Speculation: 2023-24-25 Sharks Roster Discussion

Cagnoni is good and will play NHL games. Probably a lot of them. I wouldn't be surprised to see him make his NHL debut this year.
There is zero chance he plays NHL games this season. They would call up Schuldt or Carlsson before him. Let him develop. A lot of what he does in the AHL won’t work in the show. That goal created in the highlight above doesn’t work in the NHL.
 
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Yeah, and I think Schaefer will do that. His accomplishments in the calendar year 2024 are:

- Come out of nowhere (meaning relative anonymity to 99% of people including me, not that he doesn't have pedigree) to be the best defenseman on the gold medal-winning Canadian U18 team as an underager.

- Captain the Canadian Hlinka team to a gold medal as by far the best player in the tournament, which included Gavin McKenna (who is only three months younger than Schaefer, by the way).

- Come back from mono and play so well in 17 OHL games to be named to the Canadian WJC team as an underager (19 year old Denver Barkey also had mono this summer and his start was so slow that he played himself off the team when he would have been a lock otherwise) AND immediately be by far the best player on that team.

This guy isn't Owen Power. He's not going to take until 25 to "figure it out", which is what probably happens with Dickinson. All Schaefer's done is take on new and higher level challenges and excel in them. I'm extremely confident that the NHL will be no different, as it wasn't for Celebrini.


There's no "selling high" on Mukhamadullin at this point. I doubt he has very much trade value at all, considering he's almost 23 and can't consistently crack the worst defense group in the NHL.

Keep both him and Cagnoni because one of them probably doesn't pan out and you don't want to be stuck with the one that didn't while the other flourishes elsewhere. Ask the Ducks how that feels.


Right. I get that I'm probably higher on Schaefer than anyone else, but that's what I see.

Yeah, and I think Schaefer will do that. His accomplishments in the calendar year 2024 are:

- Come out of nowhere (meaning relative anonymity to 99% of people including me, not that he doesn't have pedigree) to be the best defenseman on the gold medal-winning Canadian U18 team as an underager.

- Captain the Canadian Hlinka team to a gold medal as by far the best player in the tournament, which included Gavin McKenna (who is only three months younger than Schaefer, by the way).

- Come back from mono and play so well in 17 OHL games to be named to the Canadian WJC team as an underager (19 year old Denver Barkey also had mono this summer and his start was so slow that he played himself off the team when he would have been a lock otherwise) AND immediately be by far the best player on that team.

This guy isn't Owen Power. He's not going to take until 25 to "figure it out", which is what probably happens with Dickinson. All Schaefer's done is take on new and higher level challenges and excel in them. I'm extremely confident that the NHL will be no different, as it wasn't for Celebrini.


There's no "selling high" on Mukhamadullin at this point. I doubt he has very much trade value at all, considering he's almost 23 and can't consistently crack the worst defense group in the NHL.

Keep both him and Cagnoni because one of them probably doesn't pan out and you don't want to be stuck with the one that didn't while the other flourishes elsewhere. Ask the Ducks how that feels.


Right. I get that I'm probably higher on Schaefer than anyone else, but that's what I see.
"Can't conisitently crack the worst defensive group in the nhl" or maybe he wasn't allowed to
 
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I haven't seen him, but he sounds like another Mukhamadullin, just with more NHL experience?

He's under contract at $775,000 for one more year, so I'm fine with that (maybe we could use Muk or Thrun in a trade).

Although he's left handed, probably not a bad pickup with Rutta out. As it is, I think there's a decent chance Rutta or Ferraro (or both) get traded.

Walman-Thrun
Muk-Liljigren
Vlasic-Thompson
Cagnoni?

I'd rather have Kolyachonok and Vlasic as the 6/7 and Kolyachonok might be closer to 3....

He may be nothing, but I wouldn't mind taking a peak. We can send Thompson down as well.
 
I wonder how the players feel about the roster not getting better anytime soon. If you were playing Muhk and other young players you could have fun wins sometimes and see what works, but especially since Smith is anchored by AP, Celebrini has to get 2 points to have any chance of winning.
 
