Sharks look to enter an interesting season in their history whilst in the midst of a much needed rebuild. They will very much benefit in the long term by both being bad yet also having several players good seasons to up their trade values. They have a glut of lower end veterans on contract and several younger players knocking on the door, many of them not waiver exempt. Mike Grier must also consider whether playing on an often losing NHL team vs. a potentially good AHL team will have greater benefit on his young players and prospects. Here I will go player by player by cap
FORWARDS: (13 listed)
Hertl: #1 Center
Couture: #2 Center
Granlund: Top 9. Will be moved around a lot. Worth giving a longer look with Hertl and Couture to see if he can return to earlier form. Struggled defensively last year so may benefit
being paired with Couture.
Labanc: Seems to have moved into coach Quinn's doghouse full time. Unlikely to have significant trade value due to high cap hit. Rumors of a trade to Vancouver for Tyler Myers
(sharks already have too many D). Moving on from him early may be ideal to save the awkwardness of him being on 4th line or scratched. Useful on PP
Hoffman: Mike Grier needs him to play well so he can have higher trade value to make EK65 trade look better. Will move around top 9 like Granlund, but more of a PP specialist.
Starts on 3rd line.
Duclair: Will be used in top 6. Will be nice for Hertl and Couture to have additional veteran scoring support. Will hopefully be productive and have trade value. Starts with Hertl.
Kunin: Should be given another chance in top 9. Sharks need the grit and energy. Starts on 3rd line, but may find himself moved up/down quite a bit. Sharks need to figure out if
he has long term future with the team.
Barabonov: Has earned more time in top 6, Sharks will benefit from him having better stats to get more trade value. Has had chemistry with Hertl.
Lindblom: Showed that he can not fill a top 6 role in NHL, does not have the energy for 4th line role. Not on PP. PK specialist? Due to roster size limits he will be sent down to AHL.
Sturm: Will start at 4C but deserve much more. Will be rewarded with additional opportunities on PP2 and PK1. Will move up to 3C on occasions.
Zetterlund: Had a rough start with Sharks. Imagine Mike Grier will want to give him more chances as he was part of Meier trade and was resigned. May have to earn his way up
lineup, starts on 4th line
Zadina: Should be given a lot of opportunities/patience in top 6. If he can develop into even a decent middle 6 scoring winger that will be a huge bonus for Sharks, since they got
him for nothing. Starts on 2nd line with Couture.
Smith: Glad to see Sharks have grit available, will be scratch and substituted in for Labanc as needed.
Peterson: Played well in his time with Sharks. On a very friendly contract. Would have to clear waivers and it seems very risky to send him to AHL and lose him for nothing. Starts
as 3C, interchanging with Kunin and given a longer look (15-20 games) to see where his game can go. May move up to 2nd line in Granlund's place.
WAIVER EXEMPT PLAYERS NOT LISTED ABOVE:
Eklund and Bordeleau: Start in AHL where they play top line minutes and wait for injury or trade to open up a spot. Goal will be to make both eligible for AHL playoffs so they can gain that experience. Both should see at least 25 NHL games, but goal will be development with Barracuda.
DEFENSE:
Vlasic: 2nd pairing, will see lots of minutes.
Ferraro: 1st pairing. Will see a lot of minutes.
Rutta: As part of EK65 return will be given lots of opportunities to excel and potentially increase trade value. 1st line with ferraro
Simek: Doubtful that he will play well enough to have trade value and unlikely he resigns with team after the season. No point in Sharks paying to dump his salary. Maybe
someone will pick him up on waiver wire? Otherwise will start with AHL so Sharks don't have to expose younger non waiver exempt players.
Benning: Adds some stability to this very weak Sharks defense and with good play may have trade value for a cap strapped team. 3rd pairing.
Knyzhov: Tough call here as training camp will determine if he has fully recovered or not. Amazing work ethic. Not waiver exempt, but does his $1.25 AAV scare most teams off
from claiming him? Maybe not worth that risk. Rotates on 3rd line and press box, if struggles can send down for Thrun.
Burroughs: Adds toughness to back end. Will start as scratch, but will work into games.
Okhotiuk: As part of Timo Meier return will be given extra opportunities. Not waiver exempt, would be a bad look to lose him for nothing before he had ever played a game in teal.
Alternates on 3rd pairing with Knyzhov, Burroughs. If he struggles can send down to AHL for Thrun
Gawanke: Not waiver exempt. Sharks recently traded for him, would be bad look to lose him on waivers without him ever playing in teal. With departure of Karlsson worth giving
A chance on PP. If he struggles can send down to AHL for Thrun.
MacDonald: Starts in AHL, maybe he is claimed on waivers, which wouldn't be the worst. If in AHL can contribute to them being a good team. Can be called up if Rutta, Gawanke struggle on power play, but may prefer to try Thrun instead?
