San Jose Sharks Top Five Takeaways Of Training Camp Thus Far
The San Jose Sharks are almost one week into their first training camp under head coach Peter DeBoer, and thus far, there have been some positive developments for team teal. The Sharks have incorporated a mix of young players and offseason acquisitions into the fold as they look to put the disastrous 2014-15 season behind them.
With that in mind, here are five observations from the first week, which includes two preseason games against the Vancouver Canucks:
5. Lines Taking Shape
One of the biggest things fans and pundits like to see is how the lines might shake out for the San Jose Sharks. From the onset of this camp, DeBoer has iced the same top-nine (via Kevin Kurz of Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area):
DeBoer has decided to keep Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski together along with Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau, while deciding to reunite Tomas Hertl with Thornton and adding veteran Joel Ward alongside Couture and Marleau to give San Jose it’s most experienced line.
The third line of Matt Nieto–Chris Tierney–Tommy Wingels looks like a solid line, that has the speed, skill and toughness elements needed within the bottom-six. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see if youngsters such as Joonas Donskoi, who’s really impressed thus far, or Nikolay Goldobin can crack this lineup and where their skills are best utilized.
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4. Tomas Hertl Looks Sharp
Speaking of Hertl, he’s been one player who needed to have a strong training camp, and to this point, he hasn’t disappointed. Hertl was one of a myriad of disappointing players for the San Jose Sharks last season, and he’s reached a crossroads of some sorts in his career.
As we detailed yesterday, Hertl has looked sharp in the early going and was a force in San Jose’s second preseason game, a 4-0 victory over Vancouver. A good sign for Sharks fans is Hertl was parked right in front of the net and not afraid to get to the dirty areas in the offensive zone.
Also, Hertl appears fully recovered from his knee injury during his rookie campaign, and he is moving much for fluidly around the ice. Hertl is bigger, stronger, and looks more like the rookie sensation Sharks fans adored.
3. Defensive Battle Ongoing
This one is going to come down to the wire as the battle for the final spots on the blue line will likely be the biggest question mark as the season approaches. Currently, there are four players – Mark Cundari, Matt Tennyson, Mirco Mueller and Dylan DeMelo – who are fighting for the sixth and seventh spots on the San Jose blue line.
While many feel Mueller could use some time with the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL, he’s shown a willingness to mix it up more often and stand his ground. Tennyson has shown flashes during his brief stints with the Sharks, but he needs to display more consistency. DeMelo is an impressive young player, but going with a rookie on the blue line for a team looking to get back into the playoff mix could be a dicey proposition.
Regardless of who wins the job, the youngsters on the back end will be a situation to monitor as the season begins.
2. Paul Martin/Brent Burns Pairing
From the moment it was announced that Martin signed with the Sharks, all the talk was about pairing him with Brent Burns. Martin has played with some dynamic defensemen, including his former partner in Pittsburgh, Kris Letang.
Martin was seen as the perfect compliment to Burns. Burns is an offensive force with his booming shot from the back end, but he appeared lost at times with his defensive responsibilities. That’s where Martin comes in as he is the epitome of the steady, stay-at-home blue liner.
In their preseason debut on Tuesday night, both fared well as Martin kicked off the scoring with a blast from the point while registering 25:16 in ice time. Meanwhile, Burns led all skaters on either side with 26:31 of total ice time, while adding a goal and an assist. Both players were plus-two on the night as the pairing looked comfortable together.
You can write down this pairing in pen as DeBoer’s initial intuition was right on this one.
1. Martin Jones As Advertised
Talk about making a good first impression. All offseason, the biggest question regarding this team was whether Jones could handle the starting job? If his first start of the preseason was any indication, Jones should fare just fine.
Jones made 30 saves in a 4-0 shutout victory over the Canucks on Tuesday night in his debut. He was calm, confident, and made many of his saves look relatively easy. Jones put up big numbers in only 29 starts the past two seasons in Los Angeles, including seven shutouts with a .923 save percentage and a 1.99 goals-against-average.
Jones appears to have a steadying presence between the pipes that may have been lacking with Antti Niemi.
While it’s still very