Speculation: 2023-24-25 Sharks Roster Discussion

[hockeyball]

I mean, I get what everyone is saying about Marner... but you don't pass up a player like that if they want to play here. A lot of stuff COULD happen, but what definitely will happen if you don't sign him is you will lose more games than you would have. Signing a top-end player like that for no assets means you can either keep all of your assets (on cheap contracts currently) or trade some of them for other pieces and parts you may need. Also I think regardless of anything else, Marner isn't a huge risk as he's still pretty young and likely to be in the 70+ point range for the next 5+ years. Sure there are other, better, players you could fantasize about, but that's assuming they are all clamoring to sign here and you just get your pick (which will not happen until we win a cup).

Basically, you don't trade a bird in the hand for two in the bush, were that the case. Marner is not Thornton, and Thornton's biggest problem wasn't that he didn't have "drive" or "competitiveness" or any of that stuff... it's that he relied almost entirely on passing to win games and great teams with great defenses shut that shit down because he was too predictable. Even then, Thornton was one of the premier puck possession guys of all time. They needed to build a team around Thornton that didn't rely on his passes so utterly to succeed. The Thornton era failures were more of a failure of coaching and team building. Wilson kept trying to find a goal scorer for Thornton when what he needed was two guys on his line who could create offense on their own and be boosted by Thornton. You know... guys like Marner lol.

 

[OrrNumber4]

The fact that Toffoli is our biggest FA signing ever should tell you that its unrealistic to expect big splashes in free agency. High value players with multiple options generally don't seem to have San Jose as a desirable destination. I'd be shocked if that suddenly changed this offseason. Although who knows. Grier signed Toffoli and Toffoli stated playing with Celebrini was a big reason why he signed. I don't know if there were a ton of other teams offering him a similar deal and he turned those down for us or not, but its something. Maybe Celebrini and the promise he has shown this year can make us a more attractive destination? I would still be very surprised.

We have to build the team via the draft and trades. Its how its always been.

I used to believe this narrative, but you have to consider that they didn't have the money and/or the cap space to sign big free agents for much of SJ's history. Given the forward group, why would they ever target a big-name UFA forward? Regarding defensemen, the Sharks came tantalizingly close with Niedermayer, Chara, and Weber.

 

[gaucholoco3]

I used to believe this narrative, but you have to consider that they didn't have the money and/or the cap space to sign big free agents for much of SJ's history. Given the forward group, why would they ever target a big-name UFA forward? Regarding defensemen, the Sharks came tantalizingly close with Niedermayer, Chara, and Weber.

The Sharks were also in second place for Stamkos and Tavares. I know any Giants fan will tell you being second place for a FA doesn’t get you anything. It just shows that players are not completely against playing in SJ.

 

[Grinner]

The Sharks were also in second place for Stamkos and Tavares. I know any Giants fan will tell you being second place for a FA doesn’t get you anything. It just shows that players are not completely against playing in SJ.

Or their agents just loved using the Sharks as leverage in negotiating with other teams.

 

[Star Platinum]

Or their agents just loved using the Sharks as leverage in negotiating with other teams.

 

[sharski]

Are we all just gonna forget that DW won the great Adam burish sweepstakes of 2012

 

[JoeThorntonsRooster]

Let's look at the teams who re-built and successfully won championships with franchise forwards they drafted high, and how quickly they got out of the basement after making those picks:

Spoiler

• LA finished 3rd last, 2nd last, and 5th last in Kopitar's first 3 NHL seasons.
• Washington finished 4th last in Ovechkin's first 2 NHL seasons. They started making the playoffs after that, but it took them another decade to actually won a championship.
• Florida finished 2nd last and 11th last in Barkov's first 2 NHL seasons. They made the playoffs in his 3rd year, but then missed the playoffs 3 straight years after that (4 straight if you count a loss in the COVID bubble play in).
• Colorado made the playoffs in MacKinnon's first NHL season, but they missed the playoffs for 3 straight years after that, including the worst non-Sharks season in post-lockout NHL history in MacKinnon's 4th season.
• Pittsburgh and Chicago were strong playoff teams by year 2 of Crosby/Toews and made the finals or won by year 3. (Chicago was actually terrible in Duncan Keith's first two years, but we can put that aside for now).
• Tampa finished 2nd last and 6th last in Stamkos's first 2 NHL seasons. They made the playoffs in his 3rd year, but were bottom-10 in the two years after that, and had ups and downs before finally winning. (It is fair to omit Tampa from this analysis entirely given that Stamkos was no longer their franchise player when they won).

