Speculation: 2023-24-25 Sharks Roster Discussion

[SjMilhouse]

Correct me if I’m wrong but don’t both teams have that in the trade clause?

A 5th could have turned into a 4th for the Bonino trade if Pitt made the conference finals last year

 

[Skeksis25]

Being bad for so long starts to really wear on ownership and organization loyalty. Id rather not be bad much longer if I’m being honest. Getting Smith, Musty, Haltunnen, and potentially one of these top picks in 2024, should be a sufficient foundation for the future. We’ve got Muk, Cagnoni, and at least one other D prospect who will eventually flash. Grier should really try to improve the talent on this roster next summer. My opinion.

With how prospects go, I feel we would be lucky if just one or two of all the ones listed there turn into solid pieces. We need a lot more prospect depth before I would consider us ready for a turnaround.

 

[coooldude]

With how prospects go, I feel we would be lucky if just one or two of all the ones listed there turn into solid pieces. We need a lot more prospect depth before I would consider us ready for a turnaround.

We need at least 1, more likely 2-3 very top end prospects, and another bunch in depth, and why the hell not, because it's going to be another 2 years before we can get out of the cap hell we were in anyway. We can start building a more competitive roster in 2025-26, and our youngsters will be starting to crack the lineup and establishing themselves then.

 

[Bizz]

Pittsburgh is top 10 protected, so we either want them to end up in 11th place or do worse and then have their unprotected pick next year, which I assume is going to be very high.

Devils is a 2nd round pick unless they hit the conference finals.

I'd rather have the unprotected in 2025. That draft is gonna be just as good as 2023's.

 

[PacificOceanPotion]

Okay..so if we get 1st OA in 24’ and at least a top 3 pick in 2025, does that significantly change the outlook going into 2026 at least? I understand those two blue-chip prospects in 2024 and 2025 will need time to adjust to the NHL but even if Smith turns into nothing more than a third line center, we still have Eklund who will be well into the swing of things, and I’m sure we would have at least a few good prospects from trades and free agents, plus guys like Bystedt who has showed some promise.

 

[Cas]

Okay..so if we get 1st OA in 24’ and at least a top 3 pick in 2025, does that significantly change the outlook going into 2026 at least? I understand those two blue-chip prospects in 2024 and 2025 will need time to adjust to the NHL but even if Smith turns into nothing more than a third line center, we still have Eklund who will be well into the swing of things, and I’m sure we would have at least a few good prospects from trades and free agents, plus guys like Bystedt who has showed some promise.

Smith likely needs two years in college. Celebrini might be ready for the NHL but will not be an impact player immediately. 2025 1st will need a year or two, most likely.

If everything goes right, sure, we might be ready to think about competing in 2025-26, but that requires a rather excessive amount of luck. I'd be betting 2028 or maybe 2027.

 

[PacificOceanPotion]

Smith likely needs two years in college. Celebrini might be ready for the NHL but will not be an impact player immediately. 2025 1st will need a year or two, most likely.

If everything goes right, sure, we might be ready to think about competing in 2025-26, but that requires a rather excessive amount of luck. I'd be betting 2028 or maybe 2027.

I’ll admit, that’s a rational reality I’m starting to accept. Guess I’ll really be hoping for a lot of luck. Losing sucks so bad…

 

[Coffee]

Very interesting. AI predicts next 5 cups

 

[exchequer]

Everyone, management and fans alike, must prepare themselves for not even sniffing the postseason until 2028, maybe 2027 if we're really lucky.

At the earliest. There are a lot of people think a rebuild is procedural i.e. accumulate draft picks, develop prospects, trade prospects for more draft picks, develop more prospects, sign free agents, trade for more draft picks, etc.

The reality is not so simple. The vast majority of prospects don't pan out.

 

[Hodge]

At the earliest. There are a lot of people think a rebuild is procedural i.e. accumulate draft picks, develop prospects, trade prospects for more draft picks, develop more prospects, sign free agents, trade for more draft picks, etc.

