Speculation: 2021-22 Sharks Roster Discussion part IX

[tiburon12]

after the dallas game, the Sharks play 4 times in 15 days. stupid scheduling.

BUT, to close out the year (9 games) , there are 5 games they should win (SEA, VAN2x, ARI, PHI), 2 they need to win as a statement (DAL, ANA), and 2 against top teams (MIN, EDM).

winning 7/9 is very possible, and if that happens, you have to think this team is going for it. Especially if they win every division game

 

[TheWayToRefJose]

Hmm. I wonder if Kravstov could be had for a reasonable price.

Big body, fast, and a good shot. Could be exactly what’s needed for Hertl’s line with Barabonov to get Hertl going.

 

[Stewie Griffin]

Hmm. I wonder if Kravstov could be had for a reasonable price.

Big body, fast, and a good shot. Could be exactly what’s needed for Hertl’s line with Barabonov to get Hertl going.

We don't have a 2nd this year, which would probably be the ask with one of our good prospects. NYR's main need is a center, and IMO the most likely scenario of us getting Kravstov is if he's part of the package coming back for Hertl.

 

[Gecklund]

We don't have a 2nd this year, which would probably be the ask with one of our good prospects. NYR's main need is a center, and IMO the most likely scenario of us getting Kravstov is if he's part of the package coming back for Hertl.

Maybe they can do something like they did for Dahlen. NYR aren’t smart for the most part. Convince them Spiridonov or Chmelevski is something and get them to give up Kravtsov.

 

[jMoneyBrah]

Maybe they can do something like they did for Dahlen. NYR aren’t smart for the most part. Convince them Spiridonov or Chmelevski is something and get them to give up Kravtsov.

Linus Karlsson and Dahlen had semi-similar draft pedigree if you squint hard enough (3rd round/2nd round a couple years apart) which is quite different from Kravstov (9th overall) and Chmelevski/Spiridinov (late rounders).

I know everyone loved dragging Drury for his off-season moves, but he has the Rangers 2nd in the Metro/4th in the league, and top of both of you if go by points percentage. Maybe, just maybe, he’s not as wildly incompetent as your proposal, and all HF, would have us believe.

 

[tiburon12]

We don't have a 2nd this year, which would probably be the ask with one of our good prospects. NYR's main need is a center, and IMO the most likely scenario of us getting Kravstov is if he's part of the package coming back for Hertl.

Yea i don't see the rangers as a fit either. They wont trade for Hertl. They idiotically ditched Buch for pennies because they're (according to rangers fans) entering a cap crunch next year. they'd be more dumb to trade more assets for a rental. Next year they'll have 9mil for a #2C and 3 depth forwards and a backup, which doesn't fit with Hertl's value.

Id argue they need a RW rental more since they don't have a true top6 RW.

Aside, while the Sharks have some bad contracts, man the rangers have some stinkers too. Trouba for 8mil? Zibanejad for 8.5 until 2030? Goodrow at 3.6 until 2027? and to think they ditched Buch for Blais because of those...

 

[Stewie Griffin]

Aside, while the Sharks have some bad contracts, man the rangers have some stinkers too. Trouba for 8mil? Zibanejad for 8.5 until 2030? Goodrow at 3.6 until 2027? and to think they ditched Buch for Blais because of those...

Trouba has been playing amazing this year, and while Zibanejad is underperforming, he's still a top line center. The Goodrow contract is long and he probably deserves a lot less, but 3.6 isn't the end of the world.

 

[Gecklund]

Linus Karlsson and Dahlen had semi-similar draft pedigree if you squint hard enough (3rd round/2nd round a couple years apart) which is quite different from Kravstov (9th overall) and Chmelevski/Spiridinov (late rounders).

I know everyone loved dragging Drury for his off-season moves, but he has the Rangers 2nd in the Metro/4th in the league, and top of both of you if go by points percentage. Maybe, just maybe, he’s not as wildly incompetent as your proposal, and all HF, would have us believe.

Twas a joke.

 

[jMoneyBrah]

Twas a joke.

Wooooosh.

 

[tiburon12]

Trouba has been playing amazing this year, and while Zibanejad is underperforming, he's still a top line center. The Goodrow contract is long and he probably deserves a lot less, but 3.6 isn't the end of the world.