There is zero chance he plays NHL games this season. They would call up Schuldt or Carlsson before him. Let him develop. A lot of what he does in the AHL won’t work in the show. That goal created in the highlight above doesn’t work in the NHL.
I assume that you’ve watch Cagnoni play regularly? Your view of him is extremely pessimistic.
 
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Keep Ferraro, he may not be a top pairing defeseman, but he is solid, gives glimpses of elite play, a great teammatew, and he holds a connection to the past Sharks
Agreed. He's cut most of the boneheaded mistakes out of his game, is a machine on retrievals and our best net-front defenseman. We will really miss him on and off the ice if he's traded. It really only makes sense if we're able to parlay the return into a better defenseman in the offseason.
 
If we land Schaefer, that gives us Schaefer, Dickinson, Mukhamadullin and Cagnoni as LD’s for the future. I’d assume that would make one of Cagnoni and Mukhamadullin expendable.

Who would we keep, Muk or Cagnoni? I’d probably lean Cagnoni at this point in time
All of them until all 4 are legit NHLers
 
There's no "selling high" on Mukhamadullin at this point. I doubt he has very much trade value at all, considering he's almost 23 and can't consistently crack the worst defense group in the NHL.
People keep talking about how well Mukhamadullin is playing, but I think they're just trying to talk themselves into it. The best I can say about him is that I've barely noticed his impact on the game, which means he isn't making any major gaffes, but he also isn't really making any significant positive impact either. He'll probably get plenty of time the rest of the way to prove otherwise, but so far to me he just looks like a passenger.
 
Ferarro is an absolute soldier and his game has in fact improved a lot over the course of the year.

People keep talking about how well Mukhamadullin is playing, but I think they're just trying to talk themselves into it. The best I can say about him is that I've barely noticed his impact on the game, which means he isn't making any major gaffes, but he also isn't really making any significant positive impact either. He'll probably get plenty of time the rest of the way to prove otherwise, but so far to me he just looks like a passenger.
On this team, playing passable defense is an achievement. D men are put in positions to fail badly through the entire game. I think he has gotten significantly better over the course of the year but he still needs to learn how to crush someone.
 
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Ferarro is an absolute soldier and his game has in fact improved a lot over the course of the year.


On this team, playing passable defense is an achievement. D men are put in positions to fail badly through the entire game. I think he has gotten significantly better over the course of the year but he still needs to learn how to crush someone.
Getting ahead of myself, but ideally you'd have Ferraro or Walman as the 2nd pairing LD. So if you get that top-pair guy, it makes sense to move Ferraro.
 
Ferarro is an absolute soldier and his game has in fact improved a lot over the course of the year.


On this team, playing passable defense is an achievement. D men are put in positions to fail badly through the entire game. I think he has gotten significantly better over the course of the year but he still needs to learn how to crush someone.
I tend to agree with the Ferraro assessment. I just don’t think he’s going to move the needle on helping the team be more competitive. He’s filler. Steady filler but still filler. He can be moved whenever someone with a future needs his spot and anyone can fill the third pairing role he could hypothetically be dropped to.
 
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So looking forward to the offseason, sharks only choices this summer look to be pretty basic and easy.

Kunin, sturm, rutta, white, duehr, Georgiev, vanecek are the UFA's.

Kostin, Zetterlund, kovalenko, thompson are RFA's.

And then a potential extension for eklund if that is what both parties want this offseason.

Keep the RFA'S, let all the remaining UFA's go (that don't or can't be traded at the deadline)
 
So looking forward to the offseason, sharks only choices this summer look to be pretty basic and easy.

Kunin, sturm, rutta, white, duehr, Georgiev, vanecek are the UFA's.

Kostin, Zetterlund, kovalenko, thompson are RFA's.

And then a potential extension for eklund if that is what both parties want this offseason.

Keep the RFA'S, let all the remaining UFA's go (that don't or can't be traded at the deadline)
Kostin and Thompson have shown nothing to prove they're worth keeping.
 
Getting ahead of myself, but ideally you'd have Ferraro or Walman as the 2nd pairing LD. So if you get that top-pair guy, it makes sense to move Ferraro.
Maybe in the AHL.

