What's Next for the Sharks?

HowieMorenz wrote:I will never pick San Jose in a playoff pool again lol Never!

:^^^^: I said the same thing today. Until they actually win a cup I will NEVER pick them or any of their players in a pool. I've been burned too many times.

usually you can rely on them to make it to the second round though.

Most interesting offseason coming up, possibly in league history.

Montreal Canadiens -- bust
Calgary Flames -- bust
San Jose Sharks -- big bust
Toronto Maple Leafs -- rebuilding
Ottawa Senators -- fringe team
Tampa Bay Lightning -- last offseason might be an indication
Minnesota -- possible new direction
Edmonton Oilers -- bust
Dallas Stars -- bust
Colorado Avalanche -- massive rebuild

Enjoy the fireworks this offseason guys, there is going to be plenty.

davetherave wrote:What I find fascinating is that everyone talks about the Sharks 'choking' and no one talks about the Flames' almost identical series of first round exits.

:KJK:

The Flames did have the run to the finals in '04. Also, they've never won a President's trophy during that stretch. I wouldn't say this season's exit was a choke. Even with Giordano, Phaneuf, and Regehr at full health, I would have picked the Hawks to win that series. Plainly put, they are the better team.

Changes will be coming in Calgary too.

PKC wrote:Most interesting offseason coming up, possibly in league history.

Montreal Canadiens -- bust
Calgary Flames -- bust
San Jose Sharks -- big bust
Toronto Maple Leafs -- rebuilding
Ottawa Senators -- fringe team
Tampa Bay Lightning -- last offseason might be an indication
Minnesota -- possible new direction
Edmonton Oilers -- bust
Dallas Stars -- bust
Colorado Avalanche -- massive rebuild

Enjoy the fireworks this offseason guys, there is going to be plenty.

Let's not forget the Flyers and possible the Rangers as well.

hemlock wrote:

davetherave wrote:What I find fascinating is that everyone talks about the Sharks 'choking' and no one talks about the Flames' almost identical series of first round exits.

:KJK:

The Flames did have the run to the finals in '04. Also, they've never won a President's trophy during that stretch. I wouldn't say this season's exit was a choke. Even with Giordano, Phaneuf, and Regehr at full health, I would have picked the Hawks to win that series. Plainly put, they are the better team.

Changes will be coming in Calgary too.

True...but the it has become de rigueur for the Mainstream Hockey Media Mafia to skewer the Sharks while they give the Flames a pass, no?

Interestingly, the Calgary press appeared ready to barbecue Keenan & Co after Game Five this year.

How the vultures gather...

Dave,

This is a post I put in the series thread earlier today. I think it is along the same lines of the Free Pass that the Flames organization and players seem to get from the media.

"Jarome Iginla is reputed to be a great captain. So many European captains have been denegrated because of their teams lack of playoff success, for example, Naslund, Koivu, Alfredsson (outside of Ottawa), Sundin etc.. The Calgary Flames have won 3 playoff series, all in the same season, with Mr. Iginla. So which is it, is Iginla a bad captain/leader or is it that the hockey world has been a little hard on Alfie, Koivu and the others."

Trade marleau,thorton and what ever else they have to ,to get getzlaf he Wing Dang Doodle slapped joe and marleau all series long .Why cant ottawa get a getzlaf man alive that would be sweet :D:

RobbyJ wrote:Dave,

This is a post I put in the series thread earlier today. I think it is along the same lines of the Free Pass that the Flames organization and players seem to get from the media.

"Jarome Iginla is reputed to be a great captain. So many European captains have been denegrated because of their teams lack of playoff success, for example, Naslund, Koivu, Alfredsson (outside of Ottawa), Sundin etc.. The Calgary Flames have won 3 playoff series, all in the same season, with Mr. Iginla. So which is it, is Iginla a bad captain/leader or is it that the hockey world has been a little hard on Alfie, Koivu and the others."

Robby, thanks for this. Your post, and those of our Esteemed Fellow GMHockey Members, is why I continue to boycott the elbow-bending donut-gobbling vultures of the MSM (Main Stream Media) Universe.

Cheers, my friend.

