The 34th season of the San Jose Sharks comes to a tough end as they lose 3-0 to the Edmonton Oilers. Puckguy, Landi, and Jules break down the game, the season, and what the next steps should be another monumental offseason for Team Teal.
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7 Comments
Thank you for everything guys, as a European fan you and prof hockey are the only ones who allow me to be truly updated about our team. Props to you
I really appreciate ALL of your content and look forward to listening to all your takes whether I agree with them or not.
Case in point – Landi – the Zetterlund trade a scare tactic or something? Can not see that.
Also, not understanding the cohesion of the lines .. com'n – they played how many actual NHL defensemen tonight? So the defense was what they had left after the TDL and riddled with injuries. So what did you think they were going to do?
As to the forwards. With what they had the lines were well put together. Consider who is healthy and how the lines were structured and it made sense.
Having the "Sleepover" line is what it is – good.
The second line is something that I agree could be setup better but it still made sense when you think this is the last game in a season where the Sharks finish dead last.
Eklund and Wennberg should be on the second line. The only player you have an argument for is Lund. However, giving him second line minutes when he WILL be back in the organization next season makes sense.
Both Kovalenko and Gush are up in the air and either or both will not be back next season. If I was the coach I would have most likely done the same.
I also liked the third line (considering the players available). Kovalenko is a natural RW and can grind along the yellow and is good a digging out pucks. Skates a more North-South game. More an assist guy than a scorer.
Gush is a scorer but small and needs help along the boards. He compliments Kovalenko in his play. Dellandria is a hot mess and I hope they move him in the offseason and get an upgrade for his minutes.
However, he plays center (although not good) and they can not call up anyone unless there is an injury (which there was not) so he gets the slot by default (a great highlight to how this team was depleted after the TDL).
Then the fourth line actually was playing well and did not need to be broken up. I meant they played good for what they were doing before to be clear.
So, I do not get how you do not understand the lines. Also, giving Georgiev the last start was a nice thing to do as he already knew he was playing his last game in teal.
Jules is 100% correct. There has been distinct improvements at each level of the organization (IMO). However, whether or not they improved enough for individuals is another matter.
I might have read Landi wrong, but in his case they did not improve enough. Understandable.
As the season went on there were improvements, but I guess to GMMG they were not enough and so after the TDL he had shipped half the team out.
He did what I thought he was going to do. Ship out as many contracts as possible, stack assets and concentrate on development. All while trying to improve what was the worst team in recent NHL memory.
Cool with me. And it made sense. Look at the contracts he had at the beginning of the season. Only one new contract was longer than two years (outside of the ELCs signed).
The record improvement a little and most all the stats did as well. More points, better goals against, etc. The prospects and young players all developed and made improvements to their games.
Multiple players were brought in and the expected (and a couple unexpected) players were shipped out. With an eye on only keeping players you could not move or are going to be long term pieces for the rebuild.
I was expecting this and so should have everyone else if you looked at the cap situation (players, salaries, contracts, depth, prospects, roster, etc.).
I think this season was a success other than the end. I do not think GMMG wanted an 11 game losing streak to end the season and I do not think it would have happened if the injury bug did not plague the Sharks and the Cuda.
But after shipping all those players out, it was a risk that GMMG took and lost. The benefit was the best odds for the number one pick (again). The cost was not winning more games at the end of the season.
I will take that trade all day.
Landi – you are right, there was a VERY LITTLE accumulation of talent with a near non-existent prospect pool for GMMG to work with. The cap was a mess. He had a badly aging roster and no additional draft capital.
The ownership had yet to accept they needed to rebuild. If you remember, GMMG did not make a trade until midway through his first season (see the Burns trade).
Was the return for Burns good? Nope! But Burns had a 5 team no trade clause. GMMG was hogtied with what he could do. And Burns wanted to win a cup, so he was only going to a team that most likely did not have a lot of high draft picks (if any), had a shallow prospect pool and was at the cap ceiling or as close as they could be.
That type of team is NOT trading a player on their roster and knew the situation GMMG was in. He got what he could get. End stop.
What were the best prospects at the time he was hired? Well lets take a look at some highlights (or should I say low lights) – Eklund, Hatakka, Knyavez, Hamaliuk, Merkly, Robins, Gush, Bords, Coe, Young, Raska, etc.
Not a very inspiring group. No size, no depth, no defense. Nothing much really.
We all know the cap mess and bad contracts. Over 50% of the cap was used by less than 10% of the roster with ALL of them aging or hurt. Examples would be EK, Pickles and Burns.
If he can not convert that? Where have you been? It is night and day from 2022. 2022!
So, he has 40+ million to spend and must spend 20+ million just to hit the cap floor with carrying two big contracts still on the books from the last regime totaling 15 million AAV.
He now has the deepest prospect pool in the league even with Celebrini, Askarov and Smith graduating. You know the names (Dickinson, Musty, Pohlkamp, Lund, Chernyshov, Havelid, Bystedt, Cardwell, Cagnoni, etc. etc.)
No contract on his books is more than two years except Toffoli and the newly signed ELCs
He has 8 picks in the first two rounds of the next two draft with 9 picks in this year's draft
He has one retention slot opened (although I do not think he needs it)
After next season GMMG could have the cleanest cap in modern NHL history!
Trying to say if he does not make a 10-15 point improvement next season and you do not know what the Sharks are doing is a silly thing to say (I would use a different word but I do not wish to offend).
What I hope for next season is a continuation of the improvement that have already been made. As to how many points, well that has a ton of variables.
It is not like the other teams ahead of the Sharks (which is ALL of them) are not aiming to improve as well. The Sharks or more pointedly GMMG needs to improve more than the other teams.
