GDT: Game 3: Sharks @ Stars 5:00pm NBCSCA

[tiburon12]

I thought this was a better game. Didn't think the Kostin penalty was a good call, but whatever.

I was particularly watching Smith in comparison to Bourque and Stankoven. I don't think either are better players overall, but both had a few things that Smith doesn't have yet, and to be clear these are simply due to age and experience:

• Less puck watching/chasing, ahead of the play
• Stronger on the puck and on their skates
• Poise

It will be great to see what a full year of NHL strength/conditioning + physical growth will do for Smith.

 

[TheBigDrunkPanda]

I thought this was a better game. Didn't think the Kostin penalty was a good call, but whatever.

I was particularly watching Smith in comparison to Bourque and Stankoven. I don't think either are better players over all, but both had a few things that Smith doesn't haven yet, and to be clear these are simply due to age and experience:

• Less puck watching/chasing, ahead of the play
• Stronger on the puck and on their skates
• Poise

It will be great to see what a full year of NHL strength/conditioning + physical growth will do for Smith.

Pretty solid observation especially on watching and then reacting to the play so he’s constantly behind the play. I still think game 10-15 he will get rolling but I do question some of the coaching decisions

 

[tiburon12]

Pretty solid observation especially on watching and then reacting to the play so he’s constantly behind the play. I still think game 10-15 he will get rolling but I do question some of the coaching decisions

Yea that's just a game-speed thing. I have to imagine the jump from College -> NHL speed is the biggest Smith has ever encountered and it takes time.

His deployment has been fine too. Again, compared to Bourque, who is currently a better player, they had similar ice time though Bourque got late game ice. Personally I think the more time he spends with Zetterlund the better - he knows how to play a complete game

 

[Shark Finn]

Couple of things:

First, mentioning and comparing Smith to Michkov is useless. Michkov probably goes 2nd overall on 2023 if not for being an entitled f*ck with a shady contract situation which he used to his advantage and basically hand picked the team he wanted to go to. Too bad.

Secondly, Smith will be fine. Once Celebrini comes back and Granlund returns to the second line, Smith will have more support. It's been three games, not three seasons.

 

[Jargon]

Wait are people complaining about Smith’s usage? Or this game?

The team looks a LOT better than last year’s team. Better defensive system, better breakouts, better defensive support, honestly everything is better. I thought Dallas was going to obliterate them and they survived and got a point and that’s without arguably our best player. They play hard, they play with pace, they actually look like a professional team!

I think they’re going to get better and better as they play more games together and it finally feels like there’s a real NHL system in place.

As far as Smith goes, right now he just needs to keep playing NHL games. 10 mins a night is fine, he just needs to keep being exposed to the game and keep trying to keep up. He had a few great passes, he’ll figure it out.

I do think that line isn’t really right for him and I kinda want to see what would happen if you give him Eklund or Toffoli to play with.

I’d like to see Goose back too though Kostin looks pretty good to me and frankly so does the bottom 6. I’d probably sit Kunin for him but I doubt that’ll happen.

Anyway, we lose but this team is a breath of fresh air compared to last year.

 

[Cas]

Some notes/opinions:

• Ferraro-Rutta need to be broken up. It's been awful three games in a row now. Today they had a 28.03%.

The problem here is that we don't have any defensemen who can prop up either Rutta or Ferraro. If we had Makar or Josi, they could probably carry their partner to breakeven.

Ferraro and Rutta are just bad players. It doesn't matter who we pair them with, they're just going to get caved in.

Of course they're also still better than Benning.

 

[BaileyMacTavish]

Wait are people complaining about Smith’s usage? Or this game?

The team looks a LOT better than last year’s team. Better defensive system, better breakouts, better defensive support, honestly everything is better. I thought Dallas was going to obliterate them and they survived and got a point and that’s without arguably our best player. They play hard, they play with pace, they actually look like a professional team!

I think they’re going to get better and better as they play more games together and it finally feels like there’s a real NHL system in place.

As far as Smith goes, right now he just needs to keep playing NHL games. 10 mins a night is fine, he just needs to keep being exposed to the game and keep trying to keep up. He had a few great passes, he’ll figure it out.