“I apologize to our fans and I apologize to our owners” — an angry GM Doug Wilson

from the San Jose Mercury News

Posted by David Pollak on April 29th, 2009

A ton of material to process before print edition deadline from today’s farewells at Sharks Ice, but I wanted to throw something on the blog before it got even later.

GM Doug Wilson did meet with the media and there were columnists and TV crews aplenty. Wilson wouldn’t get into any specific changes — understandably as the evaluation/assessment process needs to run its course — but he had something to say and he didn’t want people to have to wait a week to hear it.

“I apologize to our fans and I apologize to our owners because they deserve better,” Wilson said.

“And believe me, I take full responsibility. You bring in people and you bring in situations and if there’s any enabling or entitlement that comes from that, then that belongs right here and nowhere else.”

Wilson noted that he usually waits a week to calm down after a playoff exit, “but you don’t deserve me having a week.”

Wilson, who said this was by far the most painful playoff exit yet, said at various times that fans “should be pissed off” and “should feel cheated.” That last point prompted someone to ask him if he felt cheated, too.

“I don’t feel cheated. I feel responsible. I’m part of it. If I’m part of the problem, then I better be working to find us solutions here.”

Everything and everyone is on the table, he said.

He was asked if maybe he was second guessing his own plan to surround players already here with those who had won the Stanley Cup in the past.

“Did we bring too many and prevent growth from our own people? I don’t know,” he said. “Am I going to ask that question of myself? Absolutely. Do you dabble too much? Do you do too much? Was it time for this group to grow up and handle what was in front of them? I don’t have the answers, but those are the questions that will be asked and should be asked. And we’ll get answers.”

Other topics covered by Wilson included:

(Coach Todd McLellan) “I think he tried to push every button that he could. . . . Obviously there are things he’s questioning himself about. Todd’s a big boy and he can answer those. But he’ll definitely be our coach going forward.”

(Should the core group be broken up) “There’s levels of your core and there won’t be one player or staff member that doesn’t get questioned. Should any of us feel comfortable? The answer is no. Do we have to change the mix? Absolutely.”

(On the idea that drawing Anaheim was bad luck) “Where we wanted to get to, we would have had to beat Anaheim, we would have had to beat Detroit. . .. People say it was the luck of the draw, but that’s an excuse again. If we had played Detroit in the first round, deal with it and beat them.

“Our goal is to win. If you have to avoid people to get to where you want to, then there’s something wrong with the team. This woe-is-me (attitude) ends. We should have found a way to beat them.”

(On forcing players to confront what just happened) “I told all our players, I don’t want anybody avoiding it. Somebody comes up and tells you how they feel, you look them in the eye and you better listen and understand that disappointment is real.

“This should stick with people and eat at them all summer. A couple of guys were literally in tears today, real tears.”

(Is he thinking “blow up the roster” or something more surgical) “Right now, everything from one extreme to the other will be explored. Where we end up will come from some of the evalualtions and input from people who get a chance to speak. I’m not going to sit here and say we’re just going to make minor tweaks. It would be foolish to say that.”

The GM is laying down the law pretty quick eh, definitely all sounds good in terms of turning the corner, but will have to see how much goes into action, will Thornton/Marleau be gone? How about Cheecho? Nabokov is a great regular season goalie, but hasn't won much in the playoffs, is it time for a change in goal?

top shelf15 wrote:Trade marleau,thorton and what ever else they have to ,to get getzlaf he Wing Dang Doodle slapped joe and marleau all series long .Why cant ottawa get a getzlaf man alive that would be sweet :D:

Correct GM, unfortunately he was drafting for the Ducks, not for us.

man oh man... It appears the Habs and now the Sharks could potentially undergo massive facelifts!

Exciting times for sure!

Cronie wrote:man oh man... It appears the Habs and now the Sharks could potentially undergo massive facelifts!

Exciting times for sure!

BM, prepare your wishlist now, maybe exchange dead weight from us for something good, AKA Higgins, Clowe?

Yahoo Sports brings us up to date with their team profile:

Inside Shots: San Jose Sharks Team Report
Yahoo Sports, June 3 2009

It didn’t take much reading between the lines to understand exactly what Doug Wilson is thinking.

During a television interview on May 26, the general manager said Joe Thornton will be back with the team but would not go that far when the subject turned to captain Patrick Marleau.

