Speculation: 2023-24-25 Sharks Roster Discussion

[Pinkfloyd]

I'm 50-50 on what we do with Bordeleau. He doesn't seem like he's progressing any further, but it also wouldn't really hurt anything to just give him another year and see what he can do on the Sharks. Not like he's going to be expensive.

Overall, though, he's starting to feel a bit like the second coming of Danny O'Regan to me.

Cost isn't the issue with Bordeleau. If he's not progressing and Grier agrees with such an assessment, I just don't see him keeping him as he wasn't one of his guys anyway. I think the same applies to Gushchin. If they don't feel those two are getting better then I expect Grier to trade them to make room for his guys. I just feel like Gushchin is actually doing enough to warrant an opportunity. But I also acknowledge that he's the type of player that's never going to get much of a leash if he's not producing. Right now, he'd be a cheap Kevin Labanc. I feel like those guys are ones you want to at least provide opportunities and then trade them when it's time to pay them...especially if it's during the rebuild process.

 

[Gecklund]

I remember being called a troll for comparing Bordeleau, Wiesblatt and Kniazev to O'Regan, Gregor and Abeltshauser respectively about 2 and a half years ago. Turns out I was too optimistic.

I’ve always been lower on Bordeleau. Ozzy was more of a hope for me cause I like his story. Kniazev has always been bleh.

 

[Hobocop]

Cost isn't the issue with Bordeleau. If he's not progressing and Grier agrees with such an assessment, I just don't see him keeping him as he wasn't one of his guys anyway. I think the same applies to Gushchin. If they don't feel those two are getting better then I expect Grier to trade them to make room for his guys. I just feel like Gushchin is actually doing enough to warrant an opportunity. But I also acknowledge that he's the type of player that's never going to get much of a leash if he's not producing. Right now, he'd be a cheap Kevin Labanc. I feel like those guys are ones you want to at least provide opportunities and then trade them when it's time to pay them...especially if it's during the rebuild process.

Like I said, I am 50-50 on what we do, but from where I'm sitting I like the idea of filling the holes on our forward lines with "last chance" type of prospects more than signing UFAs. I also doubt Grier's guys are on the Sharks next season, unless we do luck into Celebrini. I don't really see who he'd be blocking.

I’ve always been lower on Bordeleau. Ozzy was more of a hope for me cause I like his story. Kniazev has always been bleh.

Kniazev's now in the KHL, but after watching him for years, the guy I always compared him to was Nick DeSimone. Really talented, but also prone to some facepalm-worthy screwups. DeSimone finally made it into the league this year in some capacity, but I doubt Kniazev's ever coming back to the States.

 

[Gecklund]

Like I said, I am 50-50 on what we do, but from where I'm sitting I like the idea of filling the holes on our forward lines with "last chance" type of prospects more than signing UFAs. I also doubt Grier's guys are on the Sharks next season, unless we do luck into Celebrini. I don't really see who he'd be blocking.




Kniazev's now in the KHL, but after watching him for years, the guy I always compared him to was Nick DeSimone. Really talented, but also prone to some facepalm-worthy screwups. DeSimone finally made it into the league this year in some capacity, but I doubt Kniazev's ever coming back to the States.

This might be a bad comparison but how do you compare Gawanke to Kniazev and Desimone? Feels similar to me but Gawanke seems like he’s doing slightly better.

 

[Hobocop]

This might be a bad comparison but how do you compare Gawanke to Kniazev and Desimone? Feels similar to me but Gawanke seems like he’s doing slightly better.

Yeah not a great comparison, but he is an upgrade on Kniazev and that was a good trade. Lot of offensive skill, big shot from the point, but not great in his own zone.

 

[LadyStanley]

 

[OrrNumber4]

Good times! Digging up bones...

Prospect Info: - San Jose Sharks #6 Prospect

1. William Eklund 99.99% 1b. Gannon Laroque (per TheBeard) 2. Thomas Bordeleau 90.5% 3. Ozzy Wiesblatt 46.5% 4. Ryan Merkley 66.7% 5. Jonathan Dahlen 44%

forums.hfboards.com

Goodness, is that the thread where @Patty Ice predicted, with tremendous confidence, that Kniazev, Bordeleau, and Wiesblatt would be NHLers barring major injury? He's one of the more astute posters out there but even he let hopes and wishes cloud his analyses.

 

[Cas]

Good times! Digging up bones...

Prospect Info: - San Jose Sharks #6 Prospect

1. William Eklund 99.99% 1b. Gannon Laroque (per TheBeard) 2. Thomas Bordeleau 90.5% 3. Ozzy Wiesblatt 46.5% 4. Ryan Merkley 66.7% 5. Jonathan Dahlen 44%

forums.hfboards.com

Where are they now?

Rank, Player, Age as of 31 Dec:

#1 Eklund (21) - NHL, 50 GP, 8 G, 16 A
#2 Bordeleau (21) - AHL, 25 GP, 9 G, 9 A
#3 Wiesblatt (21) - AHL, 25 GP, 2 G, 5 A
#4 Merkley (23) - KHL, 57 GP, 3 G, 25 A
#5 Dahlen (26) - SHL, 41 GP, 15 G, 12 A
#6 Knyazev (22) - KHL, 13 GP, 0 G, 0 A; AHL, 20 GP, 0 G, 5 A
#7 Gushchin (21) - AHL, 39 GP, 14 G, 23 A
#8 Robins (22) - AHL, 19 GP, 2 G, 3 A
#9 Hatakka (22) - NHL, 4 GP, 0 G, 1 A; AHL, 31 GP, 3 G, 8 A
#10 Gaudreau (20) - OHL, 35 GP, .875 SV%
#11 Chmelevski (24) - KHL, 60 GP, 25 G, 28 A
#12 Coe (22) - AHL, 31 GP, 7 G, 2 A
#13 Blichfeld (25) - SHL, 50 GP, 19 G, 8 A
#14 Melnichuk (25) - KHL, 2 GP, 1.000 SV%, 78 MIN
#15 Raska (22) - AHL, 27 GP, 1 G, 0 A
#16 Cardwell (21) - AHL, 42 GP, 13 A, 11 A

 

[jMoneyBrah]

Where are they now?

