Speculation: 2022-23 Sharks Roster Discussion Part 1

[Hodge]

Those numbers aren’t anywhere near as good as you’re making them seem. You don’t think a 4 year contract carries risk? Also funny that you’re also ignoring the point. Done here. You continue to misconstrue and misrepresent my points. Come back when you learn how to have a discussion instead of moving goal posts bud.

Of course you’re “done” because you have no counterargument. 85th percentile defensive metrics for a defenseman you’re bringing in to eat minutes on the third pair isn’t good?

4 years is irrelevant at this salary because even if he’s terrible they can just send him to the AHL which gets the full cap hit off the books. Unless you’re really concerned about Hasso’s wallet. Most likely this ends up being a steal of a contract for a very good third pairing dman.

 

[Gecklund]

Of course you’re “done” because you have no counterargument. 85th percentile defensive metrics for a defenseman you’re bringing in to eat minutes on the third pair isn’t good?

4 years is irrelevant at this salary because even if he’s terrible they can just send him to the AHL which gets the full cap hit off the books. Unless you’re really concerned about Hasso’s wallet. Most likely this ends up being a steal of a contract for a very good third pairing dman.

Might want to look at your precious CBA because you act like an expert in everything. I wish we all could be as smart as you! Honestly take a step down bud. You’ll get farther in life.

 

[Hodge]

Might want to look at your precious CBA because you act like an expert in everything. I wish we all could be as smart as you! Honestly take a step down bud. You’ll get farther in life.

Which section of the CBA should I look at? The one that defines $375,000 plus the league minimum salary as the amount that can be fully buried in the AHL? Which means the Sharks can bury $1,115,000 of Benning’s $1,250,000 cap hit in the minors if the deal goes south?

 

[thrillermiller89]

So our identity is that Grier wants us to be tougher to play against, utilizing players with high compete level.

So remind me why Vlasic and Labanc are still on this team…

I’m ok with his moves so far, but I just question why we haven’t cleared out more players.

 

[TheBeard]

So our identity is that Grier wants us to be tougher to play against, utilizing players with high compete level.

So remind me why Vlasic and Labanc are still on this team…

I’m ok with his moves so far, but I just question why we haven’t cleared out more players.

No reason to buy out Vlasic this season considering we’re tanking and Labanc I imagine there is a hope that he regains some of his scoring touch and becomes a sought-after commodity at the deadline.

 

[hohosaregood]

No I thought Grier would give our young guys a chance and not hand out overpaid contracts to shitty players. Sturm is no better than Reedy. Benning is no better than Meloche. Lindblom is no better than Balcers. ALL of them are signed for way too much and way too long. Lorentz is no better than Chmelevski. Kunin is no better than
Gregor. Grier has signed a pile of shit to block our young guys.

I think you're overstating how good Reedy, Chmelevski, and Meloche are. I don't think Reedy or Chmelevski are ready for significant NHL roles and I don't think Meloche is NHL caliber. I agree Balcers is a solid bottom 6 NHLer but he's not really a player with noteworthy characteristics. I think Lindblom is a good gamble for upside.

 

[Gecklund]

I think you're overstating how good Reedy, Chmelevski, and Meloche are. I don't think Reedy or Chmelevski are ready for significant NHL roles and I don't think Meloche is NHL caliber. I agree Balcers is a solid bottom 6 NHLer but he's not really a player with noteworthy characteristics. I think Lindblom is a good gamble for upside.

My big thing is Benning is not good. Sturm is not good. Lindblom I’m fine with but for 1M extra than Balcers? No. Lorentz isn’t good. Like all of these guys just aren’t good. Instead of going with shit, let’s go young guys who might outperform.

 

[TheBeard]

I think you're overstating how good Reedy, Chmelevski, and Meloche are. I don't think Reedy or Chmelevski are ready for significant NHL roles and I don't think Meloche is NHL caliber. I agree Balcers is a solid bottom 6 NHLer but he's not really a player with noteworthy characteristics. I think Lindblom is a good gamble for upside.

I agree. I like all three but the only reason we think they’re legit is because compared to so many of the other guys we called up (Haglebewach, Bergstrom) they looked ready.

 

[hohosaregood]

My big thing is Benning is not good. Sturm is not good. Lindblom I’m fine with but for 1M extra than Balcers? No. Lorentz isn’t good. Like all of these guys just aren’t good. Instead of going with shit, let’s go young guys who might outperform.

I'm withholding judgment until we see them play. Their profiles aren't outright bad and they can fill in some positional roles in roster that have been neglected for a while without having to throw kids into the deep end. We've already watched them try the youth experiment with these specific kids for 3 years in a row and only Gregor has really managed to figure it out and it took a while before he got going.

 

[sharks_dynasty]

So our identity is that Grier wants us to be tougher to play against, utilizing players with high compete level.

So remind me why Vlasic and Labanc are still on this team…

I’m ok with his moves so far, but I just question why we haven’t cleared out more players.

I think they still might move Labanc. For Vlassic, they may have to wait a year.

