Ben...welcome to San Jose...I don't know how many games that you have watched but part of the problem is the positioning of the D men. The worst of the bunch is Burns who is frequently losing his man/assignment and leaving him open for a wide open shot or easy tap in/rebound. EK65 has his deficiencies but at least he hustles back and tries. You have two wingers EK9 and #62 who are lazy on D as well.
That said, I've heard goalie experts on NHL Radio describe Jones as barely technically efficient as an NHL Goalie in todays game. . He played better after his layoff and working with Nabby but .....Dell has played better with more confidence but probably isn't a #1 for the long term.
There is a flaw in your thinking though...if Dell at $2mm is too expensive, how is Greiss or Khudobin better at $3mm cap hit...especially given the current situation where the cap is not going up. They are up against the cap to begin with and have to qualify their RFA's (LeBanc and Kellman) at 110%. Jumbo will take a cut and you can bring Marleau back for their last years since we don't really have people ready in the AHL to take their place so every dollar has to count.
- hockeygm
Thank you!
I'll be honest and say I probably watched seven or eight Sharks games this year, basically whenever they played Carolina, New York, Ottawa or Toronto. I'm not trying to put everything on goaltending and I'm aware the support in front of Jones is an issue. That said, an .896 SV% two years in a row isn't sustainable for a competitive team. I don't think Jones is incapable, but I do think it's hard to make the argument he's justified his spot as a starter.
As for Dell/free agency, I didn't say his contract is too expensive but if it came off that way, I apologize. My thinking there is that Khudobin and Greiss are both very solid backup goalies who could play a high number of games and support Jones to a greater extent for just a slight increase in pay.
As for the RFAs, based on comparables and limited NHL games, Kellman isn't getting a giant raise and I truly don't believe he'd be a cap concern. Labanc will but it won't be as substantial as it may have been a year ago. Adding about $1M to the payroll for a goalie is a possible thing to do, even in a cap crunch and there's also another $5M coming off the books in M. Karlsson, plus Dillon and Martin's retained salary + buyout (and potentially more if Thorton's salary is reduced).
