Speculation: 2022-23 Sharks Roster Discussion Part 1

[TheBeard]

The athletic has his value at 1.7mil, so it’s a buy high if anything

What did they have Sergachev at cuz I bet it wasn’t 8.5.

 

[Gecklund]

It’s f***ing crazy that we signed 3 guys and our ideal roster didn’t change at all.

 

[themelkman]

What did they have Sergachev at cuz I bet it wasn’t 8.5.

6.3. Not a great deal by the lightning but I get it They want to lock down that d core

 

[Selachimorpha]

New job posting: NHL player for the Sharks.

Application requirements:
1. Must love to play hockey. Best exemplified by sticking around in leagues, barely cracking lineups, being comfortable coming in and out of a lineup but maintaining a smile.
2. Penalties will be assessed on the following criteria: scoring more than 10 goals or 20 points in a season.

 

[TheBeard]

6.3. Not a great deal by the lightning but I get it They want to lock down that d core

Lol. So they’re smart by overpaying a guy by over 2 million a season for 8 years because it’s “locking down the core” (serg didn’t look great last year in the playoffs either), but we pay someone half a million or so more for a couple of seasons and MG is the worst Gm in the league. Got it.

 

[themelkman]

Lol. So they’re smart by overpaying a guy by over 2 million a season for 8 years because it’s “locking down the core” (serg didn’t look great last year in the playoffs either), but we pay someone half a million or so more for a couple of seasons and MG is the worst Gm in the league. Got it.

We overpay everyone by a couple mil and get rid of the cheap depth. If it’s one move it’s not an issue, but it’s compounding.

We have solved an issue that previously didn’t exist and ignored the real problems

 

[TheBeard]

We overpay everyone by a couple mil and get rid of the cheap depth. If it’s one move it’s not an issue, but it’s compounding.

We have solved an issue that previously didn’t exist and ignored the real problems

The board would have a meltdown if we signed Johnny Hockey to his deal. There’s simply no winning over this fanbase right now outside of basically hypnotizing someone to take 80% than what he deserves.

 

[themelkman]

The board would have a meltdown if we signed Johnny Hockey to his deal. There’s simply no winning over this fanbase right now outside of basically hypnotizing someone to take 80% than what he deserves.

I really just think you would support anything the sharks do at this point

 

[TheBeard]

I support the idea that mike has a vision and I’m willing to give him longer than 8 days before I declare him a complete failure and “competing for the title of worst GM in hockey” as I’ve seen here.

I really just think you would support anything the sharks do at this point

 

[Gecklund]

I support the idea that mike has a vision and I’m willing to give him longer than 8 days before I declare him a complete failure and “competing for the title of worst GM in hockey” as I’ve seen here.

If the Sharks are rebuilding, you don’t sign shitty depth guys that take the spots from the young guys. If the Sharks are contending, you don’t sign shitty depth guys that are bad to overpayments. If the sharks are planning on being mediocre, you do exactly what Grier is doing. This team makes no sense whatsoever.

The defense: we have a 2D (EK), 4D (Ferraro), 5D (Knyzhov), and a 6D (Merkley). Past that it’s a ton of 7D in Simek, Nutivaara, Vlasic, Megna, and Benning. The sharks have Kniazev and Hatakka that hopefully will be ready by the end of the year or next year. But guess what! There’s no room cause all of their D are still there! You want to trade them? Ha good luck because you got Simek who is overpaid by about 1.5, Vlasic who is overpaid by about 6, Megna who isn’t even close to an NHLer, and Benning signed for another 3 years at a .5 overpayment. You can waive them and not worry about claiming because they are all shit on shit contracts.

