Recalled/Assigned: 2017-18 Sharks Roster moves thread: Heed recalled to keep Ryan company in the press box also Bibeau

[Hinterland]

But if he didn't request a trade (especially with a house and infant in SJ), I'm curious about the timing. Goodrow is on IR and O'regan isn't exactly a 4c. Why not wait until at least Goodrow is healthy. Carpenter is still an acceptable 4c in the meanwhile.
Maybe O'regan is going to be packaged in something. That or they didn't expect Carpenter to get claimed.

If you look at DeBoer's interviews it's pretty clear he wants four scoring lines and everybody on the roster to score more or less regularly. He doesn't like players who play well but don't score. Carpenter is a Center so DeBoer didn't have a lot of options to generate scoring by playing Carpenter with better linemates. Therefore I predicted a few days ago that Carpenter will be waived sooner or later. I didn't expect him to get claimed and I think neither did the Sharks. O'Regan played very well though and deserves a chance. Now I'm curious whether DeBoer is prepared to finish what he started or whether this was just another one of his brainfarts. I disagree with you about O'Regan. He surely can Center the Sharks 4th line but now DeBoer has to back up his words and actions and give O'Regan linemates who allow him to generate offense. With O'Regan as the 4th line Center, a traditional and heavy 4th line should be history for the Sharks.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Him playing poorly sinks any of his pairings so if any of his pairings were good, they do in fact rely on him playing well. That is both kind of a joke but also nuanced enough to be true. The key is for him to be able to play a "quiet" game and his partner has something to do with that.

That's true for any pairing we have with any player. When Braun plays poorly it sinks that pairing. We rely on all six defensemen to play well. That's not something that is unique to Brenden Dillon. That also doesn't make him key for his pairings. What is key for his pairing is having someone that can competently move the puck because he can't do it reliably. It's why Dillon-Polak sucked as a pairing. It's why Dillon-DeMelo was not effective at doing anything beyond not breaking in their own zone. It's why Dillon-Schlemko performed well and it's why he performs well with Heed. If you put Ryan with Heed or Schlemko with Heed, they would perform well when they played well which would be more often than not and they would sink as a pairing the times that they aren't.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

According to Kurz, it looks like Donskoi is probable tonight to be activated.

 

[Hinterland]

According to Kurz, it looks like Donskoi is probable tonight to be activated.

He apparently took regular line rushes with Tierney and Meier. I'd say he's a bit more than probable. Unless there's a setback he should be in.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

He apparently took regular line rushes with Tierney and Meier. I'd say he's a bit more than probable. Unless there's a setback he should be in.

Yeah well until he's actually in, he's probable and there isn't anything a bit more than probable for this situation.

 

[Lebanezer]

Donskoi is no longer on IR.

 

[Alwalys]

That's true for any pairing we have with any player. When Braun plays poorly it sinks that pairing. We rely on all six defensemen to play well. That's not something that is unique to Brenden Dillon. That also doesn't make him key for his pairings. What is key for his pairing is having someone that can competently move the puck because he can't do it reliably. It's why Dillon-Polak sucked as a pairing. It's why Dillon-DeMelo was not effective at doing anything beyond not breaking in their own zone. It's why Dillon-Schlemko performed well and it's why he performs well with Heed. If you put Ryan with Heed or Schlemko with Heed, they would perform well when they played well which would be more often than not and they would sink as a pairing the times that they aren't.

Braun and Vlasic have played at times poorly and did not sink the pairing because they are good and they know how not to implode if they are struggling.
This is not to say Dillon is a superlative player but when he's good he's quite good and boosts the pairing more than he gets credit for. And when he's bad he's REAL bad.

Good dillon is better than a typical 3rd pairing player. So on a third pairing playing well, the pairing dominates. Good dillon can play in the top 4 like he is now.

 

[LadyStanley]

To accomadate Donskoi's activation, looks like Goodrow put on IR.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Dillon and Burns are surprisingly good together, just like they were when they were paired in 2015-2016. I’d still prefer Ryan-Burns and Dillon-Heed but I’m pretty impressed with Dillon.

 

[LA Shark]

I'm fine with either Ryan-Burns and Dillon-Heed or Dillon-Burns and Ryan-Heed. The bigger problem is the Ryan vs Demelo debate. I think Ryan is the far superior player. Demelo seems to panic every time he has the puck. It's odd to me that Demelo is playing over Ryan considering Ryan started the year playing all the time and did nothing to lose his job, quite the opposite really, but he did anyways.

 

[Kcoyote3]

Demelo is being showcased

 

[hohosaregood]

Demelo is being showcased

He's doing everything in his power to stay in SJ then

 

[Barrie22]

Dillon and Burns are surprisingly good together, just like they were when they were paired in 2015-2016. I’d still prefer Ryan-Burns and Dillon-Heed but I’m pretty impressed with Dillon.

