Oct 16, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; New Jersey Devils head coach Peter DeBoer talks to his team from behind the bench against the Washington Capitals in the first period at Verizon Center. The Capitals won 6-2. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
There hasn’t been much news from head coach Peter DeBoer since his introductory press conference with the San Jose Sharks back on May 28. However, DeBoer shared some interesting thoughts with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
In his weekly 30 Thoughts column, Friedman detailed a conversation that he had with DeBoer on a wide variety of topics. The first thing Friedman touched upon with DeBoer was his decision to accept the Sharks head coaching job.
DeBoer was one of the candidates who general manager Doug Wilson considered for the head coaching position seven years ago when he eventually hired Todd McLellan. DeBoer said he liked San Jose’s position because the expectation was to be in the playoffs, which wasn’t always the case while he was with the New Jersey Devils and Florida Panthers.
Perhaps the most enlightening answer, especially for Sharks fans, was what was DeBoer going to do with Brent Burns? Was he going to be a forward or a defenseman?
DeBoer was clear to Friedman Burns would be a defenseman. Here’s what he had to say:
"He’s a defenceman. At the World Championships, he was the best and it wasn’t close…You can’t play that position part-time. He was a little bit uncomfortable. We have to commit to him playing there, so he can really become comfortable with it."
It seems from DeBoer’s comments that the organization is committed to having Burns on the blue line. DeBoer was with Burns in Prague at the World Championships and knows what he is capable of. Now, his biggest task will be getting that to translate on a consistent basis at the NHL level.
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Another interesting tidbit from DeBoer was got the sense that the 2014 playoff failure hung over the team all season. Nothing too surprising by that, but it’s easy to see that one of the first things that needs to be addressed is the team’s mental fortitude. This team has been through a lot, but DeBoer said he got the sense this team is ready to finally move forward.
On the subject of the actual on-ice fixes that need to take place, DeBoer zeroed in on the penalty killing. After ranking sixth in penalty killing in 2012-13 and 2013-14, the Sharks ranked 25th a season ago as their entire defense struggled. Here’s DeBoer’s assessment to Friedman:
“Historically, it’s not bad. We have to figure out the reasons why. Was it goaltending, structure, system…probably a little bit of everything.”
Also, DeBoer said San Jose will need to improve their five-on-five play if they have any shot of contending for the playoffs.
All-in-all, it was nice to hear some insights from DeBoer on what he thinks of the Sharks and the areas of improvement he’s going to look at targeting.
Finally, one parting thought was that DeBoer said the players blamed themselves for the issues last year. Now, it’s his job to fix the problems and get this team back to the postseason.