Quoting: TheEmphatic1
I have a question about Barabanov. Is he playing well because he is on the line with Hertl so his stats are a bit inflated or could he possibly hold his own and be worth that kind of money in the contract extension proposal? I want to also mention that he's dirt cheap right now and if the Sharks decide to sell during the trade deadline, he could easily be traded to a playoff contender cause his cap hit isn't much and he seems to be on a high note right now. Just an idea cause he could fetch us some picks too.
I'm a bit on the fence. If Hertl doesn't want to re-sign by the trade deadline, try to get something before it's too late when he becomes an UFA. I also think if the Sharks wait until the offseason, Hertl might only be worth a low draft pick cause it's just his signing rights before being an UFA.
I also think that if Hertl is gone, Barabanov may be worth trying to trade as well. Obviously, a massive hole will be left in the lineup and I'm not certain we have replacements ready for that besides looking into free agency.
Barabanov has been nothing short of impressive and yeah some of it is having an elite center in Hertl but even when Hertl hasn't been hot Barby has been impressive. He's been strong on the boards, forecheck and he takes hits to make plays.
In terms of selling our players currently we have more ROW than anytime in the west not named Minnesota or Edmonton and have beaten good teams as well (Minnesota, Carolina, Toronto and Winnipeg) We're pretty good and it isn't just puck luck, we're winning tight games, grinding other teams down. In fact if The SHarks maybe became buyers for another top six RW then I have no issue calling SJ a playoff team particularly with the excellent goaltending we have gotten.
With the org committed to keeping Kane away from the big club this pleases a lot of guys especially Hertl. I would not be surprised if Tommy re-signs in SJ particularly with Eklund coming back next year and the addition of one of Coe (leads the OHL in points), Robins (top 5 in WHL points) or Bordeleau.
We're not in a position to rebuild proper with our contracts and NMC's. We need to try to compete and we are doing just that. Karlsson is looking like his old self, Burns is bouncing back, Timo is on absolute fire as he's 5th in the league in points per 60, Couture is bouncing back as well. Everyone is being proven wrong by this team and there's no sign of the Sharks slowing down.