Those would be ideal. But burns is inside his own head i believe when he is paired with the young guns. It can't just be a coincidence that burns is more burns esque since being paired with a veteran on the backend.

It is stupid but understandable that burns believes he needs to play differently when paired with ryan or heed to cover for them.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Those would be ideal. But burns is inside his own head i believe when he is paired with the young guns. It can't just be a coincidence that burns is more burns esque since being paired with a veteran on the backend.

It is stupid but understandable that burns believes he needs to play differently when paired with ryan or heed to cover for them.

Burns has been better primarily because Joe Thornton has been better and when that happens, the whole team starts looking a lot better because Joe Thornton is the straw that stirs the drink on this team.

 

[Led Zappa]

Burns has been better primarily because Joe Thornton has been better and when that happens, the whole team starts looking a lot better because Joe Thornton is the straw that stirs the drink on this team.

Thank god! Watching my favorite Shark slog around the ice was rough to watch.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Thank god! Watching my favorite Shark slog around the ice was rough to watch.

It's the second time he's done this to us. The first was at the start of 2015-2016 and we all know how that ended. Last year he started awful and never really improved. I had pretty much given up hope on him ever being that player again but once again he has revamped his game. '15-16 he did it by turning into a top-5 defensive forward. This year it looks like he's shooting a bit more; he has 21 shots and 12 points in his last 11 games.

 

[Barrie22]

Burns has been better primarily because Joe Thornton has been better and when that happens, the whole team starts looking a lot better because Joe Thornton is the straw that stirs the drink on this team.

That is true to an extent. But lots of burns issues was his own doing. He could of made things easier by moving his feet more along the blue line to open up lanes. But he was mostly just shooting from the same spot over and over again.

 

[Juxtaposer]

That is true to an extent. But lots of burns issues was his own doing. He could of made things easier by moving his feet more along the blue line to open up lanes. But he was mostly just shooting from the same spot over and over again.

Yeah I agree. It wasn’t just Thornton.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Braun and Vlasic have played at times poorly and did not sink the pairing because they are good and they know how not to implode if they are struggling.
This is not to say Dillon is a superlative player but when he's good he's quite good and boosts the pairing more than he gets credit for. And when he's bad he's REAL bad.

Good dillon is better than a typical 3rd pairing player. So on a third pairing playing well, the pairing dominates. Good dillon can play in the top 4 like he is now.

And so has any pairing with Dillon on it, let's be honest about this. There are times that Dillon has played poorly with someone like Heed or Schlemko where they still did fine in short bursts like anyone else. I'm just saying that he's not key to any of his pairings. That doesn't mean he can't still be a positive contributor but he's not the reason why a pairing works that he's on. I don't disagree that he can play top four when he's on and that he's improved his game overall. He's just not bringing the kind of things needed to be the kind of guy that makes a pairing succeed. He's a support player to that.

 

[TrappedInFullerton]

That is true to an extent. But lots of burns issues was his own doing. He could of made things easier by moving his feet more along the blue line to open up lanes. But he was mostly just shooting from the same spot over and over again.

The Marc Edouard Vlasic School of shooting.

 

[Barrie22]

Obviously thornton playing good is good for every one. Him being on his game opens up passing lanes just by being thornton.

But burns is not just a passenger on this team, burns if playing to his potential can be the engine that makes the team chug also. He proved that last year without thornton being thornton.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

That is true to an extent. But lots of burns issues was his own doing. He could of made things easier by moving his feet more along the blue line to open up lanes. But he was mostly just shooting from the same spot over and over again.

The thing about it is that Burns has much more space to open up shooting lanes and move laterally because Thornton is a much bigger shooting threat in the offensive zone. Thornton is also making better passes to Burns than he was earlier in the year. Yes, Burns is moving laterally more than he was earlier in the season, so some of it can be credited to him, and some of his increase in production can be just attributed to random variance, but I definitely think Thornton is the biggest reason. It's no coincidence that every single forward has looked a lot better over the last 11 games than they did in the 19 prior.

 

[Barrie22]

The thing about it is that Burns has much more space to open up shooting lanes and move laterally because Thornton is a much bigger shooting threat in the offensive zone. Thornton is also making better passes to Burns than he was earlier in the year. Yes, Burns is moving laterally more than he was earlier in the season, so some of it can be credited to him, and some of his increase in production can be just attributed to random variance, but I definitely think Thornton is the biggest reason. It's no coincidence that every single forward has looked a lot better over the last 11 games than they did in the 19 prior.

Burns put up 75 points with thornton being thornton. Burns put up 75 points with thornton being for him utter crap.

Burns playing the way he did last year does not need thornton. Does having thornton at the top of his game help? well sure of course it does.

 

[Gene Parmesan]

Its kind of silly to attribute the team's entire improvement to one player.

 

[Barrie22]

Its kind of silly to attribute the team's entire improvement to one player.

Pretty much. Thornton is still better then most players in the league. But he is no longer the engine of this team and the good thing about that is, he does not need to be either.