Confirmed with Link: Sharks acquire Egor Afanasyev for Ozzy Wiesblatt

[YUPPY 2 7 10 11]

Grier needs to find a place for Vlasic, Farraro, STUDNICKA, GUSHCHIN, ZADINA (RFA), KNYZHOV, RUTTA and BURROUGHS if we going youth movement. Also we need enforcers for Celebrini or he won't sign to play this year.

 

[mogambomoroo]

Grier needs to find a place for Vlasic, Farraro, STUDNICKA, GUSHCHIN, ZADINA (RFA), KNYZHOV, RUTTA and BURROUGHS if we going youth movement. Also we need enforcers for Celebrini or he won't sign to play this year.

With firing David Quinn and getting a young head coach, it screams a fresh start more than anything right now.
From what I can read from the body language from the press conference and the moves MG has made, I feel like MG is going to bury a lot of those players that you mentioned to the press box, AHL or tries to trade them.
He already started to mould a very different team with all the moves even before the draft/free agency, so I'm not even sure about Kunin anymore. Which would be a fresh look for the next season.

 

[Hodge]

Wiesblatt has been a bust for years, and he was not one of those picks where the process was good and it didn't work out (Goldobin type upside in the late first, for example). He was always a big reach with limited upside kind of like like Mirco Mueller. Never really understood the pick then and not too surprised he busted. If Afanasyev stays, maybe we get a player out of it. If he goes back to Russia, oh well, it's a contract slot.

If Afanasyev does stay though, I'm a bit worried about about the forward group for this coming year. I understand and support using the available NHL playing time to pick up guys with upside (Dellandrea, Afanasyev) or overpaid vets for leadership (Goodrow), but with Kunin likely being re-signed for the same reason Goodrow was brought in, that projected middle-6 is looking concerning even if Couture can actually play.

I thought the point was going to be to feed the Lund line to the wolves while insulating Smith and Celebrini. I don't think you bring in guys like Afanasyev and Dellandrea (+ obviously Goodrow) to put them in the pressbox or the AHL, so is our bottom-9 really going to be Kostin-Celebrini-Dellandrea/Kunin, Afanasyev-Smith-Couture, Goodrow-Sturm-Kunin/Dellandrea? That seems like a primetime contender for Hagens and a solid tank roster...kind of concerning.

I would go with something like

Celebrini-Couture-Smith
Kostin-Sturm-Kunin
Afanasyev-Goodrow-Dellandrea

Move Celebrini to center and Kostin up a line if Couture can't play.

 

[DG93]

I would go with something like

Celebrini-Couture-Smith
Kostin-Sturm-Kunin
Afanasyev-Goodrow-Dellandrea

Move Celebrini to center and Kostin up a line if Couture can't play.

Man, that bottom-6 lol, I thought our plan was surround our young guys with NHL talent and not build a top contender by a mile for Hagens

 

[STL Shark]

I would go with something like

Celebrini-Couture-Smith
Kostin-Sturm-Kunin
Afanasyev-Goodrow-Dellandrea

Move Celebrini to center and Kostin up a line if Couture can't play.

Find you someone that loves you as much as Hodge loves taking centers and sticking them on the wing for no reason other than “rookies”. Way more detrimental to run two rookies on one line than it is to put them at their natural positions where they’ll play the rest of their NHL careers.

 

[timorous me]

I would go with something like

Celebrini-Couture-Smith
Kostin-Sturm-Kunin
Afanasyev-Goodrow-Dellandrea

Move Celebrini to center and Kostin up a line if Couture can't play.

I'd be surprised to see Celebrini and Smith on the same line at 5v5 very much next season.

A couple nice points in Afanasyev's favor I noticed are that his shooting percentage on his 27 goals (in 56 AHL games) was only 14% last year, which indicates he wasn't just getting lucky with those points. And he also scored five shorthanded goals, so even if his ceiling is as a bottom-six winger, there seems to be some varied usefulness, which is what you want to see out of those guys.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Man, that bottom-6 lol, I thought our plan was surround our young guys with NHL talent and not build a top contender by a mile for Hagens

There is absolutely nothing even remotely reasonable that Grier could do this summer to make us not a contender for Hagens.

