San Jose Sharks: How Will Their Lines Look On Opening Night?
The San Jose Sharks and general manager Doug Wilson were plenty busy this offseason in reshaping the look of a team that missed the postseason for the first time in 11 years. The Sharks brought in veteran stalwarts such as Paul Martin and Joel Ward, while San Jose has some intriguing young talents such as Martin Jones and Nikolay Goldobin.
More from Editorials
- Korenar deserves a chance at the NHL level
- Three prospects the Sharks should consider drafting
- Red hot Couture provides a much needed boost
- Is it reasonable for the Sharks to fire Doug Wilson?
- NHL misses golden opportunity with Tahoe games
New head coach Peter DeBoer and his staff will have some interesting decisions to make in terms of how to set up his lines and defensive pairings heading into the new season. DeBoer has said he wanted to give the players a clean slate and not watch much film from last season to form any preconceived notions.
DeBoer probably has some initial ideas, but he won’t get a sense until training camp begins in less than a month. While nothing much has been said in terms of personnel, here’s our first look at how the San Jose Sharks could lineup when they take the ice against the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 7.
Forwards
– Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Tomas Hertl
– Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture, Tommy Wingels
– Matt Nieto, Chris Tierney, Joel Ward
– Raffi Torres, Ben Smith, Melker Karlsson
The Sharks lineup would be pretty solid throughout if they decided to ice this group of forwards. While they’d be short on potential toughness, San Jose would have plenty of speed and skill throughout their four lines.
The potential game-changer for how these lines will look is where DeBoer decides to slot Pavelski. It’s been a long debate about whether Pavelski is better served with Thornton or if he’s better centering his own line. I think DeBoer will keep the tandem together because of the success Pavelski has had in netting 78 goals and 149 points over the past two seasons.
If he does keep them together, then the next question is who to place on their wing? While a speed element would be nice, placing Hertl up there to start could be a good way to jump start him heading into the new season. Also, I could see that wing rotating through a lot of players including Ward or Karlsson and even a young player like Goldobin if he makes the team or is called up later in the season.
The second line stays pretty much the same as Couture and Marleau have formed a pretty solid partnership. Tierney proved at the end of last year that he was a playmaker and capable of centering his own line, and he developed a nice chemistry with Nieto. The only fourth line question is how healthy Torres will be, and I expect the Sharks to take plenty of caution with how they handle his minutes throughout the year.
Other players in the mix will be Barclay Goodrow, Mike Brown, and the aforementioned Goldobin, who will probably start out with the San Jose Barracuda to gain some confidence before joining the Sharks at some point.
Defense
– Justin Braun, Marc-Edouard Vlasic
– Brent Burns, Paul Martin
– Matt Tennyson, Brenden Dillon
Five out of the six spots on defense are pretty much solidified as the San Jose blue line looks in much better shape than the way it ended last year. The battle of training camp to watch will be between Matt Tennyson and Mirco Mueller for the sixth spot on defense. While Mueller is the future, he might follow a similar pattern to Goldobin in getting plenty of game minutes with the Barracuda instead of being in-and-out of the Sharks lineup.
Plus, with Tennyson, San Jose will have a left-right pairing at each level, and Tennyson has shown flashes at the NHL level. Other in competition for time will be Dylan DeMelo and Mark Cundari.
Obviously, these are subject to change as we get a look at training camp and the preseason, but it’s always fun to take a look and see what the 2015-16 version of the San Jose Sharks could potentially look like.
Feel free to share with us how you’d like or how you think the Sharks will line up next year?
Next: San Jose Sharks Fantasy Outlook