Speculation: 2019-2020 Sharks Roster Discussion Part 8

[themelkman]

so nobody playing D on the cuda is ever getting a chance?

The only guy even close right now is Desimone. I haven’t seen Meloche at all but his stats aren’t inspiring

 

[DeadGhost]

I thought Simek was a bit overrated last season. Good and a very positive addition but overrated. Watching him return from this injury I feel I vastly underrated him.

 

[WSS11]

Burns and Karlsson both run a PP. There really isn’t room for another offensive defenseman in the line up. We need strong, stable 3rd pairing guys that aren’t gonna let in goals.

Merkley is trade bait right now.

you can never have enough PMD in today’s NHL. If Merkley doesn’t make it because he’s not ready then so be it but to say he won’t or shouldn’t because he’s offensive minded when we have EK and Burns is not a good reason. It’s good to have balanced pairings. We saw what having two strong, physical defensive minded dmen on the same pairing did in 2016 vs Pittsburgh. Polak and Dillon couldn’t get the puck up ice and constantly turned it over. I can recall two goals off the top of my head.

Also, though I don’t like Deboer’s system he does have the offense run through his defense. Merkley when ready will be very effective.

 

[Hobocop]

The only guy even close right now is Desimone. I haven’t seen Meloche at all but his stats aren’t inspiring

Meloche is a stay-at-home defenseman, doesn't have a lot of offense to him. But I'm also not sure he fits what Sommer wants from the defensemen. Don't know how much playtime he's really going to get going forward now that the defense is getting healthier. It's about to get crowded back there.

 

[one2gamble]

Burns and Karlsson both run a PP. There really isn’t room for another offensive defenseman in the line up. We need strong, stable 3rd pairing guys that aren’t gonna let in goals.

Merkley is trade bait right now.

Burns and Karlsson should be running the PP together...at the same time. Merks can QB the 20 seconds that the 2nd unit is going to get.

 

[Herschel]

you can never have enough PMD in today’s NHL. If Merkley doesn’t make it because he’s not ready then so be it but to say he won’t or shouldn’t because he’s offensive minded when we have EK and Burns is not a good reason. It’s good to have balanced pairings. We saw what having two strong, physical defensive minded dmen on the same pairing did in 2016 vs Pittsburgh. Polak and Dillon couldn’t get the puck up ice and constantly turned it over. I can recall two goals off the top of my head.

Also, though I don’t like Deboer’s system he does have the offense run through his defense. Merkley when ready will be very effective.

I get what you are saying but let's also remember that the team made it to the Finals with those same physical defensive-minded dmen. Also, it wasn't their style of play that got exposed it was their lack of foot speed. Now I am all for balanced puck-move pairings but Merkley isn't just offensive-minded, at this point, he hasn't shown any ability to defend at the NHL level.

IMO Ferraro appears to have a good balance of defensive play with puck-moving. I doubt he will ever be an offensive threat but its completely fine if he can continue to move the puck up to the forwards effectively.

 

[WSS11]

I get what you are saying but let's also remember that the team made it to the Finals with those same physical defensive-minded dmen. Also, it wasn't their style of play that got exposed it was their lack of foot speed. Now I am all for balanced puck-move pairings but Merkley isn't just offensive-minded, at this point, he hasn't shown any ability to defend at the NHL level.

IMO Ferraro appears to have a good balance of defensive play with puck-moving. I doubt he will ever be an offensive threat but its completely fine if he can continue to move the puck up to the forwards effectively.

Polak and Dillon were fine in terms of skating. They just fumbled the puck a lot and couldn’t get it out of the zone effectively. Also, Dillon nor Polak were positive contributors to that team making the finals. The first line, Couture, and special teams got them there.

You may be right about Merkley not being NHL ready by next year. I seriously doubt he would be unless he makes giant strides in the d-zone. I’d just prefer a PMD with Ferraro over some one like Prout.

 

[Pavelski2112]

I get what you are saying but let's also remember that the team made it to the Finals with those same physical defensive-minded dmen. Also, it wasn't their style of play that got exposed it was their lack of foot speed. Now I am all for balanced puck-move pairings but Merkley isn't just offensive-minded, at this point, he hasn't shown any ability to defend at the NHL level.

That team made it there despite Dillon-Polak, not because of them. That pairing got absolutely massacred in the Final, and Thornton's line having to babysit them neutralized that line's effectiveness as well.