 

[DG93]

There is absolutely nothing even remotely reasonable that Grier could do this summer to make us not a contender for Hagens.

That's true, so I guess I'll re-phrase. Maybe at least try to surround Macklin and Smith with more established NHL talent to make their transition easier rather than giving them some combination of Kostin, Dellandrea, Kunin, and Afanasyev + Couture?

 

[weastern bias]

That's true, so I guess I'll re-phrase. Maybe at least try to surround Macklin and Smith with more established NHL talent to make their transition easier rather than giving them some combination of Kostin, Dellandrea, Kunin, and Afanasyev + Couture?

Free agency hasn't even opened yet, any line protections are incredibly premature

Even then, those are the kind of "established" NHL players we're likely to be looking at, we're gonna be dumpster diving for a while here because this team is trash and no one wants to be here

 

[Gecklund]

There is absolutely nothing even remotely reasonable that Grier could do this summer to make us not a contender for Hagens.

we could easily do it! We could get Stammer, Skjei, Pesce, Roy, Guentzel, and Necas and we might make the playoffs.

 

[weastern bias]

we could easily do it! We could get Stammer, Skjei, Pesce, Roy, Guentzel, and Necas and we might make the playoffs.

Even with all those additions, which would be insanely unlikely, that doesn't make us 50+ points higher in the standings, which is what we need to make the playoffs

We won the lottery, we will secure the draft rights to an incredibly promising young talent, and we're still going to be TERRIBLE for a while

Even if this rebuild turns into a success story people need to be ready for to extend their patience, Macklin Celebrini isn't going to be a bandaid that fixes the worst team of the cap era and signing a Teravainen or a Guentzel won't change that either

 

[Gecklund]

Even with all those additions, which would be insanely unlikely, that doesn't make us 50+ points higher in the standings, which is what we need to make the playoffs

We won the lottery, we will secure the draft rights to an incredibly promising young talent, and we're still going to be TERRIBLE for a while

Even if this rebuild turns into a success story people need to be ready for to extend their patience, Macklin Celebrini isn't going to be a bandaid that fixes the worst team of the cap era and signing a Teravainen or a Guentzel won't change that either

You are vastly overestimating how serious I was.

 

[Cas]

Grier needs to find a place for Vlasic, Farraro, STUDNICKA, GUSHCHIN, ZADINA (RFA), KNYZHOV, RUTTA and BURROUGHS if we going youth movement. Also we need enforcers for Celebrini or he won't sign to play this year.

The press box is a place for most of them.

 

[weastern bias]

You are vastly overestimating how serious I was.

I could read the sarcasm in YOUR post, lol, but the sentiment seems to be a point of contention on the board, I feel like some posters are looking for a turbo charge on the rebuild

Celebrini is an accelerant for sure, but he's not rocket fuel

 

[DG93]

Free agency hasn't even opened yet, any line protections are incredibly premature

Even then, those are the kind of "established" NHL players we're likely to be looking at, we're gonna be dumpster diving for a while here because this team is trash and no one wants to be here

That's fair...and even if FA is a disaster as expected, they could always try to take on some veterans in trades to weaponize the cap space. I am not expecting this to be the end of the end of all moves, but it would be nice to add 1-2 actual middle-6 forwards and a top-4 defenseman to be just very bad while developing our young players as opposed to a record-setting dumpster fire again.

 

[one2gamble]

There is absolutely nothing even remotely reasonable that Grier could do this summer to make us not a contender for Hagens.

Can't wait for Macklin, Smith, Hagens as our core

 

[DG93]

Can't wait for Macklin, Smith, Hagens as our core

And then when Vegas implodes, we get Logan Hensler too. Nice to dream eh

 

[weastern bias]

That's fair...and even if FA is a disaster as expected, they could always try to take on some veterans in trades to weaponize the cap space. I am not expecting this to be the end of the end of all moves, but it would be nice to add 1-2 actual middle-6 forwards and a top-4 defenseman to be just very bad while developing our young players as opposed to a record-setting dumpster fire again.

