Tim Chiasson: No Playoffs For You + Let's Talk Joe Thornton It's officially over.

Patrick Sharp for Joe Thornton straight up? Or we could throw in a pick or prospect as well.

I'd love to see Joe playing 2C with Kane on his wing.

After the blow-up, Hasso told Thornton and Wilson to stop talking. Thornton complied, but Wilson was still discussing the issue while at the GM meetings. If you're the owner, you need to choose between a guy with a no trade contract who follows instructions, and a guy who can be fired any time who doesn't. That should be an easy one.

no more no trade clauses for anyone

Just give Marleau the C back already.

Patrick Sharp for Joe Thornton straight up? Or we could throw in a pick or prospect as well.

I'd love to see Joe playing 2C with Kane on his wing.
- scottak

Joe isnt going anywhere but we will give you Wilson for Sharp, we will throw in a pick.

Tim Chiasson: No Playoffs For You + Let's Talk Joe Thornton
It's officially over.
- Tim Chiasson

Wilson failed to help this team when he had a chance twice now, once last off season when there should have been moves and this trade deadline where he sat on his hands. Jumbo isnt the problem its Wilson, Tmac and players like Patty that have become wildly inconsistent.

If this team can move on from the DW era and pick up a top 4 Dman plus fix the goalie issue we have the offensive firepower to be in the dance next year.

Lets see if the owner has the balls to do whats right.

Just give Marleau the C back already.
- BINGO!

(frank) no never...

After the blow-up, Hasso told Thornton and Wilson to stop talking. Thornton complied, but Wilson was still discussing the issue while at the GM meetings. If you're the owner, you need to choose between a guy with a no trade contract who follows instructions, and a guy who can be fired any time who doesn't. That should be an easy one.
- Rio_Guadalupe

Or one of your consistently best players, until Joe stops serving it up hot there is no reason to move him.

Just give Marleau the C back already.
- BINGO!

All right....that's god damned funny... He's one of my fave Sharks of all time, but that wasn't a good fit for him...Shoulda let Owen Nolan play in teal until he dropped.

I really didn't mind the decisions and job the management team was doing prior to this year.
I think they made a handful of panic moves after losing in the playoffs last year and every move they made did not pan out for them. They lost to the champions in 7 games. Anaheim and Chicago both lost to the champions in 7 games and never panicked. And those teams are once again making the playoffs.
The Sharks were 5th in the league in points last year playing high tempo type of forecheck. I did not see that this year. They do play a cycle game, but not that heavy forecheck.

I believe moving Burns back to defense hurt this. I don't see Burns as a top pairing defenseman either. He was an all star because he gets his points. Time to move him back up front and get some forecheck going.

Bad move #2. Dan Boyle would have taken a home town discount. Don't know how much though. Boyle is on the decline for sure, but he set things up. Making the first out of the zone, or skating it out. He might not put up the points, but getting the puck out of the defensive zone was a problem.

Stripping Joe. The amount that this affected the Sharks and Jumbo. Can't really say.

Another move that puzzles me. They get rid of Tye Mcginn and Tyler Kennedy for nothing and kept John Scott. I guess I could see Kennedy ( for a 7th ) because he was probably making a good amount of money. Was Scott really a better asset than Mcginn? Would you not want to chance losing Scott first and waive him? I know Mcginn isn't much, but I'd rather have him putting in the 4th line minutes.

For these reasons DW should be first to go.

The Fire Wilson chant got going last night. the customers have spoken

The Fire Wilson chant got going last night. the customers have spoken
- vols94

Probably the same customers that chanted to fire Sabean before 2010. Amazing how fickle they can be. Honestly, Wilson has been doing a pretty good job of cleaning things up lately. The team is dealing with our all-in approach from Wilson trying too hard to win with Thornton, Marleau, Boyle, and Nabby/Niemi. We mortgaged our future for a shot right then. All those first round and second round picks we traded to try and get the pieces we needed. Now, Wilson has struggled to put together a bottom six, and has struggled to round out the defense. However, he has shown good progressive steps lately to rectify this. Cleaning out our bad contracts with Demers, Burish, and Kennedy. Our cap is fantastic right now, and that will give us the flexibility to keep our own prospects as they move into their RFA and UFA years. We have a promising bottom 6 for the future for the first time in a while. Tierney, Goodrow, Hertl, Nieto, Wingels, and Ben Smith make a solid group of candidates for the bottom 6. Jevpalovs will challenge Goodrow for that spot in training camp.