Ferraro is awful and does not belong on the second pairing of any team that expects to win more than 20 games. He only works if he's the weak partner on bottom pair, on a team that is just stacked at RD, as his defensive partner has to be good at moving the puck, solid positionally, and a good physical guy at clearing the crease - basically, Ferraro can work if he's paired with a legitimate top four RD against weak competition, taking the work on the boards against the forecheck. Anything more than that and he's unplayable - on a good team, he's at best a #6 and probably should be a healthy scratch.

I don't know why people think that he's in any way good, because he's not - he's an awful puck mover, bad positionally, not super mobile (and he makes bad decisions all the time anyway), can absorb hits along the boards but can't box people out of the crease because his positioning and decision making are so bad, struggles against any sort of pressure that's not against the corner boards. He blocks shots - that's great, because he's abominable at maintaining possession or playing defense.

Walman shouldn't be the strong partner on a second pairing - he needs to be paired with a defensively sound stud at that level and is still probably overmatched (because he's then the obvious defenseman to pressure). Ideally he's bottom pair.
 
Kostin and Thompson have shown nothing to prove they're worth keeping.
I would say they're different. Kostin is almost 26 years old and has been inconsistent for multiple years in the NHL already. I'd be totally fine letting him go.

Jack Thompson is 22/23 and has barely played 20 games in the NHL + looked solid with the Cuda + he's a RD (and the Sharks RD prospect pool is crickets). I'd definitely be fine with giving him a 1-2 year cheap deal to see if he develops into anything.
 
Jack Thompson is 22/23 and has barely played 20 games in the NHL + looked solid with the Cuda + he's a RD (and the Sharks RD prospect pool is crickets). I'd definitely be fine with giving him a 1-2 year cheap deal to see if he develops into anything.
I think the issue going forwards is that there are only going to be so many spots for "young" defensemen on the team. You'll probably at max have 3 spots...there will be stiff competition for those, especially if the Sharks draft Schaefer.
 
Oh yeah, Thompson is the problem. Not the absolute clownshow Thrun. What?

There's a reason why Thompson was the only D to be at +0 tonight and why he received 19 minutes of ice time. He was the ONLY d-man besides Walman making quick decisions and a good first pass towards the breakout. Earlier in the season he has shown offensive potential. Is he a future star? No. He's 22 and shows some clear 5D upside and maybe even perhaps a bit more. KEEP him. KEEP Mukhamudullin. Bury Thrun down in the AHL. Mario Ferraro was the worst defenseman in hockey the first 25 games of the season but that is no longer true. He's still pretty bad, and makes way too much money(and has zero trade value as a result) but he has played a lot better as of late so he has earned his spot on the roster and you might as well just roll w/ him until he expires. He's just NHL-bad. Still NHL-caliber, unlike Thrun.

They SHOULD waive Kunin, Badrow, Grundstrom, and Dellandrea after that horse chit game last night, and send a freaking message to the meathead coach that play like that will not be tolerated. I don't even care about the "cuda playoff run". Waive all 4 of those terrorists, call up Cardwell, Bystedt, Bordeleau(who I dont even like) and Robins. It literally COULD NOT BE WORSE.

Of course they won't, and even though all 4 of those young players I mentioned have zero future w/ the team or a minimal role w/ them, they will continue trotting out this tire fire bottom 6 to get shelled while guys like Smith and Celebrini quickly learn what a clownshow organization this is.
 
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I think the issue going forwards is that there are only going to be so many spots for "young" defensemen on the team. You'll probably at max have 3 spots...there will be stiff competition for those, especially if the Sharks draft Schaefer.
Sure, there's a much bigger logjam on the left side though. Beyond Liljegren, the RD for next year is crickets. They'll have to add at least one RD in FA/trade but the other bottom-4 RD spot is very much available for Thompson to grab if he takes the next step.
 
Sure, there's a much bigger logjam on the left side though. Beyond Liljegren, the RD for next year is crickets. They'll have to add at least one RD in FA/trade but the other bottom-4 RD spot is very much available for Thompson to grab if he takes the next step.
I might rather play Schaefer, Mukhamadullin, Cagnoni, and/or Thrun on their off-side.

Would Thompson be OK as the 8th D, best-case 7th D if Vlasic is not playing? Cagnoni and Schaefer will be waiver-exempt, but not the others...
 
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