He's clearly not as good as he was in Ottawa. He's no longer the elite defenseman he once was, despite being currently paid like one.
I mean I don’t know if I would take advice from a Sens fan on how to run a team.Out of those contracts right now the only one that is very overpaid is Vlasic but he will likely be bought out soon. Burns is worth about what he makes, EK overpaid by a few million, Couture is worth about what he makes and Hertl is for sure worth what he makes. Will they all be at that level for the rest of their time? I mean I’d put money on no but you also can’t be sure of it. Jumbo put up a PPG season at like 37 (don’t remember off the top of my head) and I think Sens fans should remember guys like Spezza and Alfredsson producing into their later years.
You’re (not just you but anyone) are basing this off the current salary cap too. The cap is already going up this season even if it’s a small increase and should be going up more and more as more seasons go on. Also I think you will see at least one of Burns or Couture moved both without retention. We will likely take back a few bad contracts but contracts that give more flexibility. Just for an example of something off the top of my head but Burns and Bonino for something around say Faksa and Khudobin from DAL. Now I think Khudobin might be joining LTIR island soon but I’m not sure.
One other thing that I think you as a Sens fan (or Sens fans since this is a Sens/Sharks thread) is the Sharks have a pretty underrated prospect pool. Their future defense doesn’t look too great on all star level players but they have some interesting prospects in Merkley (2nd pair), Kniazev (2nd pair), Ferraro (complimentary 1st pair or good second pair), Hatakka (complimentary 2nd pair or good 3rd pair), Laroque (3rd pair) coming along. At forward they have a lot better than most people see on the outside though, obviously you see Eklund and Bordeleau who are likely the Sharks two best prospects but you also have guys like Robins (middle 6), Coe (middle 6), Wiesblatt (middle 6), Gushchin (top 6), Oberg (offensive bottom 6), Raska (pest bottom 6). That’s to go along with some of the young (ish) talent already on the roster in Balcers, Dahlen, Timo.
I totally understand your point about the mediocrity but my counter to that is if we get rid of all these vets and rush prospects and ruin them, does it really matter if we have all of these high picks? I think the Oilers are a perfect example. If they don’t luck into McDavid, they are still the laughing stock of the league even now. One of the reasons for that is bad drafting for sure but I think another reason is you’re forcing young guys into roles that they might not be quite ready for. Then they end up losing confidence and stop improving. By keeping guys like EK rather than dumping him, you give a bit of insulation for a guy like Merkley to learn the game and the NHL and learn from a guy like EK. Same thing with Hertl and a lesser extent with Burns and Couture.
Damn this post got away from me. Sorry.
As is almost always the case with long-term contracts for players in their late 20s and early 30s, you get value in the early years of the contract at the cost of negative value as they decline with age.
If the Sharks aren't going to be contending the next couple years they should be trying to dump as much long-term money as possible. If they don't money is going to be extremely tight in future years when they are finished re-tooling and some of their young guys need new contracts. Buyouts are always an option but I can't image they want to carry a ton of dead cap, especially with Jones' buyoyut costing them an average of 1.67M until 2026/27.
I think you're being very optimistic about the likely potential of the prospects you listed. Most of the prospects you listed are longshots to be NHLers given their play at lower levels. Only one I think you underrated is Laroque who looks like an absolute gem and a potential top 4 D.