The funny thing to me is that people are asking to fire Wilson now for reasons that I was saying he should be fired years ago. I think he's actually fixing his mistakes now and given another couple years this team will be ready for a cup run again. His drafting is MUCH better, the talent in our system is getting attention for the first time since Lombardi was our GM. I understand missing the playoffs is raw still and people want results RIGHT NOW. However, it takes 3-4 years to draft, develop, and call up the talent. We're in the process of doing that right now. By the time Jumbo and Patty's contracts run out we'll have a logjam of prospects ready to move up.

Oh and btw before I forget Hockey futures put up an article about Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau. He missed most of his year with a "weird injury" in his hand. So, I haven't mentioned him as much as Chartier, Labanc, Sadowy, Bergman, Schoenborn, or Jevpalovs. However, he's massively talented, and really has the makeup to be anywhere from 1st to 4th line in the NHL.

http://www.hockeysfuture....-long-layoff/#more-121567

- Whiskey-Tango

Cue the car fires and rioting sure to follow another playoff disaster

I really didn't mind the decisions and job the management team was doing prior to this year.
I think they made a handful of panic moves after losing in the playoffs last year and every move they made did not pan out for them. They lost to the champions in 7 games. Anaheim and Chicago both lost to the champions in 7 games and never panicked. And those teams are once again making the playoffs.
The Sharks were 5th in the league in points last year playing high tempo type of forecheck. I did not see that this year. They do play a cycle game, but not that heavy forecheck.

I believe moving Burns back to defense hurt this. I don't see Burns as a top pairing defenseman either. He was an all star because he gets his points. Time to move him back up front and get some forecheck going.

Bad move #2. Dan Boyle would have taken a home town discount. Don't know how much though. Boyle is on the decline for sure, but he set things up. Making the first out of the zone, or skating it out. He might not put up the points, but getting the puck out of the defensive zone was a problem.

Stripping Joe. The amount that this affected the Sharks and Jumbo. Can't really say.

Another move that puzzles me. They get rid of Tye Mcginn and Tyler Kennedy for nothing and kept John Scott. I guess I could see Kennedy ( for a 7th ) because he was probably making a good amount of money. Was Scott really a better asset than Mcginn? Would you not want to chance losing Scott first and waive him? I know Mcginn isn't much, but I'd rather have him putting in the 4th line minutes.

For these reasons DW should be first to go.
- flipneil

Boyle was offered a 1 year contract. He wanted 2 and that was the end of that.

But yeah, Wilson preaches youth movement and then hires Scott, resigns Hannan and Brown, fails to buy out Burish, and literally the only time we see rookies playing 4th line time for the first part of the season is if we have injuries.

I was good with resigning Sheppard. He is an ideal 4th line center. But trading him and Desjardins and taking a veteran 4th line center with a longer contract back was counterproductive. They could have just traded Desjardins and bumped Shep to 4th line if they wanted Tierney to take center duties. I was assuming we would see Hertl at 3rd line C, but Hertl seems destined to play wing with Tierney now(Glad it worked out, but it did not seem planned that way)

Trading Desjardins to Chicago seemed like a cap favor to chicago more than anything.

In the end, I am glad Tierney and Hertl have found chemistry with Wingels and we have a legit 3rd line. But it seemed almost incidental and not part of the plan, as it only happened due to injuries and demoting Burish after 25% of the season had passed.

Karlsson was a pleasant surprise too, but again, it was luck. not some shrewd GM/Coach play. Irwin was a trainwreck all year until late February, at which point, he started to seem solid or at least serviceable. I wanted him and Hannan gone all year, but now? If they gave Irwin another 1 year, I would not scream like I would have 2 months ago. Free agency is pretty bland this season

Fedun should have been given a shot long ago in the season after we traded Demers. Tennyson is okay, but often out of is depth. Not that Fedun is much better.

Putting poor Mueller with a maverick unpredictable partner like Burns for a long time was weird. He did not do terrible, but I would have put him with a solid puck moving guy like Braun. I get the idea of Vlasic/Braun, but it is like putting all eggs in one basket defensively. Dillon was solid, but unremarkable.
Hannan needs to be old Yellered. or at least, given a fruit basket and sent off into the sunset. It is hard seeing that he still understands where he needs to be, but his body will not respond like it used to.


Goaltending was the biggest MEH. Stalock was never given a chance to string several games together, while Niemi continued to get played even after dreadful games.

