What now for the Sharks?

[Big Ev]

I wouldn't put Nash in that as he is a winger and wingers aren't counted on as much as the C. He has also been very good IMO in these playoffs and is showing he can play playoff hockey. He has had a ton of chances.

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I'll repeat what I say every year after the Sharks collapse... this team will NEVER win a cup with Thornton/Marleau as their leaders. Those guys simply are not winners. They don't bring it when it matters.

What's more... I'd be concerned that their softness is rubbing off on the young studs like Couture/Pavelski. You need to throw those young guys into the fire like the Hawks did with Toews and mold them into leaders early.

Funny thing is Pavelski is almost 30 years old. He's not a kid anymore. He is what he is right now. He can lead them along with COuture.

[fungchen3]

I wouldn't put Nash in that as he is a winger and wingers aren't counted on as much as the C. He has also been very good IMO in these playoffs and is showing he can play playoff hockey. He has had a ton of chances.

No, he's not a Center, but just like with Ovechkin, when you're an $8 million cap hit and the "face" of your offense, you need to be able to carry your team to victory when it matters most. Nash fails. Even in the Flyers series he was poor, producing 4 points in 7 games with no goals. Rangers fans have been absolutely killing him all series. And, over his career, he has TWO goals in 23 playoff games. That's pathetic. He's a soft player who can't lead a team to squat. It's no coincidence the Jackets are better without him.

[blayze]

Gotta agree with fungchen on this one... Nash is not a winner (unless he's surrounded by Team Canada).

[Big Ev]

Nash led the series in scoring chances. He wasn't great in Game 6 but was very good in Game 7. He was a better player than Giroux for the majority IMO, who should have some Thornton-like question marks attached to him soon enough. It's for a guy like Nash to do it all himself as a winger, he still needs centre support which the Ranegrs don't have right now for the most part. Don't blame him for having the big cap hit.

[Rodgort]

I would say do not do much of anything, you got beat by one of the two teams in the west that could beat you. It was bad luck, LA vs SJ was the biggest coin flip series out there.

The biggest problem was not keeping Pavelski on the 3rd line and spreading out their offense. Sheppard was a crap 3C. But a 3rd line of Havlat/Kennedy-Pavs-Sheppard/Torres would have been more difficult for the Kings to handle. I mean they dressed Matt Green and STILL had Regher on the roster and the Sharks couldn't exploit that anymore? Come on.

I guess I'd say get rid of McLellan but he is still a very good coach, and unless you have Trotz already ready to come in then firing him wouldn't be the best move as he would become the next best coach on the market.

They need help on D more than anything, and getting rid of Stuart and Hannan will help that.

[fungchen3]

He was a better player than Giroux for the majority IMO

Umm, no lol. And that's with Giroux being AVERAGE. Nash was invisible most games. Most of his quality "scoring chances" were his usual 6+ feet out because he's afraid to get dirty. But anyway.

who should have some Thornton-like question marks attached to him soon enough.

Who, Giroux?? I doubt it. But if he does, it won't be for a while. The Flyers haven't been considered a "legit contender" since they have been Giroux-lead; the Sharks have been. And, in terms of playoffs:

Claude Giroux: 57GP-23G-38A-61PTS (1.1 PPG)
Joe Thornton: 132GP-24G-76A-100PTS (0.75 PPG)
Rick Nash: 23GP-2G-10A-12PTS (0.5 PPG)

Besides, Giroux is FAR from soft. That said, he was also far from great in this series vs. the Rangers. But, as I said, the Flyers were never expected to contend for a Cup like the Sharks were this year - not even close.

[Big Ev]

Umm, no lol. And that's with Giroux being AVERAGE. Nash was invisible most games. Most of his quality "scoring chances" were his usual 6+ feet out because he's afraid to get dirty. But anyway.

Not in the most important game. He was flying yesterday. Didn't score but 5 hits, 5 shots, lots of prime scoring chances. He was their best player yesterday, in the most important moment. That shows me a lot. And I'm far from a Nash fan.

[Shiva Blaster]

Man, who would have though it would be so hard to find a decent .gif of a bomb exploding?????

[rataylor22]

Now obviously they weren't the leaders of the team, but Thornton and Marleau have both own gold medals. And they didn't exactly play minimal roles in those wins either.

