San Jose Sharks

[tgraveline]

Can only hope Pavelski, Couture, and Boyle go clutch and Thornton, Marleau, and Burns provide solid scoring support. I think Sharks should win at home again here.

[tgraveline]

The Sharks played pretty damn well, but Quick was better than the whole team. So that just blows. I really hate Quick now.

Anyhoo, we need to turn the point of discussion to what the Sharks are going to do in the offseason. Honestly, they over-performed after being sellers at the trade deadline. If I'm Doug Wilson, I'm selling and buying at the draft. I think he should try to move up in the draft if the price is right. This is repetitive, but Marleau did get real quiet in the LA series. Got to think he might be asked if he would move. I could see Boyle being trade bait again even though he wants to stay. This is probably the last time his trade value will be as high as it can be, and that's even after a mediocre season by his standards, which is still better than most.

So expect some movement, especially with the bottom lines. Tomas Hertl was signed to an entry-level contract. I would not be shocked if he centers the third line. Their third and fourth lines did almost nothing to put points on the score sheet and that will need to change if they want to go further in the playoffs. Just have to find the right guys at the right price. Bickel is a guy they could really use at this point. I doubt they can pay for him.

[tgraveline]

So there have been rumors that Havlat may be gone. I'm not so sure anymore. I'd like to see him bought out, but the truth of the matter is he might not be eligible if he's still injured, which royally sucks!

Even still, they have about 6 million to fill out the bottom lines. I think they'll find a cheap backup goalie or just bring up Stalock. Personally, really hope they bring up Stalock and that he pushes Niemi for starts in a long season. It can only help his value grow if he does and does well.

I honestly think they Sharks will try to sign some fast/gritty 3rd and 4th liners. Not sure what directions they'll go, but they have some young guys that could come up and fill those holes this year.

Guys that I think will challenge for spots are Hertl (most likely centers 3rd line or goes to the wing on 2nd unit), Nieto, Tarasov (Great season from ECHL to AHL), Oleksuk, Petrecki, Doherty. The defenseman have the worst shot at this with Demers and Braun manning the last pairing, but if one is traded, it is possible.

I do expect the Sharks to trade up.

[tgraveline]

Bummer about Havlat and his surgery. Was hoping he'd get bought out. Well, there's always next off-season, and I wouldn't be surprised if they traded him (if there was someone out there that needed him...).

Anyhoo, it's draft day and the rumors are already swirling in the Shark Tank. Dreger reports that San Jose may be looking at Cal Clutterbuck for Depth. I would like that if he doesn't give up a 2nd for him. I think he'd be a good gritty guy for their third or fourth line.

DW loves draft day. He's been excited about it all week. Don't be surprised if he makes a bigger trade than a Clutterbuck one.

[newper114]

whats your take on boyle? is he still a top dman, what points do we see from him.

additionally do we see him resigning or will this be his last season with SJ or in the nhl?

[Shake]

Yet another team changing up their jersey scheme.

http://sharks.nhl.com/

[tgraveline]

i was just coming here to post that. Yeah, I think they're kind of bland, but the white away, just really looks clean to me. The Home Teal is fine, I guess. I've always preferred the Black jerseys to be honest. I hear these are way lighter and that was the reason for the change. So this is 4 different jerseys schemes in 20 plus years being in the league. I'm guessing that's a high turn around rate.

Anyway, let's see what else is going on with the Sharks besides changing the uniforms.

Well, Boyle is wanting to resign, and if he does, I say a 2 year deal max and at a much lower cap hit. To be honest, if I'm DW, I'm waiting to see how this season goes and see if he can be useful as trade bait. Maybe a sign and trade would be ideal to a place like Montreal if they're in contention this year.

I liked the article on the front page. It wasn't anything new to me this year, but what wasn't discussed is how well the Sharks do with signing talent from the NCAA, which is a shame as they could be snagging some solid players from there like Rylan Schwartz (brother Jaden on STL). He was the top scorer in the NCAA last season.

Oh and expect to see my top 10 Sharks prospects come out sometime soon. I've been working on it and I think you'll like it.

If you have any questions about the Sharks this year, feel free to fire away!

[franklin]

How is Hertl looking so far in training camp? Seems to have played a solid game last night.

[tgraveline]

Who is this Hertl you speak of? Oh the 19 year old stud who rocked a fairly good NYR squad. I have to admit, I didn't see the game, but I've been watching highlights today and good lord it's glorious. I knew this kid would be special as (like Gates said in the daily ramblings) the Sharks always produce great players out of what might not seem to be. I knew this kid was special when they drafted him and he's showing it much earlier than expected. What truly helps is he plays on the Burns and Thornton line. That's the pot o'gold at the end of the rainbow for a rookie folks.

So far, I'm pretty darn impressed with how their playing. Didn't see the Stuart hit, but sounds like he's out. I'd expect Tennyson to dress in his absence.

So enjoy the new season and I'm cautiously optimistic, but that's because I don't see them in the 2nd round of playoffs just yet lol.

[Twiggy]

Getting a but more even contribution from our D scoring this year. Think boyle, Pickles, Braun and Demers all have goals and Irwin has a few assists

Is nice to see our shot dominations translate to goals for a change too

[tgraveline]

Yeah, and I like Boyle's assist on that one goal from last night (his broken stick on the ice led to Thornton getting the puck and rifling a pass to Hertl for the breakout goal.

[tgraveline]

Things will hopefully change this summer.

The rumors are flowing.

Thornton may lose the 'C'.
Then he and Marleau could be traded if their NTCs are waived, which I think they may be asked to do.

The for sure changes:
No Dan Boyle (kind of a bummer, he was good and kept playing, but they couldn't keep him for what he could be worth)
Havlat won't be back (either buyout or trade)
Burns moved back to D (mistake in my mind as I think they should go after D via free agency or trades)

Hopefully this team makes a good transition, but it is possible they could miss the playoffs if the changes are drastic, but that's not necessarily a bad thing for them to go through. Honestly, I doubt there's many more changes than mentioned already.

[tgraveline]

Several sites are reporting that teams are interested in Joe Thornton. At least six teams so far are in the running, and the only named team is Toronto, which just about makes me think this is purely speculation, but who knows.

The question is what is a good return for Thornton? I think TO wants to ship Phaneuf in the deal, but that wouldn't and shouldn't be enough at this point if I'm DW. Not sure I'd even want Phaneuf. I did about 3 years ago, but not so much now.

I really have no clue who DW would want. Personally, I like the idea of going after JVR and one of their other defensemen like Rielly or Gardiner.

[Sulla]

Could Kadri be the basis of any return for San Jose....

[JagrBomb]

Could Kadri be the basis of any return for San Jose....

seems the most logical fit for thornton if leafs are willing to sacrifice their youth, not sure it happens though.

i'd love to see thornton for phaneuf go down...leafs will need to add, likely some combo of biggs/finn/picks. burns and phaneuf on D would be pretty fun to watch. doubt it happens though, if thornton does come to TO most likely kadri or gardiner is going back the other way, which i'm not sure the leafs are willing to do.

i'm sure thornton wants to go to a contender, and i think he has a NMC too so that pretty much guarentees no TO. i'm sure DW wants to ship him out east, so which eastern team could use him? how about tampa bay? they have a lot of youth they could sacrifice, bolts can let Callahan walk and should have ample cap space, Stamkos/Thornton would be a killer 1-2 punch