Speculation: 2023-24-25 Sharks Roster Discussion

[Gecklund]

Walman is the best puck moving defenseman we've had in two years, he's also surprisingly adequate in an overmateched role while being deployed as our #1 shutdown D and paired with Cody Ceci when he shouldn't be any higher than a second pair

Henry Thrun is not an NHL player, that offensive game you're waiting for isn't coming, he's on the bottom pair in San Jose behind Mario Ferraro and Jan Rutta, he has no future

Thrun's greatest skill is that he isn't obviously terrible at anything, unfortunately he also doesn't bring any single ability at an actual NHL level, he's a nothing player

Thrun hasn’t even played 60 NHL games and we are already writing him off?

How anyone can be unimpressed with Walman this year, I have no idea. He's been far and away our best defenseman pretty much every game. Ceci has been more variable, but definitely okay to sometimes good.

Thrun looks like a 2024 Douglas Murray out there... He's not as big and slightly faster, he's physical in the corners and behind the net, he can make a pass here and there, but he hasn't developed any spikes (Douglas at least had the hits). However he's still young and could be a playable 5/6.

I agree Benning has looked bad. The Ferraro/Rutta pair also looks terrible and seems to be unable to do much more than get hemmed in their zone for 2 minutes with repeated icings.

None of this is surprising and the only help on the way is Mukh, who we all have hopes for but is unproven.

Cause he has very very slow decision making and it takes him 30 seconds to get the play from behind the net out of his zone. Basically I’m not impressed by the shiny piece of garbage in the trash heap.

I say give Thrun a chance cause he might be more than the shiny piece of garbage. Mukhammadullin is hopefully our saving grace but f*** this entire defense should just be dumped.

 

[Hodge]

Thrun hasn’t even played 60 NHL games and we are already writing him off?


Cause he has very very slow decision making and it takes him 30 seconds to get the play from behind the net out of his zone. Basically I’m not impressed by the shiny piece of garbage in the trash heap.

I say give Thrun a chance cause he might be more than the shiny piece of garbage. Mukhammadullin is hopefully our saving grace but f*** this entire defense should just be dumped.

I've seen enough to write Thrun off as a potential top 4 defenseman. Watching Jackson LaCombe play, you can really tell why Anaheim chose him over Thrun. Maybe he could develop into a #6/#7 at some point but we're not exactly starved for those. We also have enough interesting young LDs that it makes sense to cycle through them relatively quickly until we find one who can stick. Especially since they're all still waiver-exempt, including Thrun.

 

[Star Platinum]

Thrun hasn’t even played 60 NHL games and we are already writing him off?

Technically he's played 64.

Thrun to me looks like one of those guys that's going to be a guy who you move between the NHL and AHL right up until the time you have to expose him to waivers and then you end up waiving when you get someone better than him on the roster. I don't think of him as a major liability like Rutta or Benning, but he's just not all that good at anything. As someone else said, he's the very definition of a replacement level player.

 

[weastern bias]

Thrun hasn’t even played 60 NHL games and we are already writing him off?

I am completely comfortable writing off Thrun because he doesn't have an NHL skillset

When a young D man comes into the league, even if they have struggles, you can see some glimpse of what high level skill he will provide as he rounds out his game

example: he's a smart decision maker/he has a great first pass/he's an incredible skater/he breaks up plays in the neutral zone/he's an imposing physical presence

Thrun doesn't show ANY of that, he's a warm body who exists to play on the bottom pair of a bad team while we try to find someone who is actually useful to fill a real role in the future, he's a filler player

Henry Thrun is like the episode where Goku and Piccolo learned to drive, he's here to fill time while we figure out what the next step is behind the scenes

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Thrun is fine where he is but once Mukhamadullin is healthy, he should sit and either him or Thompson should get sent down. Thrun may not have top four D potential but a useful depth defenseman is realistic for him as long as he stays cheap. We’re probably not keeping Ferraro, Vlasic, and Walman past next season and he can step in while we hope Muk makes himself a legit top four defenseman.