Forwards: Eklund should 100% be on the roster and honestly Bordeleau should be competing for a spot. Don’t forget Reedy, Gregor, Chmelevski who should all be there too. In the next 2-3 years, you have Coe, Robins, Gushchin, Ozzy, Raska, and hopefully Bystedt, Cardwell, Lund and some of their other picks they are making who should be in the NHL or pushing for it. You’ll still have Hertl, Couture, Timo (?), Barabanov, Sturm, Lindblom, Kunin (?), Labanc who will still be on the roster in 2-3 years. Wanna trade them? That sucks! Hertl and Timo are obviously good. Couture will 35+ and still signed for 2-3 years at 8 f***ing million, Barabanov who is overpaid by 1.5M, Sturm who is overpaid by 2.25M, Lindblom who is fine but probably currently overpaid by a million but hopefully he works, Labanc and Kunin who are both not great currently.

Goalies: holy f*** this makes no sense. Reimer is still here for some reason. Hill hasn’t been good. Kahkonen who even knows if we can afford him currently. Gaudreau is one of the better goalie prospects in the league so hopefully we clear room for him and he doesn’t end up like Fucale. Chrona and Mann both have promise. This new goalie from Carolina has promise. How the hell do we fit all of them? Goalies get very little in trades by the way.

There is no room for our young guys with all of this shit in the way. It’s like Grier just threw more shit in an already clogged toilet.

 

[TheBeard]

If the Sharks are rebuilding, you don’t sign shitty depth guys that take the spots from the young guys. If the Sharks are contending, you don’t sign shitty depth guys that are bad to overpayments. If the sharks are planning on being mediocre, you do exactly what Grier is doing. This team makes no sense whatsoever.

The defense: we have a 2D (EK), 4D (Ferraro), 5D (Knyzhov), and a 6D (Merkley). Past that it’s a ton of 7D in Simek, Nutivaara, Vlasic, Megna, and Benning. The sharks have Kniazev and Hatakka that hopefully will be ready by the end of the year or next year. But guess what! There’s no room cause all of their D are still there! You want to trade them? Ha good luck because you got Simek who is overpaid by about 1.5, Vlasic who is overpaid by about 6, Megna who isn’t even close to an NHLer, and Benning signed for another 3 years at a .5 overpayment. You can waive them and not worry about claiming because they are all shit on shit contracts.

Forwards: Eklund should 100% be on the roster and honestly Bordeleau should be competing for a spot. Don’t forget Reedy, Gregor, Chmelevski who should all be there too. In the next 2-3 years, you have Coe, Robins, Gushchin, Ozzy, Raska, and hopefully Bystedt, Cardwell, Lund and some of their other picks they are making who should be in the NHL or pushing for it. You’ll still have Hertl, Couture, Timo (?), Barabanov, Sturm, Lindblom, Kunin (?), Labanc who will still be on the roster in 2-3 years. Wanna trade them? That sucks! Hertl and Timo are obviously good. Couture will 35+ and still signed for 2-3 years at 8 f***ing million, Barabanov who is overpaid by 1.5M, Sturm who is overpaid by 2.25M, Lindblom who is fine but probably currently overpaid by a million but hopefully he works, Labanc and Kunin who are both not great currently.

Goalies: holy f*** this makes no sense. Reimer is still here for some reason. Hill hasn’t been good. Kahkonen who even knows if we can afford him currently. Gaudreau is one of the better goalie prospects in the league so hopefully we clear room for him and he doesn’t end up like Fucale. Chrona and Mann both have promise. This new goalie from Carolina has promise. How the hell do we fit all of them? Goalies get very little in trades by the way.

There is no room for our young guys with all of this shit in the way. It’s like Grier just threw more shit in an already clogged toilet.

I want the rookies then to earn their spot on the team and beat out the vets for spots. No one should just be given one by default. If Sturm ends up being a healthy scratch because someone unexpected makes the team and earns their keep then all the better. It feels as if Mike is creating a competitive environment where no one is given anything. Playing a bunch of rookies with Bonino isn’t exactly inspiring.

 

[Gecklund]

I want the rookies then to earn their spot on the team and beat out the vets for spots. No one should just be given one by default. If Sturm ends up being a healthy scratch because someone unexpected makes the team and earns their keep then all the better. It feels as if Mike is creating a competitive environment where no one is given anything. Playing a bunch of rookies with Bonino isn’t exactly inspiring.

