This article will be another in my series of player profiles, where I’ll look at each player on the San Jose Sharks and assess how their season went. This piece will focus on Radim Simek.
Simek got a larger role this year, with his ice time increased by about two minutes per game from the 2018-19 season, up to more than 17 minutes per game. However, by the end of the year when Brenden Dillon had been traded and Erik Karlsson was injured, Simek was pretty consistently playing over 20 minutes a night. From mid-February onwards, he also averaged nearly 2:30 per game on the penalty kill.
Offensively, Simek didn’t contribute a ton, with just nine points in 48 games to go with a minus-13 rating. His underlying stats weren’t great either, with just a 47.1 corsi for percentage as well as an expected goals for percentage of just 47 per cent. That said, he did have the lowest offensive zone start percentage of any defenseman on the team and was used in a defensive role.
Simek was signed to a four-year extension worth a total of $9 million in March, so it’s clear the Sharks have hopes for him. As I’ve discussed previously, with Brenden Dillon’s departure, Simek will have a chance to take on a bigger role next season. He’ll have to battle Mario Ferraro for ice time but if he plays well enough, he could get a shot at playing consistently in the top-four.
It was an alright year for Simek but it’ll be important to see how he’s able to perform next season with more of an opportunity. Considering he's now locked in for quite a few more years, hopefully he makes Doug Wilson look good in the coming seasons for giving him that deal.
***NOTE: We've launched a HockeyBuzz Sharks Twitter account! For anyone interested, you can follow @HB_Sharks for updates on articles, Sharks news, etc. We're starting right from scratch, so any followers would be appreciated!***
Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Is Radim Simek capable of taking a spot in the top-four going forward?
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»