players make it impossible for the team to do a proper “rebuild”. The contracts are too long in term to make it worthwhile to do a buyout, and the player not productive enough to entice another team to take the contract without additional assets to make a trade attractive.)

Training camp for prospect tournament starts next week, and full training camp the following.

Time will tell how this team comes together and how productive they will be, offensively and defensively, and who makes the team.

2021 Training Camp

The calendar has turned to September. And the players will gather soon for training camp.

In August, the team hosted a development camp, the first in two summers! All the 2020 and 2021 draftees were invited, along with many of the other prospects in the organization. And a handful of try out players.

Three of those try out players got invited back for Rookie Camp: MacAuley Carson, Jeremie Biakabutuka, Cole Moberg

Rookie participants will be arriving in San Jose by 9/15 or so, heading to Arizona for the four day tournament (games Friday, Sunday and Monday 9/17-20). (Unclear if games will be video streamed from Ice Den.) The Sharks will have the game call on the Sharks Audio Network (I’m guessing Nick Nollenberger will have the call) for their three games (9/17 5pm Anaheim , 9/19 2pm Vegas, 9/20 9am Colorado).

By September 22, the full camp will be in swing. The Sharks will open their preseason with split squad games against Anaheim and Vegas on 9/26. (All games will be streamed on Sharks Audio Network.)

(This post will be updated as roster, schedule information is available)

2021 off season roster changes

This post will summarize the players that left the organization, the new additions/returnees.

Goalies (+1)

Subtracted: Martin Jones (buyout), Josef Korenar (trade)

TBD: Mike Robinson (college grad); Samuel Harvey (UFA)

Additions: Benjamin Gaudreau (entry draft), Adin Hill (trade), James Reimer (free agency)

Defencemen (+1)

Subtracted: Karlis Cukste (KHL), Christian Jaros (trade), Greg Pateryn (free agency), Robbie Russo (free agency)

TBD: Chaz Reddekopp (UFA)

Additions: Nick Cicek (free agency), Artem Guryev (entry draft), Evgenii Kashnikov (entry draft), Gannon Laroque (entry draft), Montana Onyebuchi (free agency)

Forwards (+3)

Subtracted: Lean Bergmann (contract terminated), Kurtis Gabriel (free agency), Fredrik Handemark (free agency), Maxim Letunov (free agency), Antti Suomela (free agency), Alex True (expansion draft)

TBD: Ryan Donato (free agency), Patrick Marleau (retirement?), Marcus Sorenson (free agency), Steen Pasichnuk (UFA), Evan Weinger (UFA)

Additions: Nick Bonino (free agency), Ethan Cardwell (entry draft), Andrew Cogliano (free agency), William Eklund (entry draft), Liam Gilmartin (entry draft), Theo Jacobsson (entry draft), Max Mccue (entry draft), Nick Merkley (trade), Lane Pederson (trade)

(I’ll update this as guys sign/sign elsewhere, etc.)

Blueline, depth chart, retention

This is the second post in a series looking at the depth in the organization, by position, and considering whether the Sharks should retain the player.

Now to the defensemen.

Sharks were among the worst teams defensively this past season. 2nd worst (tied with Buffalo behind Philadelphia) in goals against (3.50/game or 196 which would equate to 287 in full 82 game season). 6th worst in shots against/game (32). 18th worst in PK% (80.4%). Of the top six D, Ferraro had +/- best at -6 and Karlsson the worst at -18.

Approximate depth chart:

Brent Burns
Erik Karlsson
Mario Ferraro
Nikolai Knyzhov
Ryan Merkley
Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Radim Simek
Nicolas Meloche
Christian Jaros (RFA with arbitration rights)
Brinson Pasichnuk
Artemi Kniazev
Santeri Hatakka
Jacob Middleton
Tony Sund (RFA)
Nick Cicek (AHL)
Montana Onyebuchi (AHL)

I don’t expect pending UFA Greg Pateryn to be back.

It’s easy to rank the NHLers, harder to stick in the junior-aged guys. Merkley does have the highest potential, but hard to rank.

But who is not playing up to their contract? Vlasic. And Karlsson at his salary should be contending (or a finalist) for the Norris. A very disappointing season for the two. Both have NMCs, so unless they want to move, it’s unlikely we’ll see them change their in-season address. It was reported that Karlsson is in San Jose working out this off season, so hopefully that gives him a good physical foundation and reduces the (core) injuries he’s dealt with in recent seasons. Vlasic did have one segment where he played well, but prior to that time played as he has the previous recent seasons – poorly. (MEV was separated from his wife and dogs due to COVID during the season; I don’t know how that impacted his on ice performance, but it may have been a consideration. Burns also did not have his family with him in San Jose, but was arguably the best D on the team.)