It's the same thing with the Sharks: contracts look OK now, will not be ok in couple of years. Imagine if they had Trouba's 8 mil allocated to a 5m defenseman and were able to keep buch? They'd be a machine

 

[Kcoyote3]

Does really blow my mind that we sent back Eklund who was at least creating chances and could play third line minutes if needed so we could ice:
Gadjovich with 1 point in 17 games
Pederson with 0 points in 16 games
Bonino with 4 points in 29 games
Nieto with 4 points in 22 games
Leonard with 0 points in 5 games
Reedy with 0 points in 2 games
Gregor with 3 points in 13 games

all of whom produced less than a 19 year old rookie playing his first 9 games on small ice.

that’s not to say I’m not happy that Reedy got to debut or Gregor has looked better…ish than normal.

it is to say that I disagree with having Eklund return to the worst team in the SHL to struggle to produce offense when his team is getting shelled every night. Why wouldn’t you have him learn the game here and give him some stability in his very, very young career. Stupid decision, and one that made the Sharks a worse team

end of my rant

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I would’ve preferred sending Eklund to the AHL over Sweden. The nonsense about guys down there trying to injure him was one exact thing he needed to learn and adapt to because it’ll happen at the NHL level too. But it’s the right decision to not start his clock just because he’s clearly better than most of what we have. He’s not the difference yet between this team winning and losing enough for a playoff spot.

 

[SjMilhouse]

I bet Eklund stays if Kane wasn't a POS and was able to play on the roster. Hard to justify keeping Eklund on an already thin roster that then lost its best scoring forward/first line winger

Dahlen - Couture - Eklund
Kane - Hertl - Meier
Barabanov - Bonino - Labanc
Cogliano - Weatherby - Nieto

Balcers could be slotted in there as well and suddenly we have a little depth too

Way better than what we got right now.

 

[TheBeard]

I would’ve preferred sending Eklund to the AHL over Sweden. The nonsense about guys down there trying to injure him was one exact thing he needed to learn and adapt to because it’ll happen at the NHL level too. But it’s the right decision to not start his clock just because he’s clearly better than most of what we have. He’s not the difference yet between this team winning and losing enough for a playoff spot.

I agree with all of that. I had no issues with him being sent down, but unless he specifically asked to go home, it served no purpose sending him there.

 

[Kcoyote3]

And also if the end goal is to try Eklund at center, now with the lack of viable options in the AHL he could try it out

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I agree with all of that. I had no issues with him being sent down, but unless he specifically asked to go home, it served no purpose sending him there.

Given everything that was coming out, it didn't sound like he was asking to go home. He seemed open to playing in the AHL and it would've been better for everyone. It's not without risk of course but he's closer to here where you can have a little more control over his development and it's playing the game at the size and likely better pace compared to the SHL. If it's about the shorter season then there's really nothing to argue against there. That'll let him work more on his frame but you could always cut his season short here too. They never really gave a detailed explanation about the thought process. It was mostly vague.

 

[tealzamboni]

Given everything that was coming out, it didn't sound like he was asking to go home. He seemed open to playing in the AHL and it would've been better for everyone. It's not without risk of course but he's closer to here where you can have a little more control over his development and it's playing the game at the size and likely better pace compared to the SHL. If it's about the shorter season then there's really nothing to argue against there. That'll let him work more on his frame but you could always cut his season short here too. They never really gave a detailed explanation about the thought process. It was mostly vague.

IIRC they did something similar with Coe last season (limited games, train, soak up the environment), so there should've been a template. Given that they kept putting Eklund in the top 6, in hindsight it seems telegraphed that they'd give him a taste of Shork Top 6 stuff, then return to Sweden. If the plan was to grow in SJ, they might've started him off slower.

 

[Red Light Lover]

Just a casual observation; I'm not sure that the Baracuda offer much in the way of talent for Eklund to skate with though. Not to bag on the AHL talent but it seems like his skill sets would make it hard for him to shine in the AHL because the players around him don't think the game at the same level he does. Back in Sweeden, it seems like that larger ice sheet somewhat makes up for the skill differential between elite and high-level players.