“I’ve got more meetings with Patty coming up,” Wilson said during Chronicle Live on Comcast Bay Area. “Patty’s an interesting guy because he’s played very well in the playoffs on the goal-scoring side of it. But he needs, like a lot of our other players, to be able to compete at a higher level.


“Patty had an injury down the stretch. He had probably his best year he’s ever had. So I think the final chapter of this season wasn’t written because of the injury. He’s been a good player here, but we’re going to look at every opportunity to make this hockey team better.”

With regard to Thornton, Wilson had this to say: “Joe Thornton will be back on this hockey team next year, and we’re looking forward to that. I think he’ll come back in the best shape in his life. He’ll be back earlier this summer than ever. And he might be a guy who carries more burden on his shoulders, or more of a beacon of light, because of his profile. And he’s looking forward to it. Maybe it’s the final phase he has to go through.”

Season Highlight: A blistering start led to a 28-4-5 record by the time the calendar changed from 2008 to 2009 and propelled the Sharks on to a 117-point regular season and the first Presidents’ Trophy in team history. In addition, San Jose was dominant on home ice, losing only five times during regulation in the regular season.

Turning Point: It seemed innocent at the time, but when D Dan Boyle missed three games in late January it started a snowball of injury woes for the Sharks in the second half as the team tried to balance pushing hard toward first overall in the standings and working injured players back into the lineup. Once in the postseason, losing the first two games at home against Anaheim despite dominating in shots put the team in a deep hole as much mentally as anything else, and ultimately sealed their doom.

Notes, Quotes

• Goalie Evgeni Nabokov was among a number of veteran Sharks who heard the public criticism following the first-round loss to Anaheim. While coach Todd McLellan tempered his remarks, he didn’t try to hide the fact San Jose didn’t get the kind of performance in goal it needed. “To win a championship, the goaltender has to be one of your best players. Ours played well, but he wasn’t one of the top players in that series. We were out-goaltended,” McLellan said. “He’s a very competitive person. He self-evaluates very honestly, holds himself accountable and is hurt by this more than anybody because he thought he could put the team on his back and carry us through some of these times when our offense wasn’t clicking. It’s hitting him very much, maybe the first time in his career where he’s actually felt this way. Did we need the goaltender to be better? Absolutely.”

• The Sharks gave two teams permission to talk to San Jose assistant coach Todd Richards about open head coaching vacancies. While neither team was identified, it’s a possibility Minnesota and Edmonton came calling. Richards has ties with new Wild GM Chuck Fletcher back to their days together in the Pittsburgh organization. If Edmonton was the other team in question, Richards will not be going to the Oilers, who hired Pat Quinn to replace the fired Craig MacTavish.

Quote To Note: “Is this the final time we have to get kicked in the (butt) to realize we’re going to commit to whatever it takes to get to the next level?”—GM Doug Wilson, asking a rhetorical question in a get-together with a large group of season-ticket holders recently.

Roster Report

Most Valuable Player: During the regular season it was Patrick Marleau, who rebounded from the worst season of his career (19 goals, 48 points in 78 games) to achieve a career-high total in goals (38) along with 71 points in 76 games. He was a plus-16 with only 18 penalty minutes and averaged a healthy 21:21 of ice time.

Most Disappointing Player: Torrey Mitchell didn’t mean to break his leg in two places during the opening of training camp, but the injury that cost him the entire regular season and the first two games of the playoffs changed the identity of the team’s checking line. The Sharks missed Mitchell’s unique combination of speed, skill and checking ability. The team also struggled on the penalty kill, too. And most of all, the Sharks missed Mitchell’s enthusiasm and energy on the ice. Not enough Sharks were willing to play as hard as Mitchell, especially noticeable in the short postseason.

Free Agent Focus: The Sharks will look to get younger and trim payroll to spend in other areas in likely saying goodbye to unrestricted free agents Jeremy Roenick, Rob Blake, Mike Grier, Travis Moen, Alexei Semenov, Kent Huskins, Claude Lemieux and possibly backup goalie Brian Boucher. Restricted free agents Ryane Clowe, Torrey Mitchell and Tomas Plihal will be tendered offers, but the team may look to move Marcel Goc and slow developing goalie Thomas Greiss.

Player News:

• C Patrick Marleau had an MRI exam on his injured knee, but it was determined the ligament damage does not need a surgical procedure. Instead, he will rest it to complete the repair.