Brent Burns was the most offensively productive player on the Sharks, and Knyzhov one of the nice impacts this season. And Ferraro on his ELS has the best bang for the buck.

However, Burns, even with his cap hit, may be one of the easiest players to move. So, if the Sharks are looking for a bit more space under the flat cap or additional assets (draft picks, prospects), he may be moved. (Downside would be he is one of the most popular players on the team and has a lot of marketing and social media exposure.) But how much impact would that be to the blueline? Merkley did not have a fabulous season in the AHL, so may not be able to be counted on to replace Burns in the lineup any time soon. (But with a Jones buyout, there may not be room for San Jose to retain salary on a Burns trade.)

Jaros may return, but with arbitration rights, and the flat cap, the Sharks may choose not to QO. Wouldn’t be a great loss.

Cicek and Onyebuchi are AHL rookies so definitely need some seasoning before they’ll make an impact in the organization.

I do expect the Sharks to draft some D as the prospect blueline pipeline is pretty empty, Sund being the only unsigned D man in the organization. Perhaps 1-2 college bound guys to give projects prospects time to develop.

GM Doug Wilson has not explicitly said what he plans to do about the blueline, so it’s a waiting game as to what might happen.

Training camp begins

The rookies have come to town, headed to Colorado to play against (more experienced) Avalanche and Ducks rookies, losing both games.  Meanwhile, those with under 50 games of NHL experience have been getting drilled by the NHL Sharks staff.

Starting Thursday, the rest of the guys (not still in World Cup of Hockey participation) will have their chance, and a few try out players will be seeking a contract (including some prospects).

The U50 and rookies have been skating and scrimmaged on Wednesday.  I noted that many of the drills seem to focus on speed – both offensively and defensively.  (Woe to the defenseman or forward who needs to improve his edge work. It’ll be obvious to the casual viewer that improvement is needed.) Guessing this is a chance for the organization to identify which players can skate faster/fastest, which was an issue against the Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Sharks appear to be about $1m under the cap to start the season (this may change, slightly, as players are assigned to Worcester and the NHL roster clarifies).

The initial camp roster has no veteran PTOs (Professional Try Out).  This means that the Sharks really do want to give their younger players a chance to play their way onto the NHL roster.  There are seven prospect try outs on the roster, the same as the initial rookie camp roster. (Two haven’t been seen since the rookie camp “ended”, but no releases have been announced.)  With 45 players under contract (two which can slide if they don’t make the NHL roster), there is room to sign some of those try out players, or vets on PTOs around the league for more depth.  (Last season the Sharks did bring Zubrus in on a PTO, but that was after the season started and camp ended.)

Should be a competitive camp.  Vets should not be complacent and rookies may surprise.  The action starts Friday on the ice.

What a difference a year makes

2015-16 had a much better result than the 2014-15 season.  46-30-6 compared to 40-30-9.  So a six win improvement.

Last summer, it was noted that the basic additions of Paul Martin, Joel Ward and Martin Jones would only “add” about 3 wins per WAR.  Can the emergence of Donskoi account for the rest?  Probably not, but it definitely was a team effort to get the additional six wins.

In the chart, one can see wins and losses by goal differential for the regular season. The team seemed to be alternating some periods of wins and losses until the biggest positive differential in January.  Most folks have set this as the start of the Sharks’ season turn around.  After that period, it definitely had more wins than losses.  Pundits have attributed this to the Sharks finally “getting” DeBoer’s system and playing well together.

Whatever the cause, the Shark did make the playoffs and made it to the Stanley Cup Finals.  And even though they had four more wins than they’d ever had in the playoffs, they still came two wins short of winning the Cup. (And they are the envy of twenty-eight other teams.)

How’d I do on guessing last season’s opening roster?  Pretty good. Donskoi kinda replaced Torres in the lineup, but Goodrow essentially spent the season in the AHL. Smith followed soon after, replaced by Zubrus.

The Sharks did exceed most pundits’ predictions (of them not even making playoffs).  One even was surprised (still in August 2016) they had exceeded expectations by going as far as they did.  (Amazingly, so many pundit predictions are so far off from reality, either way, that it can be laughable, or sorrowfilled.)

How will 2016-17 go?  There’s 30 days until camp starts and 39 (Logan Couture!) days until the puck drops.  A lot to watch with injuries (from World Cup, exhibition games and camp) and chemistry between players to help determine the season opening roster.  (But I’ve penciled in Dell for backup duty and Meier among the NHL forward lines.  And put a few guys from the 15-16 NHL roster on my “gotta-watch-out-or-will-end-up-in-AHL” list too.  Competition will be keen.)

News flash: Hertl won’t play at the World Cup tournament for Czech Republic as he’s still recovering for knee injury he suffered in Stanley Cup Finals, but expected to be ready for NHL season start.