There is no one clear pattern to a successful rebuild. Sucking in Celebrini's 2nd year and then winning a Stanley Cup with him would not break any sort of precedent.

Now, let's look at all the big money, >= 30 year old UFAs each team had when they won:

Spoiler

• LA had none. (Willie Mitchell and Rod Scuderi were borderline - under 6% cap hit and signed relatively short term).
• Washington had Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik who were 31 and 38, respectively, in year 4 of their UFA contracts.
• Florida had Bobrovsky who was 35, in year 5 of his UFA contract.
• Colorado had none.
• Pittsburgh had none.
• Chicago had Hossa for all 3 Cups, as well as Campbell in 2010. Both were 31 in 2010, Hossa was in year 1 of his deal and Campbell was in year 2.
• Tampa had none.

(I may have missed one or two contracts in here, please correct me if I did, there is no repository for this info since CF died.)

There is basically no precedent for championship teams signing a large number of big money, middle-aged, mid-tier UFAs shortly after drafting their franchise forwards, and then winning a few years later after those players have aged. They either win very quickly after signing those UFAs (Hossa/Campbell) or sign those UFAs when they're already trying to contend with said franchise players in their primes (Niskanen/Orpik and Bobrovsky) and then win later. And Hossa, Campbell, and Bobrovsky were all clear star players when signed - a clear cut above the Bennett and Pionk types.

Teams have tried doing this many times - EDM signed Sekera immediately after drafting McDavid and Lucic 1 year after drafting McDavid; BUF signed Okposo 1 year after drafting Eichel; FLA signed Bolland 1 year after drafting Barkov, etc. But none had success doing so.

TL;DR many teams have won despite sucking in the first few years with their franchise players but nobody wins with a bunch of money tied in mid-tier UFAs. We will be fine if we suck in year 2 and even 3 of Celebrini. We will not be fine if we have a 3rd of our cap sheet tied up in mid-tier UFAs after Celebrini's ELC ends.

 

[OrrNumber4]

Or their agents just loved using the Sharks as leverage in negotiating with other teams.

Maybe in the case of Stamkos and Weber, but not for Niedermayer, Chara, and Tavares

Let's look at the teams who re-built and successfully won championships with franchise forwards they drafted high, and how quickly they got out of the basement after making those picks:

Spoiler

• LA finished 3rd last, 2nd last, and 5th last in Kopitar's first 3 NHL seasons.
• Washington finished 4th last in Ovechkin's first 2 NHL seasons. They started making the playoffs after that, but it took them another decade to actually won a championship.
• Florida finished 2nd last and 11th last in Barkov's first 2 NHL seasons. They made the playoffs in his 3rd year, but then missed the playoffs 3 straight years after that (4 straight if you count a loss in the COVID bubble play in).
• Colorado made the playoffs in MacKinnon's first NHL season, but they missed the playoffs for 3 straight years after that, including the worst non-Sharks season in post-lockout NHL history in MacKinnon's 4th season.
• Pittsburgh and Chicago were strong playoff teams by year 2 of Crosby/Toews and made the finals or won by year 3. (Chicago was actually terrible in Duncan Keith's first two years, but we can put that aside for now).
• Tampa finished 2nd last and 6th last in Stamkos's first 2 NHL seasons. They made the playoffs in his 3rd year, but were bottom-10 in the two years after that, and had ups and downs before finally winning. (It is fair to omit Tampa from this analysis entirely given that Stamkos was no longer their franchise player when they won).

There is no one clear pattern to a successful rebuild. Sucking in Celebrini's 2nd year and then winning a Stanley Cup with him would not break any sort of precedent.