 

[do0glas]

That team made it there despite Dillon-Polak, not because of them. That pairing got absolutely massacred in the Final, and Thornton's line having to babysit them neutralized that line's effectiveness as well.

I'd say it's not inaccurate that that pairing did damage to the heavy teams trying to come out of the west, but they were exposed against the pens. Losing hertl meant that pairing couldn't push the play.

I dont know that in a vacuum having a pairing like that lost us the series but in combination As well as deboers reluctance to make a change.

 

[Pavelski2112]

I'd say it's not inaccurate that that pairing did damage to the heavy teams trying to come out of the west, but they were exposed against the pens. Losing hertl meant that pairing couldn't push the play.

I dont know that in a vacuum having a pairing like that lost us the series but in combination As well as deboers reluctance to make a change.

Hearing the name Patric Hornqvist puts me into episodes of uncontrollable spasms and anger-fueled self-destruction.

 

[Herschel]

Polak and Dillon were fine in terms of skating. They just fumbled the puck a lot and couldn’t get it out of the zone effectively. Also, Dillon nor Polak were positive contributors to that team making the finals. The first line, Couture, and special teams got them there.

You may be right about Merkley not being NHL ready by next year. I seriously doubt he would be unless he makes giant strides in the d-zone. I’d just prefer a PMD with Ferraro over some one like Prout.

Skating is the number reason Dmen can or cannot get out of the zone effectively. The better you are as a skater the more time you have and the more time you have the easier things get.

I still haven't seen enough of Prout to have any opinion of him but I think next season you could look to Ferraro to drive the 3rd pairing as long as he isn't paired with a complete anchor.

 

[themelkman]

Skating is the number reason Dmen can or cannot get out of the zone effectively. The better you are as a skater the more time you have and the more time you have the easier things get.

I still haven't seen enough of Prout to have any opinion of him but I think next season you could look to Ferraro to drive the 3rd pairing as long as he isn't paired with a complete anchor.

I think id rather start moving Vlasic to the third next year and give Ferraro time with EK65

 

[matt trick]

Well, they'll likely get a shot because I don't foresee both Heed and Prout staying beyond this year so there's a spot to be had there. But I don't see Merkley being ready next year and I don't see Roy or DeSimone playing to that level.

With his 700k contract, I feel pretty confident that DeSimone is going to be our #7 d-man next year. I'd like to see them bring in a better version of Prout to be the #6. Someone who can be a PK ace and play 16 minutes per night. If we don't find someone to do that, I wouldn't be surprised if Merkeley outplays Prout/Heed/Sund types.

Barring the inclusion of Merkley in a trade for a first line forward, I'd hope they let him take another year to develop. SJ is well positioned to protect him, once he's approaching NHL level. At the point, as a very good PMD, I imagine his value will skyrocket.

 

[hohosaregood]

I think id rather start moving Vlasic to the third next year and give Ferraro time with EK65

Ferraro was the one driving the Dillon-Ferraro pair imo

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

If we're looking at a right winger out of Los Angeles who's been a healthy scratch this season, the only player that I want is Tyler Toffoli. He's not the best scorer but he's got a heavy positive impact in terms of driving play which is a lot more than one can say for Kovalchuk. I wonder if something like Melker Karlsson and a 2nd for Toffoli at 50% would get the ball rolling.

 

[OrrNumber4]

If we're looking at a right winger out of Los Angeles who's been a healthy scratch this season, the only player that I want is Tyler Toffoli. He's not the best scorer but he's got a heavy positive impact in terms of driving play which is a lot more than one can say for Kovalchuk. I wonder if something like Melker Karlsson and a 2nd for Toffoli at 50% would get the ball rolling.

The market looks thin for buyers, so I imagine that Toffoli could fetch quite a bit more.

Regarding Merkely...could he really be any worse than Tim Heed?

Regarding Dillon-Pollak, sure, they were awful in the finals, but they were excellent against St.Louis and Nashville. Variety is the key to success.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

The market looks thin for buyers, so I imagine that Toffoli could fetch quite a bit more.

Regarding Merkely...could he really be any worse than Tim Heed?

Regarding Dillon-Pollak, sure, they were awful in the finals, but they were excellent against St.Louis and Nashville. Variety is the key to success.