I do think that line isn’t really right for him and I kinda want to see what would happen if you give him Eklund or Toffoli to play with.

I’d like to see Goose back too though Kostin looks pretty good to me and frankly so does the bottom 6. I’d probably sit Kunin for him but I doubt that’ll happen.

Anyway, we lose but this team is a breath of fresh air compared to last year.

Is it though? I'd rather have him 2nd line winger or 3C than get only 10 minsna night. At that point why even have him up?

 

[karltonian]

Late to the party, but...

At the start of the second period, Randy Hahn tries to describe Ty Dellandrea's goal scorer prowess during his Junior years in Flint Michigan. He then casually adds, "Must have been the water." This is one of the most tasteless remarks I've ever heard in hockey broadcasting.

Pretty sure he did not mean it *that* way. Just the old throwaway one-liner about something in the water that unfortunately has extra meaning for that town.

 

[jarr92]

Pretty sure he did not mean it *that* way. Just the old throwaway one-liner about something in the water that unfortunately has extra meaning for that town.

Nah he definitely meant it that way.

 

[tiburon12]

Is it though? I'd rather have him 2nd line winger or 3C than get only 10 minsna night. At that point why even have him up?

to learn without overwhelming him. 10 mins is low, yes. but 13-14 is pretty average for a 4th OA rookie in his first handful of games, which is what he had the first two.

On one hand, i want him playing more and learning through experience, but on the other, it's 2-2 in the third in a game we should lose and Sharks havent won yet, so i get why someone learning NHL responsibility would sit.

In any event, it's game 3 - 0 reason to think twice about these things.

 

[Hodge]

The sharks development staff this year has not been great.

1. Smith playing 4th line mins or riding the pine in the NHL is not good: either play him a ton despite being -100 and 0 for 2000 in the circle (touch of hyperbole), or send him down.
2. bringing up your 22 year old AHL leading scorer and NHL preaseason point leader only to plop him for 10 mins on the fourth line then bench him two game is not good.
3. Musty holding out and not playing and not working on the defensive side of the puck and the play away from the puck is not good.
4. Cherny not getting surgery earlier so he could play earlier is not good.
5. Even having Thompson, one of your top young D prospects, called up only to sit in the press box and not play is not good.

They might as well call up askarov and have him specialize in bench opening and bench pressing goals.

Im disappointed with the way the sharks have been dvelping their top prospets early in the year. I can assume injuries to mukh and celly were handled as well as possible, but I don't trust it in Celly's case. Did he aggravate something in game one that they knew about? Was playing him a stupid move?

it also feels like Grier and War are not on the same page.

P.s>: 5M per year (10M total) for wennberg!? What a moronic move by grier. Almost the same money as toffoli AAV. We could actually be a fun team with 1 or 2 more toffoli's and a healthy celebrini.

Oh yeah, the goal isnt winning according to many here. Guess that explains spending $15-20M per year on bottom feeders. Grier has done a nice job drafting and a nice job trading. But aside from toffoli (which I supported form the start), his UFA signings are unfathomably poopy.

1. Smith needs to earn his minutes. This is the NHL. Without Granlund on his line as a safety blanket, Smith isn't playable yet during vast stretches of close games.
2. Change the channel already. Enough about Gushchin. We're talking about someone whose best case scenario is developing into Kevin Labanc 2.0 except that he's well behind Labanc at the same age.
3. Musty is presumably holding out in order to be traded to a team that will help him improve his play away from the puck.
4. We signed Chernyshov in August. When was he supposed to get the surgery?
5. Thompson is not a "prospect" he's just a guy. Good in the AHL, not good in the NHL, unlikely to develop much further at 22.

Bizarre to complain about the Wennberg contract after he just had a great game centering what's been our most consistent line.

Our goal this season is to integrate Celebrini and Smith into the lineup but also to not give up 10 goals on back to back nights and continue being the laughing stock of the league. Investing all that money in Wennberg, Goodrow, Dellandrea and Grundstrom is helping in that regard. Signing more Toffolis instead would have replicated last season's mishmash of one-way offensive wingers like Duclair, Hoffman, Barabanov and Labanc. It's only been three games but I like what I'm seeing a lot more this year.