WAIVER EXEMPT PLAYERS NOT MENTIONED (hopefully sharks can trade benning, Rutta to open up some more opportunities for these guys, but maybe we don't see them much or at all until 24-25)
Thrun: Could arguably benefit from some time in AHL. Will see at least 25 NHL games and will be first call up.
Pulli: Has 3 guys ahead of him, but would benefit from getting into some NHL games this season.
Mukh: Also has 3 guys ahead of him but would benefit from getting into some NHL games this season.
This lineup leaves the Sharks with $5,500,000 in cap space which they should weaponize prior to start of season!
Very insightful and pretty close to what should happen.
Few items I would interject, but again this is just my humble opinion.
Knyzhov looked decent after 2 years off due to injury, a full offseason healthy and I would not be surprised to see him him paired with Ferraro on the 2nd pairing as a shut down pair.
Thrun I have a feeling stays up in the NHL, he’s been tied to Quinn hip all summer and working his but off and I see him winding up 1st pair with either Rutta (as you mentioned) or Benning.
While Barabanov has had chemistry with both Hertl and Couture last year it was the couture Barbi pairing that clicked really well, plus I want to see Hertl and Zadina together to see if we can build him into a top 6 wing.
Think Granlund as 3C with Peterson 3LW or 4 LW likely.
Kunin from reports I heard my not be NHL ready by camp and could start the season on IR. When he returns expect him to start 4C/RW and maybe work his way up.
Very insightful and pretty close to what should happen.
Few items I would interject, but again this is just my humble opinion.
Knyzhov looked decent after 2 years off due to injury, a full offseason healthy and I would not be surprised to see him him paired with Ferraro on the 2nd pairing as a shut down pair.
Thrun I have a feeling stays up in the NHL, he’s been tied to Quinn hip all summer and working his but off and I see him winding up 1st pair with either Rutta (as you mentioned) or Benning.
While Barabanov has had chemistry with both Hertl and Couture last year it was the couture Barbi pairing that clicked really well, plus I want to see Hertl and Zadina together to see if we can build him into a top 6 wing.
Think Granlund as 3C with Peterson 3LW or 4 LW likely.
Kunin from reports I heard my not be NHL ready by camp and could start the season on IR. When he returns expect him to start 4C/RW and maybe work his way up.
Very insightful and pretty close to what should happen.
Few items I would interject, but again this is just my humble opinion.
Knyzhov looked decent after 2 years off due to injury, a full offseason healthy and I would not be surprised to see him him paired with Ferraro on the 2nd pairing as a shut down pair.
Thrun I have a feeling stays up in the NHL, he’s been tied to Quinn hip all summer and working his but off and I see him winding up 1st pair with either Rutta (as you mentioned) or Benning.
While Barabanov has had chemistry with both Hertl and Couture last year it was the couture Barbi pairing that clicked really well, plus I want to see Hertl and Zadina together to see if we can build him into a top 6 wing.
Think Granlund as 3C with Peterson 3LW or 4 LW likely.
Kunin from reports I heard my not be NHL ready by camp and could start the season on IR. When he returns expect him to start 4C/RW and maybe work his way up.
Good stuff. I know it’ll be a down season but there’s things to be excited about. Interesting to hear about Kunin. Zadina/Hertl would be a fun storyline. It’s been another long summer I’m ready for season to start again!
Good stuff. I know it’ll be a down season but there’s things to be excited about. Interesting to hear about Kunin. Zadina/Hertl would be a fun storyline. It’s been another long summer I’m ready for season to start again!
Me too, and this is the 1st season I will be totally ok with 3-4 or 2-3 losses. I really want Celebrini in the draft!
And while
I don’t love all the moves Grier has made, the overall outlook for the sharks is starting to look real promising! He’s added a lot of size and grit to our prospect pool and has started to fill out the D group prospect pool with quality pieces. I have no doubt that sharks will add a top end C RD and G in the next draft along with a bunch of other picks to add depth to the prospect pool. And 24 will be his 1st off-season with a large pocket book to really start rebuilding the club, till 24 off-season we’re still in the tear down the big club and build up the prospect pool stage of rebuilding.
love seeing king insight posts like this. i also think some of the trade returns have been underwhelming but it is positive to see the cap structure clear and the prospect pool be filled out for the first time in what feels like forever. so yeah not much to cheer this season but lots to hope for and think about. trade deadline will be interesting to see who stays with the team as well
love seeing king insight posts like this. i also think some of the trade returns have been underwhelming but it is positive to see the cap structure clear and the prospect pool be filled out for the first time in what feels like forever. so yeah not much to cheer this season but lots to hope for and think about. trade deadline will be interesting to see who stays with the team as well
Totally agree!
I think this TDL will hurt a little for me because the 2 most trade-able assets are also depth players I really really like! (Barbi and Duclair) and would love to see both stay and get resigned! My hope is even if we trade Barbi we attempt to bring him back in the off-season.