RFAs re-signed – check

One of the items on General Manager Doug Wilson’s summer to-do list was re-signing his four Restricted Free Agents (RFAs).

And two weeks into the free agency period, that item can be checked off.

The four RFAs all re-signed for team-friendly, short term (max 2 years) deals.  (Hertl re-signed 6/29 for two years; DeMelo 7/11, two years; Carpenter 7/14, one year; Nieto 7/15, one year)

With the RFA signings, plus UFA signings of Schlemko, Boedekar and Kelly, the Sharks have 45 NHL deals signed (one slideable) and 5 AHL deals.

That may be enough to fill the NHL and AHL rosters for the season, with some extras in the ECHL.

But there’s still some possibility of additional signings, as well as some trades before the season opening rosters for the Sharks and Barracuda are set.

AHL Rule Changes for 2016-17

The AHL Board of Governors has announced a number of rule changes for 2016-17.  The most sweeping of which might be the change in how accumulating fighting majors may result in game suspensions.

Rule 46 (“Fighting”)/Rule 23 (“Game Misconducts”)

Players who enter into a fight prior to, at, or immediately following the drop of the puck for a faceoff will be assessed an automatic game misconduct in addition to other penalties assessed.
During the regular season, any player who incurs his 10th fighting major shall be suspended automatically for one (1) game. For each subsequent fighting major up to 13, the player shall also be suspended automatically for one (1) game.
During the regular season, any player who incurs his 14th fighting major shall be suspended automatically for two (2) games. For each subsequent fighting major, the player shall also be suspended automatically for two (2) games.
In any instance where the opposing player was assessed an instigator penalty, the fighting major shall not count towards the player’s total for this rule.

Eliminating (by threat of game misconduct) “staged” fights immediately after a faceoff, should reduce the number of fights. As may the automatic suspension after 10 or more fights.

The Barracuda are not riddled with returning players that fight.  Only one, Alex Gallant, accumulated double digits in fighting majors last season. I’ll just note that Gallant was at the development camp in July and working extra hard to be able to contribute more two-way play than just with his fists.

Another rule change is that after icing the offending team cannot call their timeout to rest players.  On the surface, this could result in additional goals being score.  Hopefully, it will not lead to more injuries from tired players.

And in a nod to the NHL and speeding up the game, there will not be a dry scrap (with Zambonis) before overtime.  (Just the ice crew with shovels.)  I never had a problem with the clock adding the dry scrape before OT; I felt it provided a better ice surface, free of snow.

So, all in all, these rule changes should not impact the Barracuda negatively this coming season.  But hopefully will result in more offense after icings.

Free Agent Frenzy – Day 1

(Post will be updated through the day as former Sharks get new deals and/or Sharks make a signing.)

Official NHL list of signings

Sharks sign David Schlemko to four year deal.

Sharks sign Mikkel Boedker to four year deal.

Sharks re-sign Aaron Dell to two year deal. (Think NHL backup this season and expansion draft dangle.)

Sharks re-sign Michael Haley to one year deal.

James Reimer signs with Florida Panthers; as does Jason Demers.

Jamie McGinn signs 3 year deal with Arizona Coyotes.

Alex Stalock signs with Minnesota Wild

Brian Campbell signs with Chicago Blackhawks; Brendan Mashinter re-signs with Chicago.

Carter Hutton signs 2 year deal with St Louis Blues

Jeremy Morin signs one year, two-way deal with Tampa Bay Lightning.

Karl Stollery signs with New Jersey Devils

Matt Irwin signs with Nashville Predators

Summer thoughts: RFAs

The Sharks had nine RFAs.  One goalie, one defenseman, and seven forwards.

But they only issued qualifying offers to four: Carpenter, DeMelo, Hertl, and Nieto

Carpenter is the only player with arbitration rights; but as he’s only played one NHL game, he probably doesn’t have a lot of klout to improve his deal by going to arbitration.  The other three are coming off  ELS contracts.

Hertl was a key piece of the top line with the Joes, providing the finishing touch; he absence was felt in the Stanley Cup Finals. Still no word on whether his knee/leg injury will require surgery. The big question will be bridge, or “long term” deal. He’s probably the only player that might warrant an offer sheet from another organization, but I think it doubtful (with so few actually being accepted and made public).

Nieto is a key piece of the bottom 6 and possesses some series wheels.  Probably 1-2 year bridge deal.

Carpenter finally got a chance to play in the NHL, and was around the team for the last three rounds of the playoffs.  Probably a bridge deal.

DeMelo was playing very well with Dillon, but sat on the sidelines for the playoffs.  Probably a bridge deal, but he’s real motivated to make the coaches (and hockey ops) staff(s) to forget about Polak.