Now, let's look at all the big money, >= 30 year old UFAs each team had when they won:

Spoiler

• LA had none. (Willie Mitchell and Rod Scuderi were borderline - under 6% cap hit and signed relatively short term).
• Washington had Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik who were 31 and 38, respectively, in year 4 of their UFA contracts.
• Florida had Bobrovsky who was 35, in year 5 of his UFA contract.
• Colorado had none.
• Pittsburgh had none.
• Chicago had Hossa for all 3 Cups, as well as Campbell in 2010. Both were 31 in 2010, Hossa was in year 1 of his deal and Campbell was in year 2.
• Tampa had none.

(I may have missed one or two contracts in here, please correct me if I did, there is no repository for this info since CF died.)

There is basically no precedent for championship teams signing a large number of big money, middle-aged, mid-tier UFAs shortly after drafting their franchise forwards, and then winning a few years later after those players have aged. They either win very quickly after signing those UFAs (Hossa/Campbell) or sign those UFAs when they're already trying to contend with said franchise players in their primes (Niskanen/Orpik and Bobrovsky) and then win later. And Hossa, Campbell, and Bobrovsky were all clear star players when signed - a clear cut above the Bennett and Pionk types.

Teams have tried doing this many times - EDM signed Sekera immediately after drafting McDavid and Lucic 1 year after drafting McDavid; BUF signed Okposo 1 year after drafting Eichel; FLA signed Bolland 1 year after drafting Barkov, etc. But none had success doing so.

TL;DR many teams have won despite sucking in the first few years with their franchise players but nobody wins with a bunch of money tied in mid-tier UFAs. We will be fine if we suck in year 2 and even 3 of Celebrini. We will not be fine if we have a 3rd of our cap sheet tied up in mid-tier UFAs after Celebrini's ELC ends.

This is great stuff and is really changing my mind...though I still think that Celebrini is a bit of an odd case, and that the Chicago model is one to most closely follow.

On the other note...you had me confused with "CF died"; I thought you were referring to a person/poster and was wondering what I had missed!

 

[Celly4Celebrini]

Maybe in the case of Stamkos and Weber, but not for Niedermayer, Chara, and Tavares

This is great stuff and is really changing my mind...though I still think that Celebrini is a bit of an odd case, and that the Chicago model is one to most closely follow.

On the other note...you had me confused with "CF died"; I thought you were referring to a person/poster and was wondering what I had missed!

an underrated aspect of that Chicago team was they had drafted Keith-Seabrook 3-4 years earlier to allow for development. While i agree that the chicago model is the best to follow (Kane-Smith, Toews-Celebrini), its the defence we currently lack that prevent proper execution.

 

[cheechoo]

Let's look at the teams who re-built and successfully won championships with franchise forwards they drafted high, and how quickly they got out of the basement after making those picks:

Spoiler

• LA finished 3rd last, 2nd last, and 5th last in Kopitar's first 3 NHL seasons.
• Washington finished 4th last in Ovechkin's first 2 NHL seasons. They started making the playoffs after that, but it took them another decade to actually won a championship.
• Florida finished 2nd last and 11th last in Barkov's first 2 NHL seasons. They made the playoffs in his 3rd year, but then missed the playoffs 3 straight years after that (4 straight if you count a loss in the COVID bubble play in).
• Colorado made the playoffs in MacKinnon's first NHL season, but they missed the playoffs for 3 straight years after that, including the worst non-Sharks season in post-lockout NHL history in MacKinnon's 4th season.
• Pittsburgh and Chicago were strong playoff teams by year 2 of Crosby/Toews and made the finals or won by year 3. (Chicago was actually terrible in Duncan Keith's first two years, but we can put that aside for now).
• Tampa finished 2nd last and 6th last in Stamkos's first 2 NHL seasons. They made the playoffs in his 3rd year, but were bottom-10 in the two years after that, and had ups and downs before finally winning. (It is fair to omit Tampa from this analysis entirely given that Stamkos was no longer their franchise player when they won).

There is no one clear pattern to a successful rebuild. Sucking in Celebrini's 2nd year and then winning a Stanley Cup with him would not break any sort of precedent.