After Vlasic, SJ defense was terrible this season and they need to upgrade that. Tough to blow up those 4 core guys though, Marleau and Thornton just signed new long term deals with NMC and Pavs/Couture also have long term deals. Not a lot of blow up potential.

[Shake]

I agree with rataylor22. There will not be a ton of moves in San Jose.

Boyle will be gone and they will address their backup goalie. Maybe get a little more grit. But I highly...HIGHLY doubt they move Thornton, Marleau etc. In fact, I think they leave the offense as it is.

[27Blue]

SJ defense was GREAT this season. It was why they were able to keep Burns as a forward.
Their defense was TERRIBLE in the playoffs and that is why they are golfing today.
I thought the forwards played fine against the kings.

[donpaulo]

Sharks need to improve the blueline badly

Matt Irwin was leading the defense in ice time through 2 periods of game #7. Matt fricking Irwin ?

[donpaulo]

Nash led the series in scoring chances. He wasn't great in Game 6 but was very good in Game 7. He was a better player than Giroux for the majority IMO, who should have some Thornton-like question marks attached to him soon enough. It's for a guy like Nash to do it all himself as a winger, he still needs centre support which the Ranegrs don't have right now for the most part. Don't blame him for having the big cap hit.

Nash actually starting throwing the body towards the end of the series versus Philly, he also was quite adept at puck possession in the offensive zone. Cap hit aside he has been solid so far for NY. If he starts scoring then Pittsburgh is toast

[tgraveline]

As a long time fan, and I used to be good about running the Sharks thread, but I've been so busy with the new job, I've got a lot of issues with the team right now.

Mclellan is a good coach and isn't to blame, in my opinion.

The thought I had going into this season was that Couture and Pavelski would become the true leaders. I didn't see that this playoff, when they showed that in the past two that they were taking the reigns. Something shifted there.

Boyle has lost not just a step, but a few this year. He's gone or he resigns for much cheaper.

Havlat will be bought out, which will give them something like 18 million (if cap goes to 71.1) in space with 15 players signed. That's some flexibility that they should utilize.

Stalock is UFA. Resign him for cheap if possible as he could turn into a starter.

Niemi (Personally, I'd trade him for D, then try and sign Miller ((though he wasn't much in these playoffs)) He's not bad, but he was very mediocre this year.

D needs help, and someone said it before, they really need to go after some guys who bang bodies and score. Torres is a loose canon and I'm not a fan. Never was, never will be. A guy like Steve Downie when healthy can be the type they need. When Clowe was playing well and healthy, he was that guy, but it didn't work then.

Marleau and Thornton are still very effective players, but need to be the 2nd line types and not the main leaders. Thornton can lead, he just can't always do it with action as his play has become very predictable. Shoot the damn puck instead of passing it 95% of the time. Just changing that by ten percent would make a difference. Drives me crazy how many across the ice passes he makes trying to go through a player and it goes past the blue line. Just infuriating.

So most of you already touched on this, but I had to say something to get it out. Every year people cry for change, and it's always additions that seem to be good additions. Time to make some subtractions and some divinely inspired additions.

[Dobbernomics]

The thought I had going into this season was that Couture and Pavelski would become the true leaders. I didn't see that this playoff, when they showed that in the past two that they were taking the reigns. Something shifted there.

I think it's pretty clear that Couture is being groomed as the next leader of the team. In essence, it's Couture & Pavelski's team moving forward, but it's hard to hand the reigns over when you see Thornton and Marleau already under contract for 3 more years.

Boyle has lost not just a step, but a few this year. He's gone or he resigns for much cheaper.

I agree

Stalock is UFA. Resign him for cheap if possible as he could turn into a starter.

I think it depends what he wants and also what he thinks his future is with the team. He's a UFA - if he thinks he can be a starter next year, and he's not sure where he stands with respect to Niemi, why not explore the FA market this summer instead of signing for cheap? The situation would be different had he been a RFA

Niemi (Personally, I'd trade him for D, then try and sign Miller ((though he wasn't much in these playoffs)) He's not bad, but he was very mediocre this year.

In my opinion, I'm not so sure that Miller is an improvement over Niemi, and he'd likely come at a higher asking price.

So most of you already touched on this, but I had to say something to get it out. Every year people cry for change, and it's always additions that seem to be good additions. Time to make some subtractions and some divinely inspired additions.

Good way of seeing things.