 

[TheBeard]

Just a casual observation; I'm not sure that the Baracuda offer much in the way of talent for Eklund to skate with though. Not to bag on the AHL talent but it seems like his skill sets would make it hard for him to shine in the AHL because the players around him don't think the game at the same level he does. Back in Sweeden, it seems like that larger ice sheet somewhat makes up for the skill differential between elite and high-level players.

I do think it's the fact that the AHL provides a tougher environment and the smaller rink would help adjust his game to the NHL. He showed he's capable in the NHL, but learning how to adjust to the grind of the NHL is a different beast altogether.

 

[Nolan11]

Does really blow my mind that we sent back Eklund who was at least creating chances and could play third line minutes if needed so we could ice:
Gadjovich with 1 point in 17 games
Pederson with 0 points in 16 games
Bonino with 4 points in 29 games
Nieto with 4 points in 22 games
Leonard with 0 points in 5 games
Reedy with 0 points in 2 games
Gregor with 3 points in 13 games

all of whom produced less than a 19 year old rookie playing his first 9 games on small ice.

that’s not to say I’m not happy that Reedy got to debut or Gregor has looked better…ish than normal.

it is to say that I disagree with having Eklund return to the worst team in the SHL to struggle to produce offense when his team is getting shelled every night. Why wouldn’t you have him learn the game here and give him some stability in his very, very young career. Stupid decision, and one that made the Sharks a worse team

end of my rant

I think it was smart to not burn a year of his ELC for this season. Your post, does illuminate how unlikely we are to go far with the bottom six we have assembled (even if we added Eklund, pushing Barbanov down to the 3rd). Without a legit scoring 3C (pushing Bonino down to 4C) we dont have the horses to get out of the 2nd round.

DW talks about making the playoffs, but I think he secretly is hoping for an 8-9th place finish (enough to say team improved from the 7th we had last year), but still getting a top ten pick. He can blame the Kane circus to keep his job another season, if he shows a tiny bit of progress....

 

[Mafoofoo]

I think it was smart to not burn a year of his ELC for this season. Your post, does illuminate how unlikely we are to go far with the bottom six we have assembled (even if we added Eklund, pushing Barbanov down to the 3rd). Without a legit scoring 3C (pushing Bonino down to 4C) we dont have the horses to get out of the 2nd round.

DW talks about making the playoffs, but I think he secretly is hoping for an 8-9th place finish (enough to say team improved from the 7th we had last year), but still getting a top ten pick. He can blame the Kane circus to keep his job another season, if he shows a tiny bit of progress....

Sure we do. We just need Reimer, Karlsson, Burns, Hertl, Meier and Couture to go supernova as well as Vlasic to suddenly turn into his 2015-2016 self. Easy cup.

 

[Kcoyote3]

The biggest issue is beyond our top 3 up front, as Couture, Meier and Hertl are essentially carrying this team as much as they can. Beyond that, Dahlen and Barabanov are admirable additions for essentially nothing, but they both top out as mediocre 2nd liners, or good third liners. Balcers shouldn't be in the top 6 on a contending team. He's a better PKer and secondary scoring option. Bonino isn't top 3 C quality anymore He doesn't have enough finish. He's useful in a bottom six role though, and is decent defensively.

If everyone was in their ideal roles:

Meier 1LW - Couture 1C - XXX 1 RW
XXX 2LW - Hertl 2C - XXX 2RW
Dahlen 3 LW- XXX 3C - Barabanov 3RW
Balcers 4LW - Bonino 4C - Cogliano 4 RW

So the team is missing 3 top 6ers, one of which was Kane, one of which was supposed to be Labanc but...that's not working out. The problems of Bonino may be related to shit linemates, or it might just be Bonino and father time catching up to him. Wouldn't be unheard of for a guy his age to start to lose his touch.

Again this is ideal lineup. I think Dahlen could still develop into an everyday top 6er, but on a contender he's probably a third liner. Barabanov has some vision and definitely some skill, and has a place on a good team's powerplay I would say.

I think this offseason should be spent cutting some of the fat again from the roster, and trying to fill those 4 holes in the lineup. . It's not unreasonable to suggest Coe/Gushchin/Bordeleau/Eklund/Robins that 1-2 might stick into a top 6 role.