See and I agree with that. These contracts at 1 year is fine. These contracts for 3-4 years, garbage. Also Reedy, Chmelevski, Gregor all already proved they are better than you’re implying. Curious how you see the lines playing out.

 

[BaileyMacTavish]

Y'know. Lost in all the hubub of a mediocre depth Defenseman being signed for 4x1.25M I just have to ask. Anyone hear anything about Knyzhov? He has to be an improvement over who we picked up right?

 

[TheBeard]

See and I agree with that. These contracts at 1 year is fine. These contracts for 3-4 years, garbage. Also Reedy, Chmelevski, Gregor all already proved they are better than you’re implying. Curious how you see the lines playing out.

I don’t mind Sturm for 3 years. He’s still fairly young. Lindblom is only 2 years as well. None of those two or Kumin are old. We’ve also seen guys come up and look good in their rookie season and just disappear. Nothing is guaranteed. At this point it’s impossible to even guess the lines but I still imagine they will be too heavy with experience. Look, I love Bordeleau and Eklund and Robins… but you’re still talking about kids that are 20 and younger. There is absolutely no reason to rush anyone other than to appease the fanbase.

 

[NewMuzu24]

I know we made some moves today, but I don't really know what we accomplished. I'll remain agnostic about it until we see the guys play, but I'm pretty sure none of these moves needed to happen aside from Grier fulfilling a promise, whether the result would be effective or not, that he would change the team identity. Not excited for the season, but going to enjoy the action.

My plan for the summer:

Step 1: See what happens with RFAs, shrug at the results.
Step 2: Get in game shape. I'm 6'3", 220; I fit the team identity. Gimme that AHL minimum.
Step 3: Not get a professional hockey contract.
Step 4:

 

[Gecklund]

I don’t mind Sturm for 3 years. He’s still fairly young. Lindblom is only 2 years as well. None of those two or Kumin are old. We’ve also seen guys come up and look good in their rookie season and just disappear. Nothing is guaranteed. At this point it’s impossible to even guess the lines but I still imagine they will be too heavy with experience. Look, I love Bordeleau and Eklund and Robins… but you’re still talking about kids that are 20 and younger. There is absolutely no reason to rush anyone other than to appease the fanbase.

I think Sturm, Lindblom, and Kunin were fine buy low options. I think my issue is they didn’t buy low on them. Lindblom had his 3M cap hit bought out. You couldn’t sign him for say 1-1.5M? You had to buy out Balcers who is a similar player to sign him for 1M more than him? Sturm just wasn’t a good player. He’s supposed to be a defensive C but his defensive numbers weren’t great. His offensive numbers were worse. I feel like he’s not any better than Reedy or Chmelevski but I’d be fine with him signing for say 1 million for 3 years or for 1 year at 2 million. If he works great, if he doesnt oh we’ll much easier to get out of. Kunin was one of the worst forwards in the NHL last season but he was good the seasons before. Trade Leonard and one of the fifths for him. Not Leonard and a 3rd in a deep draft. He’s likely to get around the Lindblom contract too.

Benning is bad. Dude is basically Megna with pedigree. For 1 year to compete with Merkley for a top 4 spot, deal. For 4 years, what the f***?

Nutivaara is a contract I’m okay with. He was good in CBJ and never really fit in in FLA and can play either side. I’d actually rather him compete with Merkley than Benning.

Burns trade was bad though. You couldn’t get a single thing of value back? I guess the third is fine but it’s late. Lorentz is a good defensive forward but then why sign Sturm? The goalie prospect has potential but in the only position we don’t need help in. On top of that they retained 2.5M.

I get giving Grier time but none of his moves have inspired any confidence for me. I get hoping he has a plan but at what point do you say, oh shit your plan is bad.

I also understand wanting the rookies to earn their spots and I agree with that! I’m not saying hand them to them but it just feels like we have more anchor contracts that are going to hold guys back.