Goaltending is the first spot they should fix. but realistically? Unless Dallas gives us our 3rd back, offer sheets cannot be used. That means trading or UFA. And the only UFA goalie worth a damn is Dubnyk, and he is certainly signing an extension. Ottawa's UFA Hamburglar is too much of a questionmark. Had a nice hot streak(really, the team did), but saw him give up a lot of rebounds that is teammates and hard work cleared to save his butt.

Bernier may be available. He and Reimer are better than that joke of a team let on. Toronto tends to be a goalie graveyard. Toskala knows this too well.

Ottawa now has what I call a "good" problem. Too many decent goalies. They might make a decent trading partner. Goalie stats are often misleading. People put far too much stock in GAA and save %. Anderson is a far better goalie than Softie Niemi. If they want to keep Hamburglar and Lehner, they may need to move him. If not, I would not be adverse to snagging another young goalie to fight for a starter job.

But Niemi is out. Has to be. 40 playoff games and zero shutouts tells you he will never steal a series for you when the team is not doing well, and he let's in backbreaking softies that demoralize the team and make everyone second guess and hold their sticks tighter. They play not to lose instead of playing to win when they get a lead. They do not trust Nemo.


In any case, Wilson made a promise that "We have ample cap space and we intend to use it". I can only assume he had Hasso Plattner's blessing to blow this season given he flat out said he was not making moves for us to win and that we are a tomorrow team an there will be some pain and Plattner signed off on his plan. but obviously him and TMac were not on the same page with Youth movement, as Tmac only played youth when injuries allowed it. Hell, Stalock got a shutout a few weeks back and you would think that earns you another game, but no, Niemi the vet next game.

Wilson's promise of using our ample cap space will not be forgotten. Not by a fanbase that watched him ignore UFA's year after year. UFA's are the one method of adding assets that does not require you to give up picks and prospects and he always ignores it. This year, the UFA pool is thin, but he better take a shot at some names like Green and Dubnyk.

Oh and btw before I forget Hockey futures put up an article about Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau. He missed most of his year with a "weird injury" in his hand. So, I haven't mentioned him as much as Chartier, Labanc, Sadowy, Bergman, Schoenborn, or Jevpalovs. However, he's massively talented, and really has the makeup to be anywhere from 1st to 4th line in the NHL.

http://www.hockeysfuture....-long-layoff/#more-121567
- IDtheJC

Still without a contract with San Jose, though.

Still without a contract with San Jose, though.
- Tim Chiasson

Yes sir! I'm curious if they extend one to him. There are several NCAA players they're probably keeping their eye on.

Boyle was offered a 1 year contract. He wanted 2 and that was the end of that.

But yeah, Wilson preaches youth movement and then hires Scott, resigns Hannan and Brown, fails to buy out Burish, and literally the only time we see rookies playing 4th line time for the first part of the season is if we have injuries.

I was good with resigning Sheppard. He is an ideal 4th line center. But trading him and Desjardins and taking a veteran 4th line center with a longer contract back was counterproductive. They could have just traded Desjardins and bumped Shep to 4th line if they wanted Tierney to take center duties. I was assuming we would see Hertl at 3rd line C, but Hertl seems destined to play wing with Tierney now(Glad it worked out, but it did not seem planned that way)

Trading Desjardins to Chicago seemed like a cap favor to chicago more than anything.

In the end, I am glad Tierney and Hertl have found chemistry with Wingels and we have a legit 3rd line. But it seemed almost incidental and not part of the plan, as it only happened due to injuries and demoting Burish after 25% of the season had passed.

Karlsson was a pleasant surprise too, but again, it was luck. not some shrewd GM/Coach play. Irwin was a trainwreck all year until late February, at which point, he started to seem solid or at least serviceable. I wanted him and Hannan gone all year, but now? If they gave Irwin another 1 year, I would not scream like I would have 2 months ago. Free agency is pretty bland this season

Fedun should have been given a shot long ago in the season after we traded Demers. Tennyson is okay, but often out of is depth. Not that Fedun is much better.

Putting poor Mueller with a maverick unpredictable partner like Burns for a long time was weird. He did not do terrible, but I would have put him with a solid puck moving guy like Braun. I get the idea of Vlasic/Braun, but it is like putting all eggs in one basket defensively. Dillon was solid, but unremarkable.
Hannan needs to be old Yellered. or at least, given a fruit basket and sent off into the sunset. It is hard seeing that he still understands where he needs to be, but his body will not respond like it used to.