The reality is not so simple. The vast majority of prospects don't pan out.

Which is why we need to be ready to trade prospects and picks for young established impact NHL players as soon as possible.

None of LA's prospects drafted during their 2017-2021 rebuild have yet to pan out but they were able to turn the surplus pick and prospect capital they accumulated during that period into three excellent top half of the lineup players in Dubois, Fiala and Gavrikov and they got them all on great contracts.

 

[Stewie Griffin]

Which is why we need to be ready to trade prospects and picks for young established impact NHL players as soon as possible.

None of LA's prospects drafted during their 2017-2021 rebuild have yet to pan out but they were able to turn the surplus pick and prospect capital they accumulated during that period into three excellent top half of the lineup players in Dubois, Fiala and Gavrikov and they got them all on great contracts.

Look at DET right now too, outside of Seider, their main contributors were drafted pre-2017.

We need a couple key prospects to hit, but then we need to win some trades/signings. Lucky for us we will have tons of cap space in the 2026 & 2027 offseasons. That's when I'd expect the most (atleast hopefully) improvement.

 

[landshark]

What's with the mountie hat?

EDIT: oh I was way behind on the thread and didn't realize. Question still stands tho.

 

[TheBeard]

View attachment 757632


Very interesting. AI predicts next 5 cups

They lost me at Edmonton winning this year.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Okay..so if we get 1st OA in 24’ and at least a top 3 pick in 2025, does that significantly change the outlook going into 2026 at least? I understand those two blue-chip prospects in 2024 and 2025 will need time to adjust to the NHL but even if Smith turns into nothing more than a third line center, we still have Eklund who will be well into the swing of things, and I’m sure we would have at least a few good prospects from trades and free agents, plus guys like Bystedt who has showed some promise.

Not on its own. It likely improves the outlook of the forward group portion of the rebuild but the blue line is still a train wreck and likely to stay a train wreck that still needs significant turnover going into 2026. At that point, we're looking at Burroughs, Vlasic, Ferraro, and Benning all expiring at the end of 2025-26. The only guys I have any sort of confidence in as it relates to possibly becoming a legitimate NHL blue liner at this point is Havelid, Mukhamadullin, and Thrun. All these guys are still at a point where that confidence is shaky.

They'll have significant cap space to do work this offseason if they so choose though they have a lot of bodies on the blue line they probably won't move off of for various reasons. The only guy on the blue line I would even think about keeping beyond their current contract is Knyzhov. That's a lot of turnover with no real answer for who their top guy on the blue line is going to be and what they're going to bring to the table to figure out what you need to get to complement them.

I need to see more from Grier when it comes to answers on the blue line but I do have confidence in what he's been picking up from the draft up front. There's some good gambles he's making up front even if I didn't agree with Smith compared to Michkov.

 

[PacificOceanPotion]

Not on its own. It likely improves the outlook of the forward group portion of the rebuild but the blue line is still a train wreck and likely to stay a train wreck that still needs significant turnover going into 2026. At that point, we're looking at Burroughs, Vlasic, Ferraro, and Benning all expiring at the end of 2025-26. The only guys I have any sort of confidence in as it relates to possibly becoming a legitimate NHL blue liner at this point is Havelid, Mukhamadullin, and Thrun. All these guys are still at a point where that confidence is shaky.

They'll have significant cap space to do work this offseason if they so choose though they have a lot of bodies on the blue line they probably won't move off of for various reasons. The only guy on the blue line I would even think about keeping beyond their current contract is Knyzhov. That's a lot of turnover with no real answer for who their top guy on the blue line is going to be and what they're going to bring to the table to figure out what you need to get to complement them.

I need to see more from Grier when it comes to answers on the blue line but I do have confidence in what he's been picking up from the draft up front. There's some good gambles he's making up front even if I didn't agree with Smith compared to Michkov.