 

[jMoneyBrah]

This was a really entertaining game. The Sharks took a very competitive Stars team to a shootout. They’re clearly not ready to threaten for the playoffs or anything but, even without their 1C, they we always in this game. And they legit been in every game so far. For as little as it’s worth three games into the season I like the direction Wars is moving the team. It’s too early for me to have any hot takes.

Goodrow, Kunin, and Wennberg have been solid in their role. It’s definitely not a sexy line, but I can see an effective identity line forming. I like what Ceci and Wallman have brought so far. Toffoli has come as advertised.

On Smith, I see a player who is behind the play but is showing signs that he can be something once he gets up to speed and figures timings and spacing out. I’m not going to complain about his deployment until he either starts backsliding or overperforms with his ice time. As long as the staff is communicating what they need to see from him to get on the ice late in close games I don’t have any issues with Warsofsky being judicious with Smith’s ice time. At 3.6% of the way through the season I think there’s plenty of time to let Smith work through growing pains while also respecting the other players, and not just making Will Smith’s ice time the sole focus.

And perhaps the least shocking early development, if things continue trending as they are Grier probably probably added/retained at least one too many bottom six wingers. I think one of Kostin, Grundstrom, or Delandrea is headed for waivers in a not too distant future. Even more so if Bordeleau or Guschin can be productive.

 

[landshark]

is anybody else generally shocked that colin blackwelll became a legit NHLer.

I like how they never mention he was a Sharks' 7th round draft pick...

 

[Le Rosbeef]

10:10 for Smith.

I get it. He's a rookie. But that's abysmal for developing rookies. At that point just send him down. But we shouldn't send him down. Wars is giving me a headache

It really isn't. It's his 3rd NHL game, first road game. He's 19.
We've been offensively pretty uninspired so far in all 3 but largely dogged, defensively, in the last two.

Some of you need to take a step back and see the forest for the trees...

 

[stator]

As long as we're competitive and making the games entertaining, I'm alright if we finish low in the standings again. So I lean more towards development.

You mean rebuilding. Development is what they do down in the AHL and lower leagues.

 

[CanadienShark]

You mean rebuilding. Development is what they do down in the AHL and lower leagues.

Uh no. You can develop in the NHL too.

 

[tahoesharksfan]

Sharks obviously got outplayed but this is a real NHL team again. Not whatever the hell happened last season.

So happy to see some structure/intent in what they are doing on the ice. Given the youth and changes they're at least showing signs of moving in the right direction. The free for all that things had become under Quinn's lack of direction just became painful to watch last season.

Smith isn't quite ready for first line minutes....IMHO...

 

[BaileyMacTavish]

So happy to see some structure/intent in what they are doing on the ice. Given the youth and changes they're at least showing signs of moving in the right direction. The free for all that things had become under Quinn's lack of direction just became painful to watch last season.

Smith isn't quite ready for first line minutes....IMHO...

He at most played 10-13 mins a night so he definitely isn't getting top line minutes. Wish he'd show more, but he isn't getting any runway. Should start him on 3rd line wing at this point if he's not getting TOI

 

[stator]

3. Musty is presumably holding out in order to be traded to a team that will help him improve his play away from the puck.

War handled that interview with Peng regarding Musty badly. No player wants to hear that kind of talk in the press by the HC.

The press is making sound like Musty sole issue is wanting a trade from the Sudbury Wolves. I think it's more complex than that. Musty has already played three seasons with that team, and only has to play one more to get released from that stupid OHL/NHL agreement.

The reasons War stated on sending Musty down seem odd because War has an abundance of those reasons on roster players with lower ceilings.

As each game goes on, I'm liking War less and less. Seasons young and I expect him to get in a NHL groove.

 

[TheBigDrunkPanda]

All this talk about Smith and it’s something I brought up before was his performance at the worlds this year, he wasn’t good there either so his performance right now shouldn't be a surprise. Hopefully by games 10-15 he starts catching on