• RW Devin Setoguchi had ankle surgery.

• D Rob Blake had surgery on a foot.

• C Torrey Mitchell had a rod removed from his left leg.

Medical Watch:

• C Patrick Marleau will forgo surgery on his knee, but RW Devin Setoguchi (ankle), D Rob Blake (foot) and C Torrey Mitchell (rod removed from left leg) all underwent procedures.

---

So it appears there were more than a few wounded Sharks who swam against the tide in this year's SCPs...but it also looks like there are changes on the way for San Jose.

What's next for the Sharks? Can they convince their critics that the 'playoff choker' image (their three consecutive trips since the lockout to the Conference Semis notwithstanding) is undeserved, despite this year's shocking Round One exit?

GM Hockey Members, rock on with your comments!

The San Jose Mercury News offers this perspective on changes that may be on way, including speculation about Patrick Marleau...and the dismissal of a report by the Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch whose story was distributed by Sun Media. From the article:

Report has Wilson insisting Marleau won’t be traded, but Sharks GM says that decision not yet made

David Pollak, "Working the Corners", MercuryNews.com, June 4, 2009

Doug Wilson was in Pittsburgh yesterday for the NHL general managers’ meeting that preceded Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals. Afterward, he talked with reporters about both the situation here in San Jose as well as the league-wide debate on shots to the head.

And in this morning’s Toronto Sun, these two paragraphs appeared in a story focusing on trade talk:

“Another GM getting a lot of attention is San Jose’s Doug Wilson. Sources say he has gotten numerous calls about captain Patrick Marleau and centre Joe Thornton after a first-round exit from the playoffs, thanks to the Ducks.

“Wilson insisted he isn’t going to move either player, but he wants to make moves.”

Now what should get your attention is that part about Wilson insisting that Marleau will be playing for the Sharks next season. If true, that would be big hockey news in San Jose.

But I talked with Wilson this afternoon after he got home and he said the report is inaccurate. He said he never said that to anyone and, in fact, didn’t field any questions at all from the Sun reporter present, Ottawa-based Bruce Garrioch.
Wilson acknowledged that he again put himself on record saying that Thornton won’t be traded (as reported by Mark Purdy last week). And, Wilson added, Dan Boyle isn’t going anywhere either. But for now at least, that’s where that list ends. Everybody else? Well, he said, he’s not yet ready to put further limits on what could happen as far as building next season’s roster.

(I emailed Garrioch to let him know that Wilson denied lumping Marleau in with Thornton; Garrioch responded that his sources were other NHL general managers.)

Another report out of Pittsburgh said Wilson had completed his “autopsy” as far as the Sharks’ first-round playoff exit. He’s close, the GM said, but he still has one more player meeting set for Thursday and a session with Coach Todd McLellan on Friday before that process wraps up.

“Then everything will be officially complete,” Wilson said. “Once I finish up with the coaching staff, we’ll go from there.”

As far as trades, Wilson acknowledged there were “an awful lot of discussions” at the general managers’ meeting and “those discussions are ongoing.” The likely time frame for any announcement, of course, is between the end of the playoffs and the June 26 entry draft.

Wilson also didn’t dismiss the idea, as broadly suggested in a Tampa Bay blog, that the Sharks could be putting a package together for one of the top two picks in the 2009 draft. “We’ve explored everything,” he said. “There isn’t a conversation we haven’t had.”

For the most part, Wilson wouldn’t talk about re-signing individual players off last season’s roster — with a couple of exceptions:
**Ryane Clowe — The left-wing becomes a restricted free agent on July 1 and it would seem to be in the Sharks’ interest to have him re-signed before then. To that end, Wilson said he met with Clowe’s agent in Toronto last week and is scheduled to talk with him again on Monday.
**Rob Blake — The veteran defenseman has said he wants to play for San Jose next season, and one report circulating says that’s a done deal. Wilson said only that he’ll meet with Blake next week “and we’ll go from there.”

(SIDE NOTE: The global economic mess complicates all contract negotiations this summer. League revenues didn’t drop this past season because most tickets were purchased before things turned ugly, so Gary Bettman is projecting the 2009-10 salary cap will be between $54 million and the current $56.7 million. But there is much concern about revenues for the coming season and if things do slide downhill, so will the cap. How far, of course, becomes part of the guesswork in structuring all multi-year deals.)