Now, let's look at all the big money, >= 30 year old UFAs each team had when they won:

Spoiler

• LA had none. (Willie Mitchell and Rod Scuderi were borderline - under 6% cap hit and signed relatively short term).
• Washington had Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik who were 31 and 38, respectively, in year 4 of their UFA contracts.
• Florida had Bobrovsky who was 35, in year 5 of his UFA contract.
• Colorado had none.
• Pittsburgh had none.
• Chicago had Hossa for all 3 Cups, as well as Campbell in 2010. Both were 31 in 2010, Hossa was in year 1 of his deal and Campbell was in year 2.
• Tampa had none.

(I may have missed one or two contracts in here, please correct me if I did, there is no repository for this info since CF died.)

There is basically no precedent for championship teams signing a large number of big money, middle-aged, mid-tier UFAs shortly after drafting their franchise forwards, and then winning a few years later after those players have aged. They either win very quickly after signing those UFAs (Hossa/Campbell) or sign those UFAs when they're already trying to contend with said franchise players in their primes (Niskanen/Orpik and Bobrovsky) and then win later. And Hossa, Campbell, and Bobrovsky were all clear star players when signed - a clear cut above the Bennett and Pionk types.

Teams have tried doing this many times - EDM signed Sekera immediately after drafting McDavid and Lucic 1 year after drafting McDavid; BUF signed Okposo 1 year after drafting Eichel; FLA signed Bolland 1 year after drafting Barkov, etc. But none had success doing so.

TL;DR many teams have won despite sucking in the first few years with their franchise players but nobody wins with a bunch of money tied in mid-tier UFAs. We will be fine if we suck in year 2 and even 3 of Celebrini. We will not be fine if we have a 3rd of our cap sheet tied up in mid-tier UFAs after Celebrini's ELC ends.

I agree with the overall premise of your post and I share the sentiment that we should be rather shrewd WRT picking our spots of when to chase after a target vs showing restraint in the market and letting the build march on organically.

We do need to add talent this upcoming summer not only for the natural trajectory the team is going, but also for the development of Macklin and Smith and everyone else. They need to be insulated by talent that can operate on similar wavelengths that allows them to tap into the upper limits of their potential.

I only responded however to say you missed Gonchar for Pittsburgh in the summer of '05, which was a significant addition. He was what 31(?) when he signed that 5x5 deal coming out of the lockout, extrapolating for the cap numbers of '25-'26 is about a 12 million dollar deal.

2x Norris top five vote getter and twice more within the top 10 in Washington prior to that, he was also integral to Malkin's cultural assimilation arriving newly arriving from Russia that same summer.

Although major asterisks as the implemented salary cap of 2005 left a lot of heavy spenders (NYR/Philadelphia/Detroit/Colorado) in a bind, the Lightning had to gut their championship roster to fall in line. On the inverse low spenders like the Penguins had blank cheques to throw around -- so possibly not relevant at all.

 

[Sharksfan66]

Let's look at the teams who re-built and successfully won championships with franchise forwards they drafted high, and how quickly they got out of the basement after making those picks:

Spoiler

• LA finished 3rd last, 2nd last, and 5th last in Kopitar's first 3 NHL seasons.
• Washington finished 4th last in Ovechkin's first 2 NHL seasons. They started making the playoffs after that, but it took them another decade to actually won a championship.
• Florida finished 2nd last and 11th last in Barkov's first 2 NHL seasons. They made the playoffs in his 3rd year, but then missed the playoffs 3 straight years after that (4 straight if you count a loss in the COVID bubble play in).
• Colorado made the playoffs in MacKinnon's first NHL season, but they missed the playoffs for 3 straight years after that, including the worst non-Sharks season in post-lockout NHL history in MacKinnon's 4th season.
• Pittsburgh and Chicago were strong playoff teams by year 2 of Crosby/Toews and made the finals or won by year 3. (Chicago was actually terrible in Duncan Keith's first two years, but we can put that aside for now).
• Tampa finished 2nd last and 6th last in Stamkos's first 2 NHL seasons. They made the playoffs in his 3rd year, but were bottom-10 in the two years after that, and had ups and downs before finally winning. (It is fair to omit Tampa from this analysis entirely given that Stamkos was no longer their franchise player when they won).