 

[TheBeard]

I think Sturm, Lindblom, and Kunin were fine buy low options. I think my issue is they didn’t buy low on them. Lindblom had his 3M cap hit bought out. You couldn’t sign him for say 1-1.5M? You had to buy out Balcers who is a similar player to sign him for 1M more than him? Sturm just wasn’t a good player. He’s supposed to be a defensive C but his defensive numbers weren’t great. His offensive numbers were worse. I feel like he’s not any better than Reedy or Chmelevski but I’d be fine with him signing for say 1 million for 3 years or for 1 year at 2 million. If he works great, if he doesnt oh we’ll much easier to get out of. Kunin was one of the worst forwards in the NHL last season but he was good the seasons before. Trade Leonard and one of the fifths for him. Not Leonard and a 3rd in a deep draft. He’s likely to get around the Lindblom contract too.

Benning is bad. Dude is basically Megna with pedigree. For 1 year to compete with Merkley for a top 4 spot, deal. For 4 years, what the f***?

Nutivaara is a contract I’m okay with. He was good in CBJ and never really fit in in FLA and can play either side. I’d actually rather him compete with Merkley than Benning.

Burns trade was bad though. You couldn’t get a single thing of value back? I guess the third is fine but it’s late. Lorentz is a good defensive forward but then why sign Sturm? The goalie prospect has potential but in the only position we don’t need help in. On top of that they retained 2.5M.

I get giving Grier time but none of his moves have inspired any confidence for me. I get hoping he has a plan but at what point do you say, oh shit your plan is bad.

I also understand wanting the rookies to earn their spots and I agree with that! I’m not saying hand them to them but it just feels like we have more anchor contracts that are going to hold guys back.

Just because he has a plan doesn’t mean it’s all doable. Getting players to come here is hard enough when they were winning. All players want term now so sometimes the best you’re gonna do is 2 or 3 years. Benning I’m mixed on but from what I’ve seen he’s better than either kf the M&M boys last year. At 1.25 for 4 years it’s a much better contract than Simek’s. None of these are anchor contracts, especially when you consider Vlasic will probably be bought out next year. As far as I’m concerned with Burns, the team was backed into a corner in terms of retention, accommodation and long-term vision. This is the last off-season he would be movable before you’d have to attach additional compensation.

 

[Levie]

I haven't liked any trade/signing since Grier took over. I think most of them are either not enough value or too high dollar/long term. BUT none of them are completely horrible.

I'm willing to give Grier a chance but as a first time GM he has to surround himself with smart people. Burke and Joe Will are not that. We shouldn't have our first time GM's assistant being a guy who probably would never get even an AGM slot in another organization let alone GM.

Grier needs more support in the front office.

 

[Saskatoon]

Is Grier galaxy brain? Did he trick Hasso into a retool with toughness and grit but it's secretly a tank?

 

[PacificOceanPotion]

I have a feeling this next years Sharks team is going to be a bit like those early VGK teams. A bunch of guys everyone thought were trash. Turns out they were really hard to beat and a hardened team that fought for each other night in and night out. Those guys were competitors to the Bone. I want guys like that.

 

[DG93]

I haven't liked any trade/signing since Grier took over. I think most of them are either not enough value or too high dollar/long term. BUT none of them are completely horrible.

I'm willing to give Grier a chance but as a first time GM he has to surround himself with smart people. Burke and Joe Will are not that. We shouldn't have our first time GM's assistant being a guy who probably would never get even an AGM slot in another organization let alone GM.

Grier needs more support in the front office.

You forgot to add that he hired an advisor who was a colossal failure with the Islanders. Not exactly an A+ brain trust he's got going on here...

 

[Dicdonya]

I hate, either actively or by virtue of it being pointless, every move Grier has made so far. Just stating that, have no intention of arguing about it because...

There HAS TO be more right?

We have like 6.5 mil in cap space with Ferraro, Kunin, Gregor, Gadj, Lorentz, Chmelevski and Kahkonen all still needing to be signed.

Ferraro and Kunin pretty much eat up the rest of the cap unless Ferraro takes a sweetheart deal, but why would he.

We have to re-sign Meier (which at this point I fully expect him to just force his QO offer and peace out after next year if he is not traded) however because Grier signed everyone to multi year deals, we have no cap space next year to sign Meier. The only forward coming off the books next year is Bonino.