EJ Hradek and Andrew Rothstein make their splash in the Sharks' pool.

SHARKS SHOULD SNAG ANOTHER SCORER
Star's addition could take bite out of scoring burden
EJ Hradek, Andrew Rothstein/ESPN INSIDER, June 23, 2009

Plugging Holes - San Jose Sharks


The Hole: Scoring right winger


The Presidents' Trophy winners were the best team in the regular season, but that had more to do with their league-best 21.2 GVT on defense as opposed to their 20th-best -9.6 GVT on offense. San Jose has an excellent center in former Bruin Joe Thornton, 17.8 GVT, and a good left winger in Patrick Marleau, 15.8 GVT. Devin Setoguchi's 13.9 GVT is solid but not spectacular given his 8.7 GVT on offense (which puts him not only behind Thornton and Marleau, but also behind the defenseman Dan Boyle). The Sharks also lack depth at right wing, the only position on the ice without at least two players having GVTs over 10.


The Fix: Sign F Marian Hossa (UFA, Red Wings)

Hossa is going through a rough time this week. After leaving the Penguins to pursue a Stanley Cup in Detroit, his team is handed a seven-game defeat by Pittsburgh. By adding Hossa, 19.7 GVT, San Jose acquires a more productive player than anyone on the team last season. Hossa's 14 GVT on offense this past season also makes him a bigger threat than San Jose's previous top offensive threat, Thornton, who had a 12.3 GVT on offense. Hossa would instantly become the top right winger and bump everyone down the depth chart. That would leave Claude Lemieux, -1.8 GVT, as the odd man out, but he's an unrestricted free agent and he's not productive anyway.


E.J.'s Take: This pairing doesn't make sense to me. The player who hasn't been able to get over the Stanley Cup hump matched with the team known for its playoff failures? The stats may say this works, but this would be a major challenge for everyone involved.


Then, there's another problem: How do the Sharks fit Hossa's free agent salary under the cap with their current roster? They'd have to deal a significant player to make that happen. I'd be shocked to see this marriage come to fruition.


I do expect GM Doug Wilson to seek a trade to change the personality of his team. Captain Marleau has only one year left on his current deal, but he has a no-trade clause. It might be easier to move a winger like Milan Michalek or Jonathan Cheechoo. If Wilson wants to go the free agent route, he might take a look at Ruslan Fedotenko, who could work alongside either Thornton or Marleau. Fedotenko, who the Prospectus folks believe should interest the Wild as well, has shown an ability to score big goals during two different Cup runs in Tampa and Pittsburgh.

Andrew Rothstein is a writer for Puck Prospectus. E.J. Hradek is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine.

Note: A mainstay of Puck Prospectus's metrics is "Goals Versus Threshold" (GVT). The stat blends an array of offensive and defensive figures to measure the value, in terms of goals, a player contributes above what the marginal player would over the course of the season. A marginal player is one that could be replaced with a player of equivalent skill, e.g. from the minors. For instance, Evgeni Malkin had an offensive GVT of +18.9, a defensive GVT of +4.5 and a total GVT of +23.4 for the 2008-9 regular season, meaning that Malkin was worth 23.4 goals more than a marginal player over the course of the season, or worth about 0.3 additional goals per game. In the team context, GVT refers to performance above an NHL average team. For the regular season, the Detroit Red Wings had a +30.8 offensive GVT, a +15.1 defensive GVT, a -21.5 goaltending GVT, for a +24.4 total GVT. Therefore, at even strength, Detroit was 24.4 goals better than the average team.

From Pierre Lebrun this morning:

SHARKS RE-UP WITH EMERGING CLOWE
Pierre Lebrun, ESPN.com/July 3, 2009

Ryane Clowe and the San Jose Sharks have agreed to a four-year contract worth north of $3.5 million a season, a source told ESPN.com Thursday night.
The 26-year-old power winger from Newfoundland was a restricted free agent coming off a career-high 22 goals and 52 points in 71 games last season.
Clowe was drafted in the sixth round (175th overall) in 2001 by San Jose.

Pierre LeBrun covers the NHL for ESPN.com.