Speculation: 2023-24-25 Sharks Roster Discussion

[Hodge]

Uh, you may want to look at how good Cagnoni is.

You may want to look at how good Cagnoni is. Dan Boyle reborn is the vibe. We are loaded up on D as much as C on LHD in terms of prospects.

Every other D prospect we have is LHD aside from Pohlkamp. We are loaded on the left side.

Yes not every one will be Brent Burns expectations, but we likely get some Doug Murray's, Christien Ehrhoff's and Matt Carle's with the Leo Wallenius level picks.We need that one both sides

Also, Dickenson is a near guaranteed NHLer, certainly too 4 and likely top 2. He's not going to bust. I'll avatar bet that with anyone

Playing off side sucks at pro level. Everyone, every dman, mentions how hard and unnatural it is. There are studies and long expositions on why, and they are scientifically proven. It reduces effectiveness of even practiced pros to play off side, and this is universally agreed upon.

5'9 defensemen typically don't make the NHL. Hopefully Cagnoni is the exceedingly rare exception but planning the future defense around him is delusional.

I agree that Dickinson is a near guaranteed NHLer. That also means there's a chance he doesn't make the NHL or that he's just a Brenden Dillon level defenseman if he does make it.

None of these guys warrant consideration when deciding which defenseman to spend a top 5 pick on.

 

[67 others]

My dad played college club in Canada, so up in the 50's and 60's playing. Right handed, bats right, shoots left (dominant R hand on top). I think that's traditional and it's why there are so many left shots. My uncle played on the Canadian Junior Ntl team as a goalie, same timeframe -- right handed, catches left (normal), but I think weirdly shoots right when skating out, that one I'm not sure about.

I am left handed, but I shoot left because it's "swing natural." Should have shot right, would have had a better chance at one league up in the beer league tiers. You're right it all goes in cycles though.

Oh certainly there are outliers. Some righty will shoot left naturally. It's all in your feel

But I played junior in the 80s and early 90s. They didn't force any grip. You grabbed a stick and did what felt natural.

My friends kids in the early 2000s? The coaches basically gave ultimatums to parents to enforce forcing kids to practice play with their dominant hands on top of the stick, or RIP their ice time because "they won't be coached" if they didn't obey

The coaches would ask you to throw a puck at a target like it was a baseball, and if you were right-handed in pitching, you were shooting left. Or else you had some severe hurdles thrown up.

Mind you I am talking bantam, AAA and midget.

In any case, I found it weird. Nobody gave a crap when I played.

 

[Juxtaposer]

I would only keep Granlund if it's determined by the trade deadline that we need more time for Celebrini or Smith to establish themselves as the 1 and 2C's on this team. Maybe one of them gets injured and doesn't get a real shot at proving it. If they show themselves to be worthy of committing to them in those spots by then, there doesn't seem to be a spot for Granlund moving forward and we should just take the draft capital we can get for him. A 2nd would still prove very valuable for our bottom-five team going into the 2025 draft. We only have six picks in the draft next year and we only have six expiring contracts with a real chance at getting draft picks back in Granlund, Kunin, Sturm, Ceci, Rutta, and Blackwood. I think they can get picks back for all these guys but Ceci and Granlund could get us a 2nd if we're lucky. The rest are probably in that 4th round-ish area which could mean nothing if they have awful years.

Personally, there are a few criteria I'd need to have met for me to want to keep Granlund:

1. At the time of the deadline, Celebrini and Smith are not looking like they could be 1C and 2C next season
2. Granlund is playing at a top-6 C level
3. No one is offering us a 2nd round pick or better for him
4. He is judged to be an integral part of the room, even with the additions of Toffoli/Walman/Wennberg/Goodrow/Celebrini/Smith/Ceci
5. He's willing to take a one year extension to stay a Shark next season (high AAV is fine)

If all of that criteria is met, then I'd keep Granlund around. But if even one of them isn't then I'd just trade him for whatever we can get.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Personally, there are a few criteria I'd need to have met for me to want to keep Granlund:

1. At the time of the deadline, Celebrini and Smith are not looking like they could be 1C and 2C next season
2. Granlund is playing at a top-6 C level
3. No one is offering us a 2nd round pick or better for him
4. He is judged to be an integral part of the room, even with the additions of Toffoli/Walman/Wennberg/Goodrow/Celebrini/Smith/Ceci
5. He's willing to take a one year extension to stay a Shark next season (high AAV is fine)

If all of that criteria is met, then I'd keep Granlund around. But if even one of them isn't then I'd just trade him for whatever we can get.

I don't know how a 2nd isn't available in the trade market if Granlund is still playing top-6 C level but yeah I pretty much agree with where you're at. I'm also okay with all of that criteria being met and still taking what we can get for him or letting him walk. I don't think there's a wrong way to go with Granlund except for giving him term beyond two years.

 

[Barrie22]

Righty vs Lefty. History wise lefties are the better defensemen overall. The greatest ever and 2nd and 3rd best ever defensemen were all lefties.

 

[coooldude]

Oh certainly there are outliers. Some righty will shoot left naturally. It's all in your feel

But I played junior in the 80s and early 90s. They didn't force any grip. You grabbed a stick and did what felt natural.

My friends kids in the early 2000s? The coaches basically gave ultimatums to parents to enforce forcing kids to practice play with their dominant hands on top of the stick, or RIP their ice time because "they won't be coached" if they didn't obey

The coaches would ask you to throw a puck at a target like it was a baseball, and if you were right-handed in pitching, you were shooting left. Or else you had some severe hurdles thrown up.

Mind you I am talking bantam, AAA and midget.

In any case, I found it weird. Nobody gave a crap when I played.

I was just sharing that at least in Ontario in the 50's or 60's, it was indeed normal for people to put their dominant hand on top. It might not have been as forced as you're describing, but it was definitely normal and even encouraged. It wasn't "just do what feels natural" as you described for you.

When I was playing as a kid in the 90's it was "do what's natural" which squares with your experience.

 

[Hodge]

Righty vs Lefty. History wise lefties are the better defensemen overall. The greatest ever and 2nd and 3rd best ever defensemen were all lefties.

There's like twice as many lefties (historically probably an even greater disparity) so not exactly surprising that lefties would be overrepresented among the best dmen ever.

 

[Barrie22]

There's like twice as many lefties (historically probably an even greater disparity) so not exactly surprising that lefties would be overrepresented among the best dmen ever.

Then that proves the point even more that it doesn't matter, lefty or righty. As there wasn’t a care for it the past 100 years, and it is only recently that this whole righty vs lefty thing has become a talking point.

 

[gaucholoco3]

Then that proves the point even more that it doesn't matter, lefty or righty. As there wasn’t a care for it the past 100 years, and it is only recently that this whole righty vs lefty thing has become a talking point.

There have been multiple studies that have scientifically demonstrated that playing on an off side is less effective. It might be a small difference but in a game out inches every advantage is worth going after.