Merks and Knyzov will need to be re-signed too next year, if either bounces back or improves that could be a big issue.

Like what the hell is the plan here? We are not rebuilding, we did NOTHING to improve our scoring issues, and actually made them worse by trading Burns.

Is the plan to tank, but do so without getting any draft picks to take advantage of the tanking? Like what the hell is going on....... Is the ENTIRE plan add players with truculence/intangibles and pray for the best?

 

[Herschel]

I hate, either actively or by virtue of it being pointless, every move Grier has made so far. Just stating that, have no intention of arguing about it because...

There HAS TO be more right?

We have like 6.5 mil in cap space with Ferraro, Kunin, Gregor, Gadj, Lorentz, Chmelevski and Kahkonen all still needing to be signed.

Ferraro and Kunin pretty much eat up the rest of the cap unless Ferraro takes a sweetheart deal, but why would he.

We have to re-sign Meier (which at this point I fully expect him to just force his QO offer and peace out after next year if he is not traded) however because Grier signed everyone to multi year deals, we have no cap space next year to sign Meier. The only forward coming off the books next year is Bonino.

Merks and Knyzov will need to be re-signed too next year, if either bounces back or improves that could be a big issue.

Like what the hell is the plan here? We are not rebuilding, we did NOTHING to improve our scoring issues, and actually made them worse by trading Burns.

Is the plan to tank, but do so without getting any draft picks to take advantage of the tanking? Like what the hell is going on....... Is the ENTIRE plan add players with truculence/intangibles and pray for the best?

There was no realistic way to take the initial roster into a tank while gaining volume draft picks, Grier knows this and DW knew this.

The plan is simple... Build attempt to build a roster that outperforms the sum of its parts similar to Vegas' initial season. While keeping high value draft picks and not committing significant dollars for additions.

Then sit back and evaluate your prospect pool at the NHL level (Eklund and Bourdleau) to determine if they are can't miss top 6 players. At the same time, keep your tier two prospects in the AHL with the goal of competing for an AHL championship.

 

[hohosaregood]

I hate, either actively or by virtue of it being pointless, every move Grier has made so far. Just stating that, have no intention of arguing about it because...

There HAS TO be more right?

We have like 6.5 mil in cap space with Ferraro, Kunin, Gregor, Gadj, Lorentz, Chmelevski and Kahkonen all still needing to be signed.

Ferraro and Kunin pretty much eat up the rest of the cap unless Ferraro takes a sweetheart deal, but why would he.

We have to re-sign Meier (which at this point I fully expect him to just force his QO offer and peace out after next year if he is not traded) however because Grier signed everyone to multi year deals, we have no cap space next year to sign Meier. The only forward coming off the books next year is Bonino.

Merks and Knyzov will need to be re-signed too next year, if either bounces back or improves that could be a big issue.

Like what the hell is the plan here? We are not rebuilding, we did NOTHING to improve our scoring issues, and actually made them worse by trading Burns.

Is the plan to tank, but do so without getting any draft picks to take advantage of the tanking? Like what the hell is going on....... Is the ENTIRE plan add players with truculence/intangibles and pray for the best?

We're definitely tanking. We're that bad and it's not that big of a mystery. There's plenty of time until the next draft. Meier's probably gonna get traded for futures at some point. We're stuck with Vlasic and Karlsson. Who knows what happens with Hertl and Couture, you could probably get something of value if they want out. That's about it for anything that matters.

 

[CanadienShark]

Is Grier galaxy brain? Did he trick Hasso into a retool with toughness and grit but it's secretly a tank?

"Let me blow a bunch of your money so we can pretend to be good."

I have a feeling this next years Sharks team is going to be a bit like those early VGK teams. A bunch of guys everyone thought were trash. Turns out they were really hard to beat and a hardened team that fought for each other night in and night out. Those guys were competitors to the Bone. I want guys like that.

Good call. Vegas had that identity and were great. They lost that identity and shit hit the fan.