Rank, Player, Age as of 31 Dec:

#1 Eklund (21) - NHL, 50 GP, 8 G, 16 A
#2 Bordeleau (21) - AHL, 25 GP, 9 G, 9 A
#3 Wiesblatt (21) - AHL, 25 GP, 2 G, 5 A
#4 Merkley (23) - KHL, 57 GP, 3 G, 25 A
#5 Dahlen (26) - SHL, 41 GP, 15 G, 12 A
#6 Knyazev (22) - KHL, 13 GP, 0 G, 0 A; AHL, 20 GP, 0 G, 5 A
#7 Gushchin (21) - AHL, 39 GP, 14 G, 23 A
#8 Robins (22) - AHL, 19 GP, 2 G, 3 A
#9 Hatakka (22) - NHL, 4 GP, 0 G, 1 A; AHL, 31 GP, 3 G, 8 A
#10 Gaudreau (20) - OHL, 35 GP, .875 SV%
#11 Chmelevski (24) - KHL, 60 GP, 25 G, 28 A
#12 Coe (22) - AHL, 31 GP, 7 G, 2 A
#13 Blichfeld (25) - SHL, 50 GP, 19 G, 8 A
#14 Melnichuk (25) - KHL, 2 GP, 1.000 SV%, 78 MIN
#15 Raska (22) - AHL, 27 GP, 1 G, 0 A
#16 Cardwell (21) - AHL, 42 GP, 13 A, 11 A

Woof.

Part of me wants to say “keep Doug Wilson Jr. away from all future draft tables” and another part wants to say “man, the Sharks didn’t have a much in the way of high-value draft capital between 2016-2021”.

On second thought, just consider me to have said both things

 

[Cas]

Woof.

Part of me wants to say “keep Doug Wilson Jr. away from all future draft tables” and another part wants to say “man, the Sharks didn’t have a much in the way of high-value draft capital between 2016-2021”.

On second thought, just consider me to have said both things

The third thought is that "drafting is really hard." It's not a particularly promising record, though.

I still think Bordeleau, Gushchin, Cardwell, Hatakka, and Chmelevski have chances to become NHL players (none is likely to be an impact player, save maybe Gushchin if we're really lucky, and "impact player" here is doing a lot of work). Robins and I suppose Raska have slimmer chances (Raska of course as a one-dimensional goon, for which there is always demand but who isn't actually any good).

 

[OrrNumber4]

My takeaway is that we were far too harsh on Tim Burke. There's a lot of room to criticize his first-round drafting, especially with defensemen, but he was great in the mid-to-late rounds.

 

[Jargon]

I remember being called a troll for comparing Bordeleau, Wiesblatt and Kniazev to O'Regan, Gregor and Abeltshauser respectively about 2 and a half years ago. Turns out I was too optimistic.

You also constantly talked about how bad Barabanov was when we first got him and went from saying Gushchin was a bust to recently pencilling him into our NHL lineup. You win some, you lose some.

 

[Hodge]

You also constantly talked about how bad Barabanov was when we first got him and went from saying Gushchin was a bust to recently pencilling him into our NHL lineup. You win some, you lose some.

I still think Barabanov has no business playing on even a half decent team and I would still bet money on Gushchin never making it to 200 games.

 

[spintops]

"we should trade #11 for Jesse Puljinavi "

We all miss

 

[Hodge]

"we should trade #11 for Jesse Puljinavi "

We all miss

Oh don't get me wrong I've had plenty of egregious takes. 11th overall for JP is probably the worst I can remember but I also suggested trading Karlsson at 50% retained for nothing several times.

My point was more that we should try to be as conservative as possible when discussing literally any prospect drafted outside the top 5 picks or so.

 

[Jargon]

I still think Barabanov has no business playing on even a half decent team and I would still bet money on Gushchin never making it to 200 games.

I think Barabanov is very clearly an NHL forward. Probably more of a playmaking 3rd line wing but surely does not belong in the AHL like you once suggested (you possibly suggested he didn’t even belong there?)

And while you might be right about Gushchin, I love the kid and want to bet on him.

That said, I do agree that we should generally be very careful about prospect projections.

 

[Hodge]

I think Barabanov is very clearly an NHL forward. Probably more of a playmaking 3rd line wing but surely does not belong in the AHL like you once suggested (you possibly suggested he didn’t even belong there?)

And while you might be right about Gushchin, I love the kid and want to bet on him.

That said, I do agree that we should generally be very careful about prospect projections.

Barbie is just Labanc but slightly better offensively and slightly worse defensively. We have a bunch of forwards like that who can't be trusted with top six minutes on a team with actual expectations but don't have the skillset to play on those teams' third lines either.

 

[TheBeard]

I guess Gawanke wasn’t the answer to our defensive woes.

 

[Cas]

I feel bad for the Barracuda.

 

[Jargon]

I was genuinely wondering why it took so long.

 

[ChompChomp]

I'm bummed we never got to see Gawanke play even one regular season game for the Sharks. Oh well.

 

[Hodge]

I actually think this is a good thing because it probably means more minutes for Laroque.

 

[LadyStanley]

 

[one2gamble]

como.....

 

[TheBeard]

He's the 6th oldest player on the team.