Excellent is exaggerating their effectiveness. They merely weren't terrible liabilities.

 

[Doctor Soraluce]

The bolded isn't true (it's only been 8 months since the injury), but I generally agree with the rest. I'm hesitant to put a sophomore Ferraro in a permanent Top-4 slot, so ideally I'd prefer to go with Simek, Ferraro, and Dillon as the LDs next season. But Dillon is obviously easier to trade than Vlasic.

Yes, it is. A ligament repair like this heals in about 4 months. The rest of rehab is re-stregnthening the surrounding muscles and joint after the effects of the invasive surgery. One of the main reasons that the recovery time has dropped from over a year to 4 to 8 months is due to less invasive surgery techniques and better materials for the ligament (cadaver instead or own hamstring). At this point Simek could tear it again but it likely won't be because the ligament isn't healed, it'll be due to the knee doing something it shouldn't due to not being strong enough.

 

[Doctor Soraluce]

Polak and Dillon were fine in terms of skating. They just fumbled the puck a lot and couldn’t get it out of the zone effectively. Also, Dillon nor Polak were positive contributors to that team making the finals. The first line, Couture, and special teams got them there.

You may be right about Merkley not being NHL ready by next year. I seriously doubt he would be unless he makes giant strides in the d-zone. I’d just prefer a PMD with Ferraro over some one like Prout.

The bolded is definitely not the case. They were both pylons in the finals that year. Dillon has worked extensively on his skating to the point I don't even think it's close. They were exposed shift after shift as being too slow that year against the Pens.

 

[WSS11]

The bolded is definitely not the case. They were both pylons in the finals that year. Dillon has worked extensively on his skating to the point I don't even think it's close. They were exposed shift after shift as being too slow that year against the Pens.

I disagree, they were exposed for being too slow with their decision making. Their skating wasn’t elite but it wasn’t their issue. Pittsburgh skated circles around our whole team.

 

[Sysreq]

I think people are under estimating the importance of size in the NHL. Not every defenseman has to be a behemoth, but if you look at that goal scored against Karlsson the other day, one has to wonder what an extra 20lbs may have accomplished.

There’s a reason the average NHL defenseman is an inch taller and 10lbs heavier than their forward counter parts.

 

[Dicdonya]

If Merkley hits even half his potential and we traded him before that, we will kick ourselves for it.

I understand he’s not untouchable, but he’s also someone, like Hertl used to be, that has more value to us then on the market. Now unlike hertl who had lowered external value because of injuries hampering his production early in his career, Merkley has lower value due to his “attitude”.

It’s make far more sense for us to hold onto him and hope he hits that’s potential. I honestly think he’s better than Heed right now. Next year he could be even better, and a bottom pairing of him and Ferraro sounds great to me. We can shelter them as needed too while saving 3 mil letting Dillon walk.

Also if he hits some of his potential, he could replace Burns a few years down the road if Burns starts to fade with age. If Merkley makes it, our D is potentially locked in for at the very least 3 years. Leaving DW to focus on getting the forwards as loaded as possible.

@JoeThorntonsRooster I too like the idea of getting Toffoli. He’s a hard nosed player that I think can regain some of his early career scoring with a change of scenery. If the price is right I’d totally like to snag him.

 

[Sumo11]

Ferraro position is better and he sort out better in the d-zone. THAT'S IS Why coach has trust in him more than heed. PLUS a motor that you can't teach.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I think people are under estimating the importance of size in the NHL. Not every defenseman has to be a behemoth, but if you look at that goal scored against Karlsson the other day, one has to wonder what an extra 20lbs may have accomplished.

There’s a reason the average NHL defenseman is an inch taller and 10lbs heavier than their forward counter parts.

And then when you make that case, you have to account how many speed races Karlsson will lose because he's carrying another 20lbs. The reason the average NHL d-men are bigger than the forwards is coincidental. There's no real purpose behind it.

 

[Red Light Lover]

And then when you make that case, you have to account how many speed races Karlsson will lose because he's carrying another 20lbs. The reason the average NHL d-men are bigger than the forwards is coincidental. There's no real purpose behind it.

If Karlsson was 20lbs heavier it'd probably be muscle mass in his legs and he'd actually be a lot stronger and faster (his agility might be affected though). It's not coincidental, bigger bodies in the back can handle the rigors of getting hit retrieving pucks better than lightweight bodies.