 

[tiburon12]

Re: Walman - I think i see why he got booted from DET. Guy seemingly doesn;t play with any intensity. Im sure he does, but it doesnt show. There's nothing crisp or decisive about his play.

I've seen enough to write Thrun off as a potential top 4 defenseman. Watching Jackson LaCombe play, you can really tell why Anaheim chose him over Thrun. Maybe he could develop into a #6/#7 at some point but we're not exactly starved for those. We also have enough interesting young LDs that it makes sense to cycle through them relatively quickly until we find one who can stick. Especially since they're all still waiver-exempt, including Thrun.

His only hope to being a top 4 is to develop into something like Braun - entirely unremarkable but willing to take tough minutes, eat shots and checks on the forecheck, and make the safe play.

 

[OrrNumber4]

Re: Walman - I think i see why he got booted from DET. Guy seemingly doesn;t play with any intensity. Im sure he does, but it doesnt show. There's nothing crisp or decisive about his play.

The other thing is that he is not used to playing big minutes. As the season progresses he's going to regress as his body breaks down

His only hope to being a top 4 is to develop into something like Braun - entirely unremarkable but willing to take tough minutes, eat shots and checks on the forecheck, and make the safe play.

Yes, I think this is an avenue for him. But let's not forget that Braun had a bit more offensive pop (that served him well even as a shutdown defenseman) and an excellent frame.

 

[Alaskanice]

Re: Walman - I think i see why he got booted from DET. Guy seemingly doesn;t play with any intensity. Im sure he does, but it doesnt show. There's nothing crisp or decisive about his play.


His only hope to being a top 4 is to develop into something like Braun - entirely unremarkable but willing to take tough minutes, eat shots and checks on the forecheck, and make the safe play.

No…intensity?

Personally, I think we got a win with him. He’s doing so much that we needed at this point.

 

[weastern bias]

The question needs to be asked, can we beat last year and go 0-12?

We play @ Ducks next and game 12 is home for Chicago, but outside of those 2 I don't see how we win a game

In between it's @ Kings, @ Vegas, @ Utah, home Kings

I, for one, believe in this group

 

[hohosaregood]

The question needs to be asked, can we beat last year and go 0-12?

We play @ Ducks next and game 12 is home for Chicago, but outside of those 2 I don't see how we win a game

In between it's @ Kings, @ Vegas, @ Utah, home Kings

I, for one, believe in this group

Are you saying this because you think this team is significantly worse than last year?

 

[weastern bias]

Are you saying this because you think this team is significantly worse than last year?

No, but they're not significantly better either

With Celebrini out we're basically the same team we started last season with minor upgrades at nearly every position except we also subtract the best player from last year's roster in Hertl, on the aggregate the team is very similar

Much like last year it's the kind of team that will struggle to win on any night unless they're playing the absolute basement teams of the league, and even then it's hard because they're still punching up, I have us finishing dead last again, just a slightly more respectable last place

 

[coooldude]

No, but they're not significantly better either

With Celebrini out we're basically the same team we started last season with minor upgrades at nearly every position except we also subtract the best player from last year's roster in Hertl, on the aggregate the team is very similar

Much like last year it's the kind of team that will struggle to win on any night unless they're playing the absolute basement teams of the league, and even then it's hard because they're still punching up, I have us finishing dead last again, just a slightly more respectable last place

And with Celebrini in, we're still a bottom 2 team, but far more respectable.

60-63 points still looks like a decent bet.

 

[TheBeard]

Who plays in a shark game next, Mukh, Celebrini or Hagens?

 

[weastern bias]

And with Celebrini in, we're still a bottom 2 team, but far more respectable.

60-63 points still looks like a decent bet.