I would love for the Trouba rumors to be true

As much as his best days are behind him he would bring a TON to our D, as well as real playoff experience and leadership

The Goodrow move might be our blueprint for the first month of the season, just use our priority position to claim overpaid players with legitimate talent but bad contracts (so long as the term is limited)

Mike Grier, the first GM to build a championship team through waivers, book it

 

[DG93]

I would love for the Trouba rumors to be true

As much as his best days are behind him he would bring a TON to our D, as well as real playoff experience and leadership

The Goodrow move might be our blueprint for the first month of the season, just use our priority position to claim overpaid players with legitimate talent but bad contracts (so long as the term is limited)

Mike Grier, the first GM to build a championship team through waivers, book it

As long as all these deals expire in 2-3 years, the cap hits really don't matter. The Sharks have 30M+ in cap space now and will be opening up another 20M+ next offseason with Granlund, Rutta, Burns cap hit, Vanecek, Blackwood, Kostin, and Sturm coming off the books. Vlasic, Ferraro, Couture, and the Jones buyout + Karlsson retention all expire in 2-3 years too. The cap sheet will be totally clean from all the current deals/dead cap other than the Hertl retention in 3 years when they have to pay Macklin and Smith. Once we have to start paying all the young guys, that's when cap hits will start mattering a lot more.

 

[Gecklund]

I could read the sarcasm in YOUR post, lol, but the sentiment seems to be a point of contention on the board, I feel like some posters are looking for a turbo charge on the rebuild

Celebrini is an accelerant for sure, but he's not rocket fuel

Ah okay yeah. I mean how long our rebuild last is 100% dependent on how long it our prospects take to develop. Look at LA. People thought they’d be the elite of the elite for years with Byfield, Turcotte, Clarke, Spence, Faber, others that I’m forgetting. If Celebrini, Smith, Eklund all are 50-60 point scorers this year and Shakir, Thrun, Emberson all show to be top 4ish options, the rebuild could end earlier than expected even then though we are still missing some key pieces.

 

[weastern bias]

Ah okay yeah. I mean how long our rebuild last is 100% dependent on how long it our prospects take to develop. Look at LA. People thought they’d be the elite of the elite for years with Byfield, Turcotte, Clarke, Spence, Faber, others that I’m forgetting. If Celebrini, Smith, Eklund all are 50-60 point scorers this year and Shakir, Thrun, Emberson all show to be top 4ish options, the rebuild could end earlier than expected even then though we are still missing some key pieces.

I agree, I just prefer to err on the side of caution, I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than have high expectations and be disappointed

Those forward projections seem pretty reasonable, the D is my concern, I don't expect any of those 3 to be better than bottom-pair quality this year, and it isn't a guarantee any of them are ever better than that at any point in their career

Honestly, I hope we improve but pick like 3rd next year and there's an awesome D man in that draft, what were missing more than anything is a real #1D potential prospect

 

[Gecklund]

I agree, I just prefer to err on the side of caution, I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than have high expectations and be disappointed

Those forward projections seem pretty reasonable, the D is my concern, I don't expect any of those 3 to be better than bottom-pair quality this year, and it isn't a guarantee any of them are ever better than that at any point in their career

Honestly, I hope we improve but pick like 3rd next year and there's an awesome D man in that draft, what were missing more than anything is a real #1D potential prospect

Oh I agree for the most part. I think 2 out of 3 of those forwards should be 40-50 point scorers. The D I think one of those 3 will be top 4 quality by the end of the year or at least show top 4 potential by the end of the year. Just nice that there’s a reason to be hopeful for this season. Was missing all of last season.

 

[Lebanezer]

 

[Alaskanice]

I wonder if Grier had already decided to sign him, a la Gawanke.

 

[TheBigDrunkPanda]

We drafted Wiesblatt with the pick we got for Barclay Goodrow. Now that he's back with us he had to go.

This will start another 20 page rant

What are you talking about? He killed it!

View attachment 885941

This honestly looks like a early dean lombardi draft board