Category: San Jose Sharks

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.

Turn and face the strange

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes -- David Bowie

For the first time since November 30, 2005, when the San Jose Sharks next take to the ice, it will be without #19 Jumbo. Joe Thornton has signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs to continue/play out his NHL career at age 41, about two hours from his home town of London, Ontario.

The tributes from the Sharks, memories from Sharks teammates fill social media. Fans are shocked, devastated, angry.

"The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward." -- Steve Maraboli

It is perhaps 10 weeks until NHL camps open for a potential restart of January 1, 2021. Coaches may use that time to tweak plans for forward lines, power play and penalty kill without the Sharks organization’s all time leading scorer. The general manager may use that time to put together the best roster he can for the opening night (there could even be a just-before-puck-drop trade with a cap strapped team or intriguing player on the waiver wire).

"Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change." -- Wayne W. Dyer

Players will have to get used to a new dynamic in the dressing room, without the jovial center to keep the mood light. The leadership group and dynamics have changed. (I’m hoping for great focus and deeper camaraderie.)

"People change. Circumstances change." -- Nicholas Sparks

Things won’t be the same as the start of the 2019-2020 season.

Brendan Dillon, Dalton Prout, Barclay Goodrow, Lukas Radil, Tim Heed, Aaron Dell, Jonny Brodzinski, AND Joe Thornton were on the NHL 2019-2020 opening night roster. And none will be in the line up for puck drop on the 2020-2021 season.

“Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go.” -- Hermann Hesse

If you want a memory of Jumbo’s accomplishments, it may be on sale at the Sharks store. Put it on a shelf and find a new favorite player.

Time to move on. Come to grips with the fact that the future Hall of Famer center won’t be in teal. (But may choose to be seen wearing teal when inducted.)

“Change is painful, but nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong.” -- Mandy Hale

The last time the Sharks had a worse season record than 2019-20? 2002-03. And then had an amazing run ten straight playoff appearances.

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” -- John F. Kennedy

Many of the pundits seem to think the Sharks will (forever) be mired at the bottom of the division, conference and league, even though they still have two Norris winning defensemen, and lead the league in 2019-20 in PK%.

My observation is when the Sharks are belittled, have lowered expectations (external to the organization), and less attention is paid, they exceed those (external) expectations greatly. I expect great improvement in the 2020-21 season.

“In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety.” -- Abraham Maslow

The other teams in the division and league aren’t standing still in their rosters or plans. Many changes in goalies, defenders and scorers around the league. It won’t be a walk in the park to return to the playoffs, much less succeed in the postseason. With a closed US-Canada border, division alignment may change for the season. (And who knows how teams will be ranked or faceoff for playoffs in that scenario.)

The marching orders have changed, looking for a better season start than the past few seasons.

“Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” -- John Maxwell

Everyone has changed as a result of the COVID restrictions and deprivations. Things that weren’t thought so important, are. It should be easier, in some ways, to play with more urgency and passion after the lacks/loss of last season.

"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” -- William Arthur Ward

The break in play has given the coaching staff time and focus to layout the adjustments needed to play better for the upcoming season. And time to analyze the other 30 teams and their strengths and weaknesses.

It has given players the time to heal from injuries, surgery. And time to train and improve physically, focus mentally.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." -- Nelson Mandela

A new season is coming. The puck will drop. How well the Sharks did during their months without playing will be tested and measured by their on ice play.

"We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance." -- Harrison Ford

Time for the Sharks to hunt their opponent/prey, like their namesake, and escape the dark depths of the 2019-2020 season into the light as an apex predator on the ice for the 2020-2021 season.

Let’s go Sharks!

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.

Sharks @ World Cup of Hockey

Well, it’s about a month until the first preseason exhibition game.

But first, there’s the World Cup of Hockey (in Toronto), broadcast on ESPN/2. The preliminary round starts September 20, with the final (best of three) on September 27, 29 and October 1 (if needed).

And yes, there are a few Sharks participating.

  • USA: Joe Pavelski (rumored to be named the captain)
  • Canada: Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Brent Burns, Joe Thornton, Logan Couture (injury replacement)
  • Czech Republic: Tomas Hertl; Milan Michalek (alum), Roman Polak (alum)
  • Finland: Joonas Donskoi
  • Team Europe: Mikkel Boedker, Christian Ehrhoff (Germany, alum), Thomas Greiss (Germany, alum)
  • No Sharks: Team North America, Sweden, Russia

ESPN even has put together a “All Snub” team (including Sharks goalie Martin Jones) that would be pretty good, if playing.

Players will be heading to their respected “country” team’s training camp, opening up on September 5.

Some of players have begun skating in preparation for the World Cup training camps.  (And joining other players in town early to prepare for their respective NHL and/or AHL training camps.)  Players in San Jose participating in the “Captain’s Skate” the past two weeks have included: Pavelski, Burns, Thornton; Ryan Carpenter, Nikolay Goldobin, Michael Haley, Patrick Marleau, Mirco Mueller.  (Plus former Junior Shark Igor Leonenko — invited to NHL St Louis Blues rookie camp, NJ Devil Jon Merrill; and former Sharks Daniel Winnik, Devin Setoguchi, Sena Acolaste.)

Rookie camps will open about September 15.  NHL (full) camps should be opening about September 22.

Time to make sure your jersey (or whatever your wear) to games is ready for the upcoming season.

Still, more time to wait until the puck drops (Vlasic sleeps until season opener).

Update: Hertl opted out of participation to further heal his knee.

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.

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