Speculation: 2023-24-25 Sharks Roster Discussion

[TheBeard]

Kunin - Goodrow - Celebrini
Toffoli - Granlund - Couture's corpse (weekend at bernie's style)
Smith - Wennberg - Dellandrea
Zetterlund - Sturm - Kostin
pressbox: Eklund

I dig it, may I suggest moving Sturm to the wing and letting Zetterlund be the 4C?

 

[Lebanezer]

Kunin - Goodrow - Celebrini
Toffoli - Granlund - Couture's corpse (weekend at bernie's style)
Smith - Wennberg - Dellandrea
Zetterlund - Sturm - Kostin
pressbox: Eklund

Where's Vlasic? Without him this lineup is a joke.

 

[Hodge]

Playing Smith with Wennberg or Kostin would be malpractice. Our top six forwards should be Celebrini, Smith, Eklund, Toffoli, Granlund and Zetterlund full stop. It doesn't really matter who's playing center and who's playing wing.

 

[The Nemesis]

Where's Vlasic? Without him this lineup is a joke.

He's the #1D, PPQB1, primary extra attacker, and EBUG. I just didn't list d pairings and special teams.

 

[coooldude]

Playing Smith with Wennberg or Kostin would be malpractice. Our top six forwards should be Celebrini, Smith, Eklund, Toffoli, Granlund and Zetterlund full stop. It doesn't really matter who's playing center and who's playing wing.

Kostin scored 10pts in 19, same scoring pace as Eklund. He's a big body, not slow, plays hard, has a shot. Could be a Leonard type on Smith's line, or with Celebrini. I wouldn't sell him so short, I think he deserves a shot on 2/3 line. Wennberg is more of your D zone start center, but we'll see how it all shakes out.

 

[Hodge]

Kostin scored 10pts in 19, same scoring pace as Eklund. He's a big body, not slow, plays hard, has a shot. Could be a Leonard type on Smith's line, or with Celebrini. I wouldn't sell him so short, I think he deserves a shot on 2/3 line. Wennberg is more of your D zone start center, but we'll see how it all shakes out.

We go through this every year with some scrub lighting up meaningless games at the end of a lost season. I remember everyone penciling Jacob Peterson into their lineups this time last summer after he put up 8 points in 11 games. Smith needs to be on a line with established NHL talent.

If we're trying to recreate the BC line I think Zetterlund is a much closer approximation to Leonard and Eklund/Granlund can play the Perreault role.

 

[Lebanezer]

He's the #1D, PPQB1, primary extra attacker, and EBUG. I just didn't list d pairings and special teams.

He’s 1C or he’s nothing! His words.

 

[Alaskanice]

Kostin scored 10pts in 19, same scoring pace as Eklund. He's a big body, not slow, plays hard, has a shot. Could be a Leonard type on Smith's line, or with Celebrini. I wouldn't sell him so short, I think he deserves a shot on 2/3 line. Wennberg is more of your D zone start center, but we'll see how it all shakes out.

I think some are just plugging him down the lines because he’s big. He was a first round pick and showed he can be a top line player here.

 

[Hodge]

I think some are just plugging him down the lines because he’s big. He was a first round pick and showed he can be a top line player here.

Top line player on the Barracuda maybe. 4 points in 33 games with Detroit.

 

[The Nemesis]

He’s 1C or he’s nothing! His words.

If he agrees to relinquish all claims to being 1C then in exchange the team will install a puppy room at SAP Center. It's just a room full of puppies that he can go and sit in to be at peace. Him and nobody else. Especially not Rutta. Because he knows what he ****ing did.

 

[gaucholoco3]

I think the Sharks have two clear sets of players with a wild card in between.

Offensive (top 6)
Celebrini, Smith, Eklund, Zetterlund, Granlund, Toffoli

Wild Card (who knows if he even plays)
Couture

Offensively Deficient (bottom 6)
Everyone else on 1 way deals.

I think the lines should be:
Eklund - Celebrini - Toffoli
Granlund - Smith - Zetterlund
Kostin - Wennberg - Dellandrea
Goodrow - Sturm - Kunin

I think the top 6 is mostly set with maybe switching Eklund and Zetterlund if they are struggling. The bottom 6 is completely interchangeable. If Couture is healthy I would have him as LW on the 3rd line with Wennberg and only move him to the top 6 if he shows he is back completely.

Deploy the lines not in the traditional sense. Throw both bottom lines to the wolves giving them the hardest matchups and 75% D zone draws. This would shelter the kids and allow them to succeed even if the team loses hockey games.

Now for the first 9 games I would love them to just go full YOLO and run:
Chernyshov - Celebrini - Halttunen
Musty - Smith - Eklund
Zetterlund - Granlund - Toffoli
Couture - Wennberg - Dellandrea

Roll all 4 lines evenly sheltering the Celebrini and Smith lines. I would also love Dickinson to get those 9 games. Watch them go 7-2 and then we have insane depth and a roller coaster all season.