I've still got my sights set on 25 wins and 55 points

 

[TheBeard]

I've still got my sights set on 25 wins and 55 points

Considering we now may not see Celebrini til after thanksgiving and who knows when if at all before the all-star break, it’s very plausible. He’s probably gonna miss 14 out of the first 15 games at minimum

 

[Boy Hedican]

Defense is bad by design yall. Just accept that we’re still aiming for a top 3 pick this draft. I hope we get a nice padded lead for the bottom position before we start playing some decent hockey. That said, individual successes annd progress are more important imo.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Defense is bad by design yall. Just accept that we’re still aiming for a top 3 pick this draft. I hope we get a nice padded lead for the bottom position before we start playing some decent hockey. That said, individual successes annd progress are more important imo.

The issue is what is the plan to make the blue line better when it stops being bad by design? I can live with a Thrun-Thompson bottom pairing. I want to see Mukhamadullin healthy and getting NHL experience. I also want to see Cagnoni get that too because he provides an element that the blue line is sorely lacking that results in forward development being hindered. Even if both those guys work out, they have nothing resembling a top four RHD capable player and those players don't come cheap unless they suck.

 

[Hodge]

The issue is what is the plan to make the blue line better when it stops being bad by design? I can live with a Thrun-Thompson bottom pairing. I want to see Mukhamadullin healthy and getting NHL experience. I also want to see Cagnoni get that too because he provides an element that the blue line is sorely lacking that results in forward development being hindered. Even if both those guys work out, they have nothing resembling a top four RHD capable player and those players don't come cheap unless they suck.

Utah added Durzi and Marino for like three 2nd round picks. As long as we continue to accumulate a surplus of future assets we can cash some in for established top four defensemen. There's also UFA, waivers and potentially drafting a defenseman with our 2025 or 2026 1st rounder.

 

[Saskatoon]

You got pay but the Sharks have acquired many dman over the years - it can be done. We could have even had Pronger but we didn't want to pay the cost.

 

[TheBeard]

Utah added Durzi and Marino for like three 2nd round picks. As long as we continue to accumulate a surplus of future assets we can cash some in for established top four defensemen. There's also UFA, waivers and potentially drafting a defenseman with our 2025 or 2026 1st rounder.

That's why i expect and TDL deals to involve not just us sending out players for picks but outright bringing in established d-talent.

With that said, i'm still 100% behind the idea of signing Chychrun if he's interested and he doesn't re-sign in Washington.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Utah added Durzi and Marino for like three 2nd round picks. As long as we continue to accumulate a surplus of future assets we can cash some in for established top four defensemen. There's also UFA, waivers and potentially drafting a defenseman with our 2025 or 2026 1st rounder.

Yeah and if we added those two to this lineup, it would still be pretty bad because they're not making any of this that much better. As in, they're not turning this uncompetitive blue line into a competitive one unless there is a clear #1 also acquired or developed.

 

[Tw1ster]

Who plays in a shark game next, Mukh, Celebrini or Hagens?

My moneys on Mckenna

 

[ThePlanet]

While he doesn't have game breaking speed, a cannon of a shot, or imposing size, I see Thrun as somebody who will be capable of slowing the game down with their decision making. Giving him a couple years to figure things out isn't the end of the world with this roster. And if we do so, I genuinely believe we'll have a complimentary second pairing defenseman, or somebody capable of leading the third pairing.

 

[jarr92]

Looking back to the 2021 draft, knowing the Sharks current roster, would it have been better to select Guenther or Eklund? Also what does Eklund’s next contract look like?

 

[mogambomoroo]

Looking back to the 2021 draft, knowing the Sharks current roster, would it have been better to select Guenther or Eklund? Also what does Eklund’s next contract look like?

I would say Eklund is more complete player and Sharks definitely need it more for the future. Eklund will be a top 6 winger that can help balance a line with more offensively minded center (like Will Smith) for example.

Edit: Contract will probably be closer 7x7 if he can produce around 60-65 points for couple of seasons.