 

[PacificOceanPotion]

Something just occurred to me. Maybe the plan behind closed doors has always been to tank. Hasso, Will, and Grier are all on board with the rebuild. They aren’t going to dare call it that out in public because that would most likely mean fans, casual fans will anticipate a losing season and consequently won’t even give the team or the season a chance. If the product is bad, but competitive, people continue to show up to see if things turn or if they’ll see a win. When you say, we’re rebuilding, that is admitting to purposefully not icing a great product. Grier is making moves that indicate a short term rebuild

 

[Hodge]

Something just occurred to me. Maybe the plan behind closed doors has always been to tank. Hasso, Will, and Grier are all on board with the rebuild. They aren’t going to dare call it that out in public because that would most likely mean fans, casual fans will anticipate a losing season and consequently won’t even give the team or the season a chance. If the product is bad, but competitive, people continue to show up to see if things turn or if they’ll see a win. When you say, we’re rebuilding, that is admitting to purposefully not icing a great product. Grier is making moves that indicate a short term rebuild

This is obviously the plan. It's a soft tank where they're going to try to offload as many of the older players on big contracts as possible without having to incur significant buyout penalties or sweetener costs. They're also bringing in competitive but ultimately non impactful vets to insulate the kids so they're not rushed to the NHL en masse like Delusional Doug was doing.

It's what the franchise has needed for years but crybaby fans can't handle it because they need the Sharks to sign Dylan Strome and finish 19th overall in the league. Or, alternatively, to dress a full AHL lineup and take on bad money for 1st round picks (because other teams are apparently lining up to make these kinds of trades) like it's their NHL 22 video game.

 

[Selachimorpha]

This is obviously the plan. It's a soft tank where they're going to try to offload as many of the older players on big contracts as possible without having to incur significant buyout penalties or sweetener costs. They're also bringing in competitive but ultimately non impactful vets to insulate the kids so they're not rushed to the NHL en masse like Delusional Doug was doing.

It's what the franchise has needed for years but crybaby fans can't handle it because they need the Sharks to sign Dylan Strome and finish 19th overall in the league. Or, alternatively, to dress a full AHL lineup and take on bad money for 1st round picks (because other teams are apparently lining up to make these kinds of trades) like it's their NHL 22 video game.

Someone should write up a short 'Hodge' function. Call it H = h(odge).

input odge = "This is obviously the plan.", apply the function h(), returns "This is the plan."

or input odge = "It's what the franchise has needed for years but crybaby fans can't handle it because they need the Sharks to sign Dylan Strome and finish 19th overall in the league.", apply the function h(), returns "It's what the franchise has needed for years."

A little less snappy, builds a good culture on the boards. Hodge - you don't always have to come out swinging.

 

[SjMilhouse]

This is obviously the plan. It's a soft tank where they're going to try to offload as many of the older players on big contracts as possible without having to incur significant buyout penalties or sweetener costs. They're also bringing in competitive but ultimately non impactful vets to insulate the kids so they're not rushed to the NHL en masse like Delusional Doug was doing.

It's what the franchise has needed for years but crybaby fans can't handle it because they need the Sharks to sign Dylan Strome and finish 19th overall in the league. Or, alternatively, to dress a full AHL lineup and take on bad money for 1st round picks (because other teams are apparently lining up to make these kinds of trades) like it's their NHL 22 video game.

I mean is this not just the 2014 offseason all over again? McDavis is now Bedard...stealth tank for a year, hope you hit the lottery and go from there

 

[Gecklund]

I don’t entirely know how I feel about this yet but I think I’d give Eklund a chance at C in the preseason. If it works, it balances our forwards a ton.

Gregor-Hertl-Barabanov
Timo-Couture-Bonino
Lindblom-Eklund-Kunin
Lorentz-Sturm-Nieto

It’s not perfect but if everyone plays up to their potential, it actually could work pretty well. I’d love to lose 5-4 games rather than 1-0 games.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Kinda bummed to see Marino and Smith traded for each other, they were both guys I think the Sharks should have gone after.

 

[Saskatoon]

I think they still might move Labanc. For Vlassic, they may have to wait a year.

If they are not going for cup this year (which Grier has stated) might as well keep Vlasic for another year

 

[hohosaregood]

I think Calgary could be a place we could pawn Labanc off to. They could be desperate for any kind of offensive talent.

 

[Mafoofoo]

I don’t entirely know how I feel about this yet but I think I’d give Eklund a chance at C in the preseason. If it works, it balances our forwards a ton.

Gregor-Hertl-Barabanov
Timo-Couture-Bonino
Lindblom-Eklund-Kunin
Lorentz-Sturm-Nieto

It’s not perfect but if everyone plays up to their potential, it actually could work pretty well. I’d love to lose 5-4 games rather than 1-0 games.

I’d rather have Eklund play a top line minutes in the AHL with Bordeleau. Keep as many rookies as we can to stack the Barracuda and maybe actually make the Calder cup playoffs

 

[themelkman]

Kunin not filing for Arb, probably because if they cant agree to a deal his QO is a great deal for his side. No news on Lornetz or Kahkonen.

 

[Alaskanice]

Sign Kahkonen. Now.

 

[Jargon]

How do we feel about Veronneau? I haven’t heard him mentioned at all. Guessing he starts in the AHL unless he’s amazing in preseason.

 

[Friday]

 

[themelkman]

I would suspect they would get 1.1x1 and 2.3x1 respectively.

How do we feel about Veronneau? I haven’t heard him mentioned at all. Guessing he starts in the AHL unless he’s amazing in preseason.

I hope they give him a chance. He doesnt play a very physical game but is pretty good at scoring goals from what I remember. Never even played enough NHL games for me to find advanced stats on him, but was the best WAR player in the SHL last year.

 

[Jargon]

It’s a little fascinating reading both Kunin and Lindblom’s scouting reports. First of all, both overcame some kind of disease (Diabetes, Cancer), secondly, both showed a bunch of promise and then for whatever reason had bad seasons. They both are skilled and smart players, both are talked about like they can really be something at the NHL level and haven’t quite gotten there yet.

They’re both big gambles, obviously, and ultimately they may suck, but I am curious what a bunch of ice time/change of scenery will do for both.