 

[jMoneyBrah]

Top line player on the Barracuda maybe. 4 points in 33 games with Detroit.

Your point is taken. Kostin hasn’t establish a proven top 6 track record, we get it. You’ve got your perspective on how the lines should be deployed others have their perspective. That being said I think we should give Celebrini the Sid treatment and just throw whatever wingers we have laying around on his line. If he’s as good as they say he is I predict only positive outcomes:

Goodrow - Celebrini - Kunin
Kostin - Wennberg - Smith
Eklund - Granlund - Zetterlund
Delandrea - Sturm - Toffoli

 

[Hodge]

Your point is taken. Kostin hasn’t establish a proven top 6 track record, we get it. You’ve got your perspective on how the lines should be deployed others have their perspective. That being said I think we should give Celebrini the Sid treatment and just throw whatever wingers we have laying around on his line. If he’s as good as they say he is I predict only positive outcomes:

Goodrow - Celebrini - Kunin
Kostin - Wennberg - Smith
Eklund - Granlund - Zetterlund
Delandrea - Sturm - Toffoli

Line combos are fluid but if the plan is to give Smith third line minutes with bottom six forwards he should have just stayed in college. Fortunately I don't think that's what Warsofsky has in mind unless Smith seriously struggles out of the gate.

Unlike normal prospects, Celebrini and Smith should have to prove they don't belong in a featured offensive role (top six, PP1, etc.) rather than the other way around. Especially on this team.

 

[jMoneyBrah]

Line combos are fluid but if the plan is to give Smith third line minutes with bottom six forwards he should have just stayed in college. Fortunately I don't think that's what Warsofsky has in mind unless Smith seriously struggles out of the gate.

Unlike normal prospects, Celebrini and Smith should have to prove they don't belong in a featured offensive role (top six, PP1, etc.) rather than the other way around. Especially on this team.

Eh. I think you’re being plenty rigid with your approach. I think there are lineups that can make sense with CeleSmith in middle 6 roles.

And honestly, unless Grier has a trade or two up his sleeve, or Warsofsky has an innovative defensive system that works for this corps, it doesn’t really matter which line has Smith or Celebrini ‘cause they’re all just gonna be playing 40 minutes in their own end.

 

[SjMilhouse]

Musty - Celebrini - Smith
Why not

 

[DG93]

Playing Smith with Wennberg or Kostin would be malpractice. Our top six forwards should be Celebrini, Smith, Eklund, Toffoli, Granlund and Zetterlund full stop. It doesn't really matter who's playing center and who's playing wing.

That's fine. Then I would go with Zetterlund-Smith-Granlund and Eklund-Celebrini-Toffoli. That gives Smith a playmaking winger who can also help with center duties as needed in Granlund + a F1 in Zetterlund who can score goals. Celebrini gets a scorer in Toffoli and a 2-way playmaking winger in Eklund. Then I would just have 2 checking lines since we're stacking the top-6 and do Grundstrom-Wennberg-Dellandrea and Goodrow-Sturm-Kunin.

 

[coooldude]

We go through this every year with some scrub lighting up meaningless games at the end of a lost season. I remember everyone penciling Jacob Peterson into their lineups this time last summer after he put up 8 points in 11 games. Smith needs to be on a line with established NHL talent.

If we're trying to recreate the BC line I think Zetterlund is a much closer approximation to Leonard and Eklund/Granlund can play the Perreault role.

If we're going to recreate the BC line, let's dream bigger. Toffoli is Leonard but actually has been in the NHL for years scoring 20-30 goals. The Perreault role could be Eklund, or Smith.

We do go through this every year with some scrub lighting up meaningless games at the end of a lost season. For example, Eklund. Could still be a scrub. But that's where we are. We don't have very established NHLers to put on Celebrini's LW. Kostin could plug in.

 

[Hodge]

If we're going to recreate the BC line, let's dream bigger. Toffoli is Leonard but actually has been in the NHL for years scoring 20-30 goals. The Perreault role could be Eklund, or Smith.

We do go through this every year with some scrub lighting up meaningless games at the end of a lost season. For example, Eklund. Could still be a scrub. But that's where we are. We don't have very established NHLers to put on Celebrini's LW. Kostin could plug in.

Comparing Eklund to Kostin is absurd. One is a 21 year old who has produced at an incredibly high rate for his age at every level. The other is a 25 year old career 4th liner who shot 24% for a few weeks.

 

[Star Platinum]

Top line player on the Barracuda maybe. 4 points in 33 games with Detroit.

Acquired by Detroit for future considerations. Probably why they were so eager to get future considerations from us for Walman cause they gave them up for Kostin and Kailer Yamamoto.

