Confirmed with Link: Sharks sign Matt Nieto 1 year 700k

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Love it. Fits the bottom 6 needs like a glove and coats the minimum. Good stuff.

 

[BKarchitect]

So cheap. Neato has always been an above average 4th liner with PK ability. He’s probably miscast if he has to play third line minutes for an extended period but at the league minimum, he’s a rock solid signing.

 

[Hobocop]

Was hoping last season that DW would add some depth and competition for forward spots and instead he did nothing at all, so I'm glad he's changed his approach.

It's even better that it's Nieto, very happy with this.

 

[WSS11]

Assuming Joe returns, I’m assuming the below will be it.

Kane-Hertl-Labanc
Donato-Couture-Meier
Sorensen-Thornton-Nieto
Marleau-Kellman/Handemark-Noesen
Gregor, Leonard, Gambrell

So much for giving the young guys a shot. DW doesn’t realize that in order to give the young guys a real chance, he’ll have to move on from Thornton and Marleau eventually, right? Also, that top six is badddddddd

 

[Hatrick Marleau]

Seems to me the Sharks are going to have a rush based offense and counter attack based offense with a more conservative forecheck. They’ve got a lot of speed throughout the lineup and back end. That should play really well to the strength’s of Burns and Karlsson as well as Merkley if he makes the team.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

I paid close attention to Mieto in the Dallas-Colorado series and I have to say that he's the same player as he was here. Don't think he improved. He'll get the puck and do nothing substantial with it. Weak shot. Not a big liability on defense and not a great checker. Guess that's all you can ask for from him at this stage in his development.

Glad that it's for league minimum. Hopefully we can move Sorensen and get Killorn.

 

[Jwec]

Basically Melker Karlsson at a minimum contract. Pretty happy with this.

Well I think Nieto is better than Melker Karlsson. Nieto could be at least 30 point forward with great skating and even though Nieto did not have super smooth hands he has better hands than Melkman.

 

[DrSteveBrule]

Oh damn! Wasn’t expecting this but I’m into it!

Niets at $700k, why the hell not??

 

[Jwec]

Glad that it's for league minimum. Hopefully we can move Sorensen and get Killorn.

Based on everything I bet we could get Killorn for free... I would rather target Mikael Granlund as UFA or maybe Ondrej Palat if we could free more cap than Sörensen's 1.5 million. Btw I would also love to get rid of Sörensen as it irritates me that half of the people here write his name as Sorenson and it needs to stop!

 

[weastern bias]

Nieto was an awesome defensive forward in his first stint in San Jose, has he still been that good on that side of the puck in COL?

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Well I think Nieto is better than Melker Karlsson. Nieto could be at least 30 point forward with great skating and even though Nieto did not have super smooth hands he has better hands than Melkman.

Nieto is actually good at what people hoped Karlsson would be good at. Defensively and PK-wise, he's actually good but don't expect 30 points from him. He's never done it yet and it's unlikely he'll do so here with the role he's likely asked to do.

 

[Hobocop]

So much for giving the young guys a shot. DW doesn’t realize that in order to give the young guys a real chance, he’ll have to move on from Thornton and Marleau eventually, right? Also, that top six is badddddddd

This might be an unpopular opinion (I'm genuinely not sure), but I've got no desire to "give the young guys a shot" at the opening day roster. That's what we did last year and it was an awful plan. Our young guys have done nothing since then to prove they've earned a shot. Let them prove it in the AHL.

 

[themelkman]

Nieto was an awesome defensive forward in his first stint in San Jose, has he still been that good on that side of the puck in COL?

Sounds like it from reading their boards.

 

[Jargon]

We will have all the 3rd/4th line forwards in the league!! No one will stop us!

at this point is the plan to just put multiple players into oversized jerseys and hope?

 

[themelkman]

This might be an unpopular opinion (I'm genuinely not sure), but I've got no desire to "give the young guys a shot" at the opening day roster. That's what we did last year and it was an awful plan. Our young guys have done nothing since then to prove they've earned a shot. Let them prove it in the AHL.

But how will they ever move up with a million vets in the way that cant go down? I dont want rookies shoehorned into top six roles, but letting them start on the third or fourth line is not a bad idea because they can easily be swapped until we find a fit.

 

[weastern bias]

Sounds like it from reading their boards.

If so I'm happy to have him back, we need another good defensively sound forward and penalty killer without Goodrow on the team, and at league min it's hard to complain about this

 

[Gecklund]

Well I think Nieto is better than Melker Karlsson. Nieto could be at least 30 point forward with great skating and even though Nieto did not have super smooth hands he has better hands than Melkman.

Was more of thinking in terms of PK specialist forward. I have to imagine we get another PKing forward otherwise Hertl/Timo/Couture will be seeing significant time there.

 

[weastern bias]

at this point is the plan to just put multiple players into oversized jerseys and hope?

They should do that in net, it would probably yield better results than we'll get from Jones and Dubnyk

 

[Hobocop]

But how will they ever move up with a million vets in the way that cant go down? I dont want rookies shoehorned into top six roles, but letting them start on the third or fourth line is not a bad idea because they can easily be swapped until we find a fit.

Show that you've earned a callup and beat them out. That's why I like this signing. If they're playing well, a 700k contract is easily movable. I believe that's what the idea is here.

 

[WSS11]

This might be an unpopular opinion (I'm genuinely not sure), but I've got no desire to "give the young guys a shot" at the opening day roster. That's what we did last year and it was an awful plan. Our young guys have done nothing since then to prove they've earned a shot. Let them prove it in the AHL.

It wasn’t all bad last year. Guys like Kellman, True, and especially Gregor gained some valuable experience not just in the NHL but also in getting acclimated with BB’s system. I think that has been overlooked as one of the bright spots in an otherwise forgettable year.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Wouldn't surprise me if giving him the chance in Colorado had something to do with taking a cheap deal here. Have to think he could have gotten a bit more elsewhere.

 

[Painful Quandary]

There probably are be better cheap depth guys on the market, but I am going to say good signing for nostalgia reasons.

 

[Sysreq]

Our season is saved!

 

[Cas]

Was more of thinking in terms of PK specialist forward. I have to imagine we get another PKing forward otherwise Hertl/Timo/Couture will be seeing significant time there.

I assume that's what Kellman/Händemark/True (whoever is 4C) will be doing.

 

[STL Shark]

It wasn’t all bad last year. Guys like Kellman, True, and especially Gregor gained some valuable experience not just in the NHL but also in getting acclimated with BB’s system. I think that has been overlooked as one of the bright spots in an otherwise forgettable year.

I don't see where Kellman fits into the future. He can't spell offense, nonetheless play it and we now have an abundance of 4th liners as well with Handemark likely ahead of him on the depth chart due to his 1 year contract prior to UFA and just overall being better imo based on what he's done in Europe. Kellman feels like a 13F to me this year while True is once again down in the AHL because there is not a spot in the NHL for him currently. Same likely goes for Gregor with Nieto and Marleau signings. Some of these guys are getting shipped out because there is not even enough AHL ice time for this group, nonetheless NHL ice time.