Sharks Ice should be filled with both anxious spectators and the sweet sounds of sticks and skates on Saturday as the San Jose Sharks hit the ice for their first full day of training camp. The camp schedule is condensed this year, meaning every practice and scrimmage will take on added importance for the NHL regulars preparing for a Stanley Cup season as well as those trying to prove they belong in the big leagues. This might be the longest week of the year but we’ll get you through it with a daily dose of camp previews, highlighting some of the things to watch for when professional hockey returns to the Bay Area this weekend.
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Everyone's curious to see which youngsters are going to make an impact at camp, and you can bet we'll see another Mitchell, Pavelski or Vlasic emerge from the pack and challenge for a spot on the team. However, while training camp traditionally focuses on the new arrivals, this year's preseason tune-up will help determine a significant departure. You don't have to be Hank Paulson to figure out the Sharks are over the salary cap, meaning someone will have to be moved to bring the team under that tidy mark of $56.7 million.
Shedding salary is a new problem for the Sharks, considering they've been well below the cap since it was instituted in the 2005-06 season, and it's caused rampant speculation among Shark fans who refused to hibernate over the summer. There are a couple players to keep an eye on during training camp, and the next three weeks will help decide who stays and who goes. It's a lot more fun to debate who's on the way in rather than who's on the way out, but a little detective work can help us figure out who the unlucky candidates are.
First of all, you have to determine the amount of salary the Sharks are looking to shed. When it comes to the bloated payroll, moving a player making less than $1 million is going to provide as much relief as taking a whiff of Pepto-Bismol after hitting the Sizzler buffet. The Sharks have 16 players with a cap hit over $1 million this season, so our candidate pool includes Thornton, Marleau, Michalek, Cheechoo, Grier, Pavelski, Clowe, Setoguchi, Roenick, Boyle, Blake, Ehrhoff, McLaren, Lukowich, Vlasic and Nabokov.
We can whittle it down a little further by assuming the Sharks won't move a player they acquired, re-signed, or had sign an extension during the offseason. It wouldn't make any sense to introduce a new player and then show him the door without ever seeing him play, and I couldn't see the Sharks moving a guy so soon after making a contract commitment. That removes Pavelski, Clowe, Roenick, Boyle, Blake, Ehrhoff, Lukowich and Vlasic. So we're left with eight players: Thornton, Marleau, Michalek, Cheechoo, Grier, Setoguchi, McLaren and Nabokov.
Bringing common sense into play, we can automatically remove major players who won't be moved for picks or prospects (remember, the Sharks won't be adding more salary in a trade). By that criteria, we can safely take Thornton, Marleau, Michalek and Nabokov off the list. That leaves us with a final four of Cheechoo, Grier, Setoguchi and McLaren.
It's hard to imagine a youngster like Setoguchi being moved at this stage of his career, especially since he has so much potential as a top-six forward. Plus, if you're looking for a salary dump there are better options than Seto's $1.2 million cap hit and he's signed through the 2010 season, meaning he's not going to hurt the bottom line next year. Cheechoo could get moved. He's one of the most popular players in the league and I'm sure there'd be a lot of interest for the former Rocket Richard Trophy winner, but his $3 million contract is a bargain (even given his recent production) and he's in the books through 2011.
That leaves us with Grier and McLaren, two veterans who are entering the final year of their contracts. Grier lost a step last season and saw his numbers dip, but he was a major reason the Sharks' penalty kill was one of the best in the league last season. McLaren struggled with injuries last year and isn't the physical presence he once was, but he was a stabilizing presence on the blueline and the Sharks were a better team with him than without him.
I think, ultimately, the decision will come down to training camp performance. If we see another Torrey Mitchell emerge and force his way into the lineup it could make Grier and his $1.7 million salary expendable. It might not even be a youngster. If Jeff Friesen plays his way onto the team with a price tag near the league minimum the Sharks would have a decision to make. Likewise, if a defenseman impresses at training camp he could bump McLaren and his $2.5 million salary to another NHL destination. Alexei Semenov is coming to camp without a contract, and the Sharks could decide to reward him with another year of service with a salary near the league minimum.
Either way, you know somebody's on the way out of San Jose. It's an unfortunate situation brought on by the salary cap, but the next three weeks of camp competition will help determine who stays and who goes.
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