There is no one clear pattern to a successful rebuild. Sucking in Celebrini's 2nd year and then winning a Stanley Cup with him would not break any sort of precedent.

Now, let's look at all the big money, >= 30 year old UFAs each team had when they won:

Spoiler

• LA had none. (Willie Mitchell and Rod Scuderi were borderline - under 6% cap hit and signed relatively short term).
• Washington had Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik who were 31 and 38, respectively, in year 4 of their UFA contracts.
• Florida had Bobrovsky who was 35, in year 5 of his UFA contract.
• Colorado had none.
• Pittsburgh had none.
• Chicago had Hossa for all 3 Cups, as well as Campbell in 2010. Both were 31 in 2010, Hossa was in year 1 of his deal and Campbell was in year 2.
• Tampa had none.

(I may have missed one or two contracts in here, please correct me if I did, there is no repository for this info since CF died.)

There is basically no precedent for championship teams signing a large number of big money, middle-aged, mid-tier UFAs shortly after drafting their franchise forwards, and then winning a few years later after those players have aged. They either win very quickly after signing those UFAs (Hossa/Campbell) or sign those UFAs when they're already trying to contend with said franchise players in their primes (Niskanen/Orpik and Bobrovsky) and then win later. And Hossa, Campbell, and Bobrovsky were all clear star players when signed - a clear cut above the Bennett and Pionk types.

Teams have tried doing this many times - EDM signed Sekera immediately after drafting McDavid and Lucic 1 year after drafting McDavid; BUF signed Okposo 1 year after drafting Eichel; FLA signed Bolland 1 year after drafting Barkov, etc. But none had success doing so.

TL;DR many teams have won despite sucking in the first few years with their franchise players but nobody wins with a bunch of money tied in mid-tier UFAs. We will be fine if we suck in year 2 and even 3 of Celebrini. We will not be fine if we have a 3rd of our cap sheet tied up in mid-tier UFAs after Celebrini's ELC ends.

Counter point: Boston signed Chara & Savard just 2 years after drafting Kreiji (the #1C for their cup run) and only a few days after drafting Marchand & Lucic.

That said, I think the main point I would make is with the rising cap, we are in uncharted territory here. Examples from the past shouldn’t bind our thinking here IMO.

 

[Barrie22]

By ice time kreiji was the number one, but by usage and actual faceoffs that distinction goes to Bergeron. Bergeron played 2 less games and still took 107 more faceoffs in those playoffs.

We will not becoming contenders if we need to sign or trade for 6 defensemen, and 6 top 9 forwards.

 

[weastern bias]

The Blackhawks also signed Hossa and Keith to 12 and 13 year deals that locked them into cost control for their entire contention window, those deals are illegal now, you can't build a team the same way they did under the current CBA

 

[tiburon12]

Let's look at the teams who re-built and successfully won championships with franchise forwards they drafted high, and how quickly they got out of the basement after making those picks:

Spoiler

• LA finished 3rd last, 2nd last, and 5th last in Kopitar's first 3 NHL seasons.
• Washington finished 4th last in Ovechkin's first 2 NHL seasons. They started making the playoffs after that, but it took them another decade to actually won a championship.
• Florida finished 2nd last and 11th last in Barkov's first 2 NHL seasons. They made the playoffs in his 3rd year, but then missed the playoffs 3 straight years after that (4 straight if you count a loss in the COVID bubble play in).
• Colorado made the playoffs in MacKinnon's first NHL season, but they missed the playoffs for 3 straight years after that, including the worst non-Sharks season in post-lockout NHL history in MacKinnon's 4th season.
• Pittsburgh and Chicago were strong playoff teams by year 2 of Crosby/Toews and made the finals or won by year 3. (Chicago was actually terrible in Duncan Keith's first two years, but we can put that aside for now).
• Tampa finished 2nd last and 6th last in Stamkos's first 2 NHL seasons. They made the playoffs in his 3rd year, but were bottom-10 in the two years after that, and had ups and downs before finally winning. (It is fair to omit Tampa from this analysis entirely given that Stamkos was no longer their franchise player when they won).