 

[coooldude]

Comparing Eklund to Kostin is absurd. One is a 21 year old who has produced at an incredibly high rate for his age at every level. The other is a 25 year old career 4th liner who shot 24% for a few weeks.

I'm not gonna get dragged into one of your shit fights over stupid details. I like your posts and thoughts when they stay out of these kinds of back and forths. Obviously Eklund is a better prospect and player but he's also not an established player.

Some feedback is for you to try to give the same kind of grace to other posters that many of us try to give to you rather than getting bogged down in trying to win every detail of every discussion. When you say something wrong or egregious, I just ignore it. I don't try to correct everything I disagree with. I weigh in where I think there's something interesting to discuss.

Kostin may be traded or cut or sent thru waivers, I don't much care, I just happen to think he's going to get a shot in the middle 6 and I think it's dumb to pretend you or I know exactly what's going to happen when the season starts and we are still a bottom 5 team in year 2 of a long rebuild, injuries pile up, etc etc. Take it or leave it, I'm not likely to respond to any more of this back and forth.

 

[Star Platinum]

Line combos are fluid but if the plan is to give Smith third line minutes with bottom six forwards he should have just stayed in college. Fortunately I don't think that's what Warsofsky has in mind unless Smith seriously struggles out of the gate.

Unlike normal prospects, Celebrini and Smith should have to prove they don't belong in a featured offensive role (top six, PP1, etc.) rather than the other way around. Especially on this team.

It is a conundrum. If you want to keep the Granlund line intact, you have to either play Smith on the third line with players not skilled enough to get the best out of him or play two rookies together on the second line.

Personally, I don't give a damn about the Granlund line because he's not the future of this team. Have Celebrini center your first line, Smith the second, and put some combination of Granlund, Toffoli, Eklund, and Zetterlund on their wings. Live with the growing pains. These two are going to be centering our top two lines for a long time and there's no time like the present to start developing them as such. Trade Granlund at the deadline and bring something back under team control. Ideally IMO a prospect who's ready for AHL/NHL time that can help out either your two young centers or your defense.

 

[Hodge]

It is a conundrum. If you want to keep the Granlund line intact, you have to either play Smith on the third line with players not skilled enough to get the best out of him or play two rookies together on the second line.

Personally, I don't give a damn about the Granlund line because he's not the future of this team. Have Celebrini center your first line, Smith the second, and put some combination of Granlund, Toffoli, Eklund, and Zetterlund on their wings. Live with the growing pains. These two are going to be centering our top two lines for a long time and there's no time like the present to start developing them as such. Trade Granlund at the deadline and bring something back under team control. Ideally IMO a prospect who's ready for AHL/NHL time that can help out either your two young centers or your defense.

Completely agree, although I'm fine with extending Granlund on a 1 or 2 year deal if he wants to stick around.

 

[CanadienShark]

I agree with what you say about the experts and difficulty to understand. Let's not say maybe, it's simply, actually, the wrong word to use. It's flat out wrong to use a word that has a mystical connotation. That's why no one should defend the use of the word. The people who say it should do better with their use of language, period, so as to avoid using a word with a mystical connotation here.

Then how do you explain this if not magic?

 

[mogambomoroo]

Love the forwards for next year, goalies at least have experience but the defence needs a serious.... serious look before we let Celebrini and Smith hit the NHL ice.

 

[spintops]

I think the Sharks have two clear sets of players with a wild card in between.

Offensive (top 6)
Celebrini, Smith, Eklund, Zetterlund, Granlund, Toffoli

Wild Card (who knows if he even plays)
Couture

Offensively Deficient (bottom 6)
Everyone else on 1 way deals.

I think the lines should be:
Eklund - Celebrini - Toffoli
Granlund - Smith - Zetterlund
Kostin - Wennberg - Dellandrea
Goodrow - Sturm - Kunin

I think the top 6 is mostly set with maybe switching Eklund and Zetterlund if they are struggling. The bottom 6 is completely interchangeable. If Couture is healthy I would have him as LW on the 3rd line with Wennberg and only move him to the top 6 if he shows he is back completely.

Deploy the lines not in the traditional sense. Throw both bottom lines to the wolves giving them the hardest matchups and 75% D zone draws. This would shelter the kids and allow them to succeed even if the team loses hockey games.

Now for the first 9 games I would love them to just go full YOLO and run:
Chernyshov - Celebrini - Halttunen
Musty - Smith - Eklund
Zetterlund - Granlund - Toffoli
Couture - Wennberg - Dellandrea

Roll all 4 lines evenly sheltering the Celebrini and Smith lines. I would also love Dickinson to get those 9 games. Watch them go 7-2 and then we have insane depth and a roller coaster all season.

I like this. I have been one of the biggest critics of the Goodrow signing but one thing I will say is he took like all the defensive zone starts on the rangers, deployed as a pure defensive line. I hope we plan to use him the same with our 4th line and stack offensive starts (the few we get lol) for the kids