View attachment 757632


Very interesting. AI predicts next 5 cups

There’s a bounty of underlying stats that prove this!!!

 

[Sendhelplease]

View attachment 757632


Very interesting. AI predicts next 5 cups

I see a fellow player of Hockey legacy manager...

 

[LilLeeroy]

If Blackwood keeps playing like he has for another month or two, do you guys think we'd be able to get a 1st from a goalie desperate team?

 

[Pinkfloyd]

If Blackwood keeps playing like he has for another month or two, do you guys think we'd be able to get a 1st from a goalie desperate team?

No. He's struggled the past three years and has an extra year on his contract. A couple months of being back to his original form aren't going to get returns like that. Now there's an outside possibility that he could return that if he plays even better than this where he's got a save percentage in the .920-.925 range and next season leading up to the deadline but that's a long shot.

 

[TheBeard]

If Blackwood keeps playing like he has for another month or two, do you guys think we'd be able to get a 1st from a goalie desperate team?

Mackenzie for Timo Meier 1-for-1

 

[BaileyMacTavish]

Mackenzie for Timo Meier 1-for-1

BET!

 

[LilLeeroy]

No. He's struggled the past three years and has an extra year on his contract. A couple months of being back to his original form aren't going to get returns like that. Now there's an outside possibility that he could return that if he plays even better than this where he's got a save percentage in the .920-.925 range and next season leading up to the deadline but that's a long shot.

I mean Martin Jones got a 1st, just have to hope somebody gets desperate if he keeps playing like this.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I mean Martin Jones got a 1st, just have to hope somebody gets desperate if he keeps playing like this.

Yeah but you didn't even like the Martin Jones trade. The other thing is that Blackwood's experience leading into the hypothetical discussed is vastly different than Jones'. Jones was a lot more of an unknown with a track record of trending up at 25. Blackwood would be in month two or three of reclaiming his form from four seasons ago where he was a solid 1A for that one season at 27. Blackwood would have to put in better performances than now for the rest of this season and next season leading up to the deadline to make a return of a 1st closer to realistic. Teams aren't just going to buy into a goalie who has struggled for three consecutive seasons based on two or three months of solid play.

 

[TheBeard]

I'd rather just hold onto Blackwood for t least some stability back there. He and KK aren't a bad duo right now and it's not like there's a ton in the pipelines.

 

[SjMilhouse]

I know it's unlikely and this is an active tank roster by Grier but I can't help but get a little nervous that this was him implementing his plan expecting us to be better than we have been (ignoring it's early in the year, tons of roster turn over, no Couture, etc)

I thought we'd be terrible but so far it's been real ugly, especially on D

Still have faith but I hope the moves over the next 2-3 years lead to the progress we expect

 

[PattyLafontaine]

I know it's unlikely and this is an active tank roster by Grier but I can't help but get a little nervous that this was him implementing his plan expecting us to be better than we have been (ignoring it's early in the year, tons of roster turn over, no Couture, etc)

I thought we'd be terrible but so far it's been real ugly, especially on D

Still have faith but I hope the moves over the next 2-3 years lead to the progress we expect

I think Grier knew that the Sharks were going to be awful especially on D.

The D is entirely made up of AHL caliber defensemen.

The offense is a couple of middle 6ers and a bunch of 4th line/AHL players.

No GM hits on all the picks and sometimes the mostly picks aren't the busts but rather the guy who shows promise but doesn't deliver that gets extended to a bad contract or the guy who is a good player but doesn't fit the system.

This team needs help at every position. So it's going to take 4+ drafts to get to competitive and the timeline gets extended for each miss or mediocre player taking up a spot.

The main issue is going to be luck in the lottery and being able to identify prospects that can make it to the NHL and be successful for the roles that are needed.

Still nowhere near solving the #1 d-man issue.

The only thing the Sharks have resolved in terms of youth is Eklund as a Top 6 RW.