The key to all this though, is they have to sign Hertl. If they don't for a reasonable amount, the team is just sunk. For so many years. There's no center prospect coming that I can see to replace his value, unless Bordeleau is just fire in a bottle next year. The center depth, the one thing we had for so long, is just evaporated.

 

[hohosaregood]

The biggest issue is beyond our top 3 up front, as Couture, Meier and Hertl are essentially carrying this team as much as they can. Beyond that, Dahlen and Barabanov are admirable additions for essentially nothing, but they both top out as mediocre 2nd liners, or good third liners. Balcers shouldn't be in the top 6 on a contending team. He's a better PKer and secondary scoring option. Bonino isn't top 3 C quality anymore He doesn't have enough finish. He's useful in a bottom six role though, and is decent defensively.

If everyone was in their ideal roles:

Meier 1LW - Couture 1C - XXX 1 RW
XXX 2LW - Hertl 2C - XXX 2RW
Dahlen 3 LW- XXX 3C - Barabanov 3RW
Balcers 4LW - Bonino 4C - Cogliano 4 RW

So the team is missing 3 top 6ers, one of which was Kane, one of which was supposed to be Labanc but...that's not working out. The problems of Bonino may be related to shit linemates, or it might just be Bonino and father time catching up to him. Wouldn't be unheard of for a guy his age to start to lose his touch.

Again this is ideal lineup. I think Dahlen could still develop into an everyday top 6er, but on a contender he's probably a third liner. Barabanov has some vision and definitely some skill, and has a place on a good team's powerplay I would say.

I think this offseason should be spent cutting some of the fat again from the roster, and trying to fill those 4 holes in the lineup. . It's not unreasonable to suggest Coe/Gushchin/Bordeleau/Eklund/Robins that 1-2 might stick into a top 6 role.

The key to all this though, is they have to sign Hertl. If they don't for a reasonable amount, the team is just sunk. For so many years. There's no center prospect coming that I can see to replace his value, unless Bordeleau is just fire in a bottle next year. The center depth, the one thing we had for so long, is just evaporated.

I posted a pretty similar lineup in the GDT and I pretty much agree with everything you've got here. Moving on from Hertl would be extremely painful and a lot of it is based on the absolutely lack of center depth in the organization. It seems like trading him would hurt us more in the long term than we think. We already know how bad it can be not having good pro centers and I just don't know who you bring in to replace Hertl. It sucks that the best center we've drafted in a long time was involved in the Karlsson trade. Norris would've had that 3C locked down and most likely would have excelled immensely in that role.

 

[Cas]

Adding Bordeleau and Eklund to that roster as 3C and 2LW would be really nice. They're still short two top six wingers, but Dahlen and Barabanov might be able to still fit in, maybe Labanc too. Balcers to the third line. That's a bit optimistic, to be sure, but it's plausible and hopefully reasonably effective.

Without Hertl, though, yeah, there's no way to build a contending team with these parts, and it's still only really contending under an optimistic scenario (perhaps not wildly optimistic, more like 60th percentile).

 

[YUPPY 2 7 10 11]

Does really blow my mind that we sent back Eklund who was at least creating chances and could play third line minutes if needed so we could ice:
Gadjovich with 1 point in 17 games
Pederson with 0 points in 16 games
Bonino with 4 points in 29 games
Nieto with 4 points in 22 games
Leonard with 0 points in 5 games
Reedy with 0 points in 2 games
Gregor with 3 points in 13 games

all of whom produced less than a 19 year old rookie playing his first 9 games on small ice.

that’s not to say I’m not happy that Reedy got to debut or Gregor has looked better…ish than normal.

it is to say that I disagree with having Eklund return to the worst team in the SHL to struggle to produce offense when his team is getting shelled every night. Why wouldn’t you have him learn the game here and give him some stability in his very, very young career. Stupid decision, and one that made the Sharks a worse team

end of my rant

I agreed with you. Sending Eklund back to Sweden was a very BAD idea. He has NOTHING left to learn back in Sweden NOTHING. That was just one of the many STUPID decisions this management has done this year. But it was the WORST!
Imagine this year with Eklund, R. Marley, Dahlen, and Halbgewachs all learning to play TOGETHER. No, we all have to wait until next year "because they didn't want to spend the ELHC contract." F that. Middle finger to Wilson.