Goaltending was the biggest MEH. Stalock was never given a chance to string several games together, while Niemi continued to get played even after dreadful games.

Goaltending is the first spot they should fix. but realistically? Unless Dallas gives us our 3rd back, offer sheets cannot be used. That means trading or UFA. And the only UFA goalie worth a damn is Dubnyk, and he is certainly signing an extension. Ottawa's UFA Hamburglar is too much of a questionmark. Had a nice hot streak(really, the team did), but saw him give up a lot of rebounds that is teammates and hard work cleared to save his butt.

Bernier may be available. He and Reimer are better than that joke of a team let on. Toronto tends to be a goalie graveyard. Toskala knows this too well.

Ottawa now has what I call a "good" problem. Too many decent goalies. They might make a decent trading partner. Goalie stats are often misleading. People put far too much stock in GAA and save %. Anderson is a far better goalie than Softie Niemi. If they want to keep Hamburglar and Lehner, they may need to move him. If not, I would not be adverse to snagging another young goalie to fight for a starter job.

But Niemi is out. Has to be. 40 playoff games and zero shutouts tells you he will never steal a series for you when the team is not doing well, and he let's in backbreaking softies that demoralize the team and make everyone second guess and hold their sticks tighter. They play not to lose instead of playing to win when they get a lead. They do not trust Nemo.


In any case, Wilson made a promise that "We have ample cap space and we intend to use it". I can only assume he had Hasso Plattner's blessing to blow this season given he flat out said he was not making moves for us to win and that we are a tomorrow team an there will be some pain and Plattner signed off on his plan. but obviously him and TMac were not on the same page with Youth movement, as Tmac only played youth when injuries allowed it. Hell, Stalock got a shutout a few weeks back and you would think that earns you another game, but no, Niemi the vet next game.

Wilson's promise of using our ample cap space will not be forgotten. Not by a fanbase that watched him ignore UFA's year after year. UFA's are the one method of adding assets that does not require you to give up picks and prospects and he always ignores it. This year, the UFA pool is thin, but he better take a shot at some names like Green and Dubnyk.
- j0e Th0rnton

All we need is a goalie to time share with Stalock. It'll be serviceable for next year. In the meantime, this offseason needs to be one where we start to develop a longer term solution in net. Even if we got Connor or Blackwood it's going to take 2-4 years of development to get them NHL ready. That's just the way it works with Goalies. In the meantime, we can use middle of the pack goalies to keep our team in games.

I think Green is going to be a bad investment for whoever signs him. It'll be an overreach to get him. Too many years and too much money. I'll take my chances with what we have. I agree Fedun should have been given more of a shot. I think Vlasic/Burns, Braun/Fedun, Dillon/Mueller would be a much better setup than what we iced for a majority of this season.

So the final CSS rankings came out. I'm not sure where the International Skaters sort into the list. However, just based off the NA skaters. We're going to have our selection of some pretty good talent. Assuming the standings order remains the same in the draft. we'll be at #11, and personally I would like to see the Sharks trade up to get Provorov. If we were lower in the draft (~7) I would say try for Hanifin, but I think a solid defender with our #1 pick would be fantastic.

Here's what one scout says about Provorov:

"Provorov is probably one of the best passers in the Canadian Hockey League," Central Scouting's Peter Sullivan said. "He passes like a pro and can settle a game down. He's the type of player who you think isn't skating hard but he has four or five gears."

All right....that's god damned funny... He's one of my fave Sharks of all time, but that wasn't a good fit for him...Shoulda let Owen Nolan play in teal until he dropped.
- Team_Teal

Nolan is one of my favs of all time. But I think we ended up drafting Couture with the draft pick we got from Toronto for that deal didn't we?

- Whiskey-Tango

The Oilers look great, nice team building there!

Nolan is one of my favs of all time. But I think we ended up drafting Couture with the draft pick we got from Toronto for that deal didn't we?
- ssullivan28

San Jose sent Toronto's pick to Boston in a package to move up and draft Steve Bernier. The Bruins took Mark Stuart with the Leafs pick.

San Jose sent Toronto's pick to Boston in a package to move up and draft Steve Bernier. The Bruins took Mark Stuart with the Leafs pick.
- Tim Chiasson

That's right - it was Toskala, Bell and some picks for Toronto's 12th or 13th round pick, then they traded that and some 2nds or something to move up into the top 10 to pick Couture.