I would be happy if we draft between 5 and 8. But what would it take? That is a question open for debate. But IMO here is what I would like to see:
1) Redo the defense – They have 5 defensemen under contract from this season going into next season (Ferraro, Lilljegren, Pickles, Thrun, and Desharnais). They have one defensive prospect on his ELC that played some minutes with the Sharks and could possibly push for more playing time next season (Cagnoni). They have two promising defensemen that need new contracts (Muk and Thompson).
That means to improve the defense some players need signed and some players need to be moved.
No matter how they do it, I hope they add two middle pair defensemen (preferably RDs). I would like one young player around the age and experience of Nemec (I prefer Nemec is GMMG can pull it off) and one older stay at home defenseman (not named Ekblad, maybe Poink if he is still an FA in the offseason).
Getting a player like Nemec fills in a void in the age gap they have in defensemen (Landi mentioned it) and the older stay-at-home defensemen fills a need for both the type of defenseman needed and to become a mentor to the young defenders.
Years and AAV are in GMMG's camp but I suspect the older gets a two-three year deal and the younger a 5 year or so deal. I would rather a longer than shorter contract for the young players as Lilljegren and Ferraro (if they are with the Sharks) are likely moved on from by the end of next season.
2) At a number 1B goalie. I know the FA market is thin so I think GMMG will need to make a move here. This is a low cost move and GMMG has more than enough assets to get a good 1B for Asky.
3) A second line center. There are some older names in FA right now. The best (IMO) is Bennet, but he is likely resigned by his team. So, there will be some choices, but this is a need for the forward group.
It is a big hole in their lineup and getting a 2C slides everyone into their natural positions. the contract should just be a bridge contract with the hopes that maybe Smith takes the 2C or if Misa or say Frondell is drafted they could slot in by their draft season plus two or three.
4) Add talent to the bottom six. These slots are like the defense. There are multiple players signed for next season, some good but most bad (Goodrow, Grundstrom, Dellandria, Graf, and not much else).
Of those that played on the bottom six the following players need a new contract and may be resigned: Gush, Bords, Kovalenko, and Ostapchuk.
I did not list players I think will be gone such as Gregor and Kostin.
I believe Kovalenko and Ostapchuk are the only two that will be resigned. Bords and Gush I like, but I think they are gone in a numbers game.
Of the players signed I would rather Dellandria is moved out. Penalties and no offense are the keys to me with him.
Maybe one new winger and one new center would improve this group.
It is a lot, but I think GMMG is setup to do a lot this off season, but I realize he is playing the long game so who knows. What he thinks they need is more than likely different from what I think they need.
Looking a the prospect pool I cannot see anyone not giving GMMG his props or questioning what he has done so far. Even if we include the 2022 draft (remember he was hired like two days before that draft) he has hit it out of the park.
How many players actually make it to the pros in a draft and how many make it to the NHL? According to the reported numbers:
63% of first rounders
25% of second rounders
12% of third rounders
After third the drop off is like falling from a cliff
What has happened to the drafts since 2022?
2022 draft – Bystedt (1st) AHL, Lund (2nd) NHL going to AHL, Havelid (2nd) reported by GMMG at post TDL presser as going to AHL after the end of his season (Djugarden is currently in the playoffs), Furlong (5th) AHL, Muldowney (NCAA Division 1 UConn) check out his stats for the huge leap he took this season, Laubach (7th) Penn State NCAA Division 1
2023 draft – Will Smith (1st) NHL, Musty (1st) AHL, Haltunnen (2nd) soon to be AHL but has played AHL, Svoboda (3rd) NCAA Division 1 Boston U., Gagnoni (4th) AHL/NHL, Landen (5th) AHL, Pohlkamp (5th) NCAA Division 1 Denver – should go pro IMO as he is ready but most likely goes back to be the number one D and played/scored almost as much as 2024 first round pick Biuim – an over-ager when drafted so could come out early as he is a sophmore, Rimashevsky (7th) completing his first full season in KHL and playing top six minutes (plays on Dynamo which is the same team and coach as Chenyshov)
2024 draft – Celebrini (1st) NHL, Dickinson (1st) OHL and is too young for AHL so most likely back to the OHL which he is too good for – just not good enough for the NHL, Chernyshov (2nd) AHL, Wallenius (2nd) SHL/Allsvenskan, Wetsch (3rd) captain of his WHL team and currently in playoffs, Roberts and Misskey (WHL) both in playoffs and are main cogs in their respective teams, Korostelyov (7th round and last pick in the draft) MHL – looking at his numbers this season 20-3 record, 4 shutouts, 1.53 GAA, .935 SV%
GMMG is hitting this out of the park! I am not sure there is any other GM that has done this good of a job drafting. With the amount of picks he has in the next two drafts and with a number if players he could move to get more, IMO he is building a dynasty, not a championship team.
A dynasty (see Detroit in their last set of cup runs) you need a constant infusion of talent. FAs will not do that. DW already tried that and failed.
Add to that the development of some of the additional young talent like Eklund, Cardwell, Graf and others then you have a ever deepening pool of talent to start to pull from and assets to make moves.
Flexibility is the key, but you cannot be flexible without assets and cap. GMMG has created the best flexibility of any GM in the league.
After last offseason and seeing how his acquisitions played out, my bet is on GMMG making the most of it. Just do not think he will speed up the rebuild. This is where we all got caught this season.
He is patient and disciplined. He sticks to his plan. Lets see how it plays out.
Alright gang. With the Sharks out. Who is your pick to win the Stanley cup?
I will be rooting for the Canadian teams this year. Seeing the cup return to Canada would be a nice change in pace