Now that the dust from two trade deadlines has settled, it’s interesting to look back and analyze some of the moves. The San Jose Sharks are 10 games into the Niclas Wallin era, giving us plenty of time to evaluate the team’s most significant acquisition of the season. Today we’ll answer the questions that literally dozens of people are asking themselves. How is Wallin’s play stacking up, and did the Sharks make the best move to address their needs along the blueline?
Breaking down the stats, it’s interesting to see the difference in Wallin’s play between his first five games with the Sharks and his last five. There’s no doubt the 35-year-old Swede was invigorated by the trade from the outhouse to the penthouse, and wanted to make a good first impression in his new surroundings. His play reflected that, and he was outstanding during his first five games in San Jose. The Sharks gave up 14 goals during that span, and Wallin was on the ice for only one of them.
His last five games have been a much different story, and rather than proving himself to be a solid top-four defenseman Wallin has reverted back to a bottom-pairing guy with slow feet and weak positioning. The Sharks have given up 15 goals in their last five games and Wallin has been on the ice for six of them, highlighting a substantial decline in his defensive play. He was partially responsible for two goals during San Jose’s 4-2 loss to Anaheim on Sunday, overskating the play on Corey Perry’s goal and making a bad pinch that eventually led to Lubomir Visnovsky’s goal.
Wallin was brought over from Carolina to provide some experience and help stabilize the Sharks’ defensive corps. However, his shaky play has compounded the impact of Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s injury, and he’s failed to provide an upgrade over Kent Huskins or Rob Blake. He’s not as bad as Jay Leach, but hasn’t been as good as Douglas Murray, and that’s not setting the bar very high when you give up a second-round pick for a veteran player who has a Stanley Cup on his resume.
I can’t imagine that general managers were beating a path to Jim Rutherford’s door for Wallin, but the Sharks beat the rush and picked up him up well before the Olympic roster freeze. Clearly Doug Wilson knew who he wanted and went after him. However, it’s interesting to note the other defensemen who were dealt around the trade deadline. Take a look at Wallin’s vitals and his trade value compared to a few others. If you were calling the shots would you rather have any of the defensemen listed below?
We all know Wallin by now. He's a no-frills defenseman who's best known for an overtime goal against the New Jersey Devils during Game 2 of the 2006 Eastern Conference semifinal. He's the final chapter in the Sharks' quest to replace the defensive depth they lost in the Ehrhoff-Lukowich trade.
Andrew Alberts – Third-round pick
28, $1.05 million, UFA 2011
Alberts is a serviceable defenseman with good size (6-4, 220) but he’s been bumped down the depth chart everywhere he’s played and really can’t take on big minutes. He’s cheap, but so are Ramen noodles, and Stanley Cup winners don’t stock the cupboard with Ramen noodles. On second thought, maybe he would fit in San Jose.
Looking for an Ehrhoff replacement? Grebeshkov is a puck-moving guy who can log big minutes, but the price tag was a little high. Unfortunately, there might not be a scarier injury description than “ruptured testicle,” and Grebeshkov is on the shelf indefinitely after blocking a shot with his groin last week.
Jordan Leopold – Second-round pick
29, $1.75 million, UFA 2010
The Penguins make better deadline moves (Hossa, Guerin, Kunitz, Ponikarovsky) than any team in the league, and they hit another home run with Leopold. He’s relatively young, cheap and productive, with great upside in the right situation. For the same salary and acquisition price, he’s an upgrade over Wallin.
Morris was probably never in the running, if you believe the rumblings that he wasn’t willing to go anywhere other than Phoenix. Still, he would have been worth a look and he’s helped the Coyotes morph into the hottest team in the league. Still, in order for the Sharks to afford him they would have had to move somebody else.
Dennis Seidenberg – Second-round pick
28, $2.25 million, UFA 2010
There were a few spare parts tossed into the mix, but the deal essentially sent Seidenberg to the Bruins for a second-round pick. The German defenseman has bounced around a bit and played for a lot of bad teams, but he would have been an interesting two-way option for the Sharks.
Martin Skoula – Fifth-round pick
30, $0.575 million, UFA 2010
If you’re looking for a cheap depth defenseman to plug some minutes there’s no reason you wouldn’t take Skoula, and he was a great pick-up by the Devils. However, the Sharks were looking for more than a generic defenseman with limited offensive skills who’s past his prime, which is apparently why they went after Wallin.
Steve Staios – Third-round pick, Aaron Johnson
36, $2.7 million, UFA 2011
This might have been the worst move of the season. Calgary picked up an over-the-hill veteran on a bad contract, giving up both a third-rounder and the best defenseman in the deal. How bad is Staios? He’s finished with a positive plus-minus in only seven of the 45 games he’s played this season.
Andy Sutton – Second-round pick
35, $3 million, UFA 2010
Sutton gets a lot of attention because of his size (6-6, 245) and he’s developed into a decent defenseman, but the Senators overpaid for an overpaid player and their offense has completely evaporated since their deadline moves. The Sharks didn’t want any piece of Sutton or his $3 million salary.
When it comes to rentals I would much rather have Ward than Wallin, even with his advanced age and inflated salary. He brings a level of toughness the Sharks are lacking in feather dusters like Huskins, Leach, Vlasic and Demers, has a ton of playoff experience, owns three Cup rings, and won’t hesitate to block a shot with his face.
All things considered, Wallin wasn’t a bad acquisition for the Sharks. He does the job well enough to hold down a roster spot and San Jose wasn’t going to fix its defensive woes by simply moving a second-round pick, regardless of who they were picking up in return. The Sharks simply have to hope Wallin can duplicate the effort we saw during his first five games, and correct the mistakes he’s made during the last five.
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It feels like it’s been a while, but the SharksBuzz Postgame Show returns this evening once the final buzzer sounds on the Sharks-Stars game. Tune in or weigh in with your thoughts at (724) 444-7444, talkcast ID# 74909.
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