There is no one clear pattern to a successful rebuild. Sucking in Celebrini's 2nd year and then winning a Stanley Cup with him would not break any sort of precedent.

Now, let's look at all the big money, >= 30 year old UFAs each team had when they won:

Spoiler

• LA had none. (Willie Mitchell and Rod Scuderi were borderline - under 6% cap hit and signed relatively short term).
• Washington had Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik who were 31 and 38, respectively, in year 4 of their UFA contracts.
• Florida had Bobrovsky who was 35, in year 5 of his UFA contract.
• Colorado had none.
• Pittsburgh had none.
• Chicago had Hossa for all 3 Cups, as well as Campbell in 2010. Both were 31 in 2010, Hossa was in year 1 of his deal and Campbell was in year 2.
• Tampa had none.

(I may have missed one or two contracts in here, please correct me if I did, there is no repository for this info since CF died.)

There is basically no precedent for championship teams signing a large number of big money, middle-aged, mid-tier UFAs shortly after drafting their franchise forwards, and then winning a few years later after those players have aged. They either win very quickly after signing those UFAs (Hossa/Campbell) or sign those UFAs when they're already trying to contend with said franchise players in their primes (Niskanen/Orpik and Bobrovsky) and then win later. And Hossa, Campbell, and Bobrovsky were all clear star players when signed - a clear cut above the Bennett and Pionk types.

Teams have tried doing this many times - EDM signed Sekera immediately after drafting McDavid and Lucic 1 year after drafting McDavid; BUF signed Okposo 1 year after drafting Eichel; FLA signed Bolland 1 year after drafting Barkov, etc. But none had success doing so.

TL;DR many teams have won despite sucking in the first few years with their franchise players but nobody wins with a bunch of money tied in mid-tier UFAs. We will be fine if we suck in year 2 and even 3 of Celebrini. We will not be fine if we have a 3rd of our cap sheet tied up in mid-tier UFAs after Celebrini's ELC ends.

So, if you were GM, what would your plan be this offseason?

 

[STL Shark]

I'm not going to get into the nuances of one potential big name UFA vs another, but I'll say my expected offseason from Grier based on his comment of not wanting to sign "3 guys for $9mm and then two of them don't work out and you're dealing with it in a few years":

- One top of lineup UFA/trade in the $9mm++ AAV range - Marner, Dobson, Pionk, Ehlers, whoever he can convince to sign
- one middle of lineup (think Walman/Wennberg) at 4-6mm AAV, which for Sharks would still be a big get
- a fair few castaways and journeymen to replace some of our less consistent, more problematic unqualified RFA's or UFAs

He could go bigger, but I would be surprised. He could definitely go smaller depending on how the market shakes out. But last summer proves he's not afraid to make moves.

My prediction is we go Ekblad 5 years $9.5M (projected at 7 years $6.8M so give him the same money over shorter term to lure him to a rebuild) and then sign someone like Zucker for 2 years at $5.5M. Could also see them try and bring in a Ceci type (if not Ceci himself). Could also see a Granlund reunion if his playoff stint with Dallas looks anything like his Pittsburgh stint. Could dry up his market pretty substantially and lead him back to SJ on a 3 year deal where we won't be worrying about playoffs.

I think the Dallas pick getting moved probably hinges upon the lottery. If we get Schaefer, I think we probably keep the pick as it keeps stocking the pipeline with cheaper reinforcements when we need them in 3-4 years (which is likely when a late 1st rounder is ready to even sniff NHL minutes). That or we package it and trade up, but either way I think getting Schaefer means we're not moving it for a roster player for next year.

 

[Jargon]

My prediction is we go Ekblad 5 years $9.5M (projected at 7 years $6.8M so give him the same money over shorter term to lure him to a rebuild) and then sign someone like Zucker for 2 years at $5.5M. Could also see them try and bring in a Ceci type (if not Ceci himself). Could also see a Granlund reunion if his playoff stint with Dallas looks anything like his Pittsburgh stint. Could dry up his market pretty substantially and lead him back to SJ on a 3 year deal where we won't be worrying about playoffs.

