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Player Evaluations: Joe Thornton & Jason Demers |
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Over the upcoming weeks I will be evaluating the players on the Sharks roster who have played in twenty games or more. Players will be given a number between 1-20 for their high, low, and overall. The high being how well they play at their best and the low is the opposite; the overall is what we get out a player on the season long average.
Today we look at team Captain Joe Thornton and defenseman Jason Demers.
Evaluation will be based on numbers of course, but also what a player brings to a team and whether or not he makes the people around him better.
Joe Thornton is the team’s leader and has been for a few years now. He has been the man on team Teal since before he was awarded the “C”. Joe’s numbers have been nearly a point per game in his career, however as his numbers have declined in the past few seasons he has learned to become more of a complete player.
Jumbo as he is known in the hockey world has become that more complete player at both ends of the rink and has improved as a playoff performer. In his last two seasons with the Sharks he has been a plus player in the plus/minus rankings after three seasons in the negatives including a catastrophic -11 in the 2009/10 season when they fell to the Blackhawks in the Conference finals.
Joe isn’t as young as he once was and with video becoming more and more a part of every player’s homework the opposition and goalies have done a better job at defending the 6’4 - 225 pound center. This I believe, in part is a reason for the decline in his point production.
Thornton has become a more predictable passer the last couple of seasons. The 2011/12 season was the first time since 1998/99 that Joe didn’t top the 20 goal mark in a full season. Hard to believe from what we have seen of him in San Jose that he had a year in Boston where he scored more goals than assists going 37-34-71.
If Joe got into the habit of pulling the trigger more often and charging the net when he enters the offensive zone with the puck instead of circling he would become much harder to stop. Even if didn’t score a lot of goals while making a power move to the cage it would open up more space for him to do what he likes best…which is to pass the puck.
He has been a consistent performer as far as home and away goes which is a good trait to have, especially if you are a captain and are expected to lead by example. He has good games and bad but doesn’t seem to consistently play poorly against any one team.
Thornton is at his best when he is moving his feet and does go through slumps where he is lacking energy, but in the grind of the NHL’s 82 game schedule everybody goes through lulls. The problem is when you are the team’s captain everybody notices.
Player High Low Average
Joe Thornton 18 13 16.5
Jason Demers is a player that has yet to reach his full potential at the NHL level. He hasn’t come close as far as any consistency goes. We have seen flashes from the Quebec native who played his best hockey in the post-season of the 2010-11 season.
Demers was a 7th round pick by the Sharks in 2008, but that doesn’t mean that the team has low expectations for this puck moving defenseman. His best year came in the 2010/11 season when he laced up the skates for 75 Sharks games. He tallied 24 points and was a plus – 19. Jason was a player who benefitted from the leadership of Rob Blake. So much so that he hasn’t been able to show the consistency that impressed so many Sharks fans since.
Demers as of late has become a player who doesn’t get to see the ice very often and this past year he didn’t see many games in a row due to injuries and poor play.
As a result he often tried to do too much and was a player who made us nervous by handling the puck for too long. He appears to be attempting to make the perfect pass all the time or the play that will put him back on the map. Last season he had twice as many giveaways as he did takeaways which is scary for a defenseman.
In all fairness he has fought a string of injuries over the last couple of years that have halted his progress.
On the upside Demers has been a great teammate and is loved in the dressing room. He is often referred to as the funniest guy on the team and talks a lot on the ice. He has some magic hands but needs to learn when to bring them out and when to make the safe play.
He can contribute on the power play by quarterbacking the second unit. He and Brent Burns make a good duo back there; Demers has good hands and patience while Burns has the big shot.
A full season with Larry Robinson will be good for the young project. If he is able to stay healthy for the 2013/14 season we will see him force Scott Hannan to the press box more nights than not. His personality is a breath of fresh air for the team.
Player High Low Average
Jason Demers 14.5 11 12.5
Next issue Patrick Marleau and Justin Braun will be evaluated.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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