I think the Dallas pick getting moved probably hinges upon the lottery. If we get Schaefer, I think we probably keep the pick as it keeps stocking the pipeline with cheaper reinforcements when we need them in 3-4 years (which is likely when a late 1st rounder is ready to even sniff NHL minutes). That or we package it and trade up, but either way I think getting Schaefer means we're not moving it for a roster player for next year.

I think the Dallas pick is ammunition. I think that Grier is 100% shopping for defensemen that fit our window and might be on the outs - Nemec, Dobson, etc. - and is dangling the pick for those kind of guys, Schaefer or not. Especially if it’s an RD.

If he doesn’t get any of them, then yeah, I think they’ll probably package it with a 2nd to draft a guy they like.

 

[Sharksfan66]

By ice time kreiji was the number one, but by usage and actual faceoffs that distinction goes to Bergeron. Bergeron played 2 less games and still took 107 more faceoffs in those playoffs.

We will not becoming contenders if we need to sign or trade for 6 defensemen, and 6 top 9 forwards.

Faceoffs feels like an odd stat to pull when Krejce was ahead and ice time and points. And from what I can recall, I believe he played with the top dogs, not Bergeron.

That said for the sake of argument, let’s say Bergeron was the number one center. He was only drafted one year before Krejice, so the point remains. Boston is a strong example of a successful rebuild that sign major free agents shortly after drafting their top talent.

When you say sign six defenseman & six top six forwards, are you implying that we need to add that manny to start competing? IMO we are not far off of where Boston was in 2006, assuming we draft well this summer.

 

[CupfortheSharks]

Faceoffs feels like an odd stat to pull when Krejce was ahead and ice time and points. And from what I can recall, I believe he played with the top dogs, not Bergeron.

That said for the sake of argument, let’s say Bergeron was the number one center. He was only drafted one year before Krejice, so the point remains. Boston is a strong example of a successful rebuild that sign major free agents shortly after drafting their top talent.

When you say sign six defenseman & six top six forwards, are you implying that we need to add that manny to start competing? IMO we are not far off of where Boston was in 2006, assuming we draft well this summer.

Chara was an exceptional signing. I’d argue one of the best UFA signings ever. Yes, we could use one of those.

 

[Hodge]

Decent 1B goalies (Lankinen, Daccord, Blackwood, etc.) are getting crazy expensive. Might not be a terrible idea for the Sharks to take on Jarry as a cap dump for a sweetener.

 

[sampler]

So, if you were GM, what would your plan be this offseason?

Simple: Focus on acquiring multiple established vet D and SIZE throughout the lineup, but especially up front.

I think its concievable that the sharks can acquire two solid top 4 Dmen this summer. One by trade (dobson?) and one by UFA (Ekblad, Chychrun, or provorov). It wont be easy, but I do think its possible, and both should be in the 25-29 range.

Possibly one UFA forward with size like Bennett or Boeser. Might also take a swipe at Justin Brazeau as well (6'6" 227 with 20 pts in 53 games after a long minor league career). I could see this being the kind of depth signing that Grier makes by giving him 2 yrs 6.5M per (only semi sarcastic).

I would be surprised to see anything else, but even those three moves would be a lot and quite impactful.

Having Walman, Chychrun, Dobson, Liljgren, and Ferraro as your top 5 D is respectable. Still not great, but good enough to allow Dick, Mukh, and co. to slot into the 3rd pair, play 10-12 mins/gm at first, and learn with much less pressure and expectations.

At forward, adding size is paramount. So even just one top 9 forward with size helps, and creates a little more space for the rooks with size to come up slowly as well. Likely, it would be a highly competitive camp between Haltunnen, Musty, Chernyshov, and Bystedt for a spot on the 3rd/4th line.

I still dont expect they would be a playoff team, even with those moves, but they would be a whole lot closer than they are today. They need to be able to slot in rookies on bottom two lines and bottom pairing D at first. Asking Musty, Dick, halty, Cherny, etc to slot into a top 6 role or top 4 D role right off the bat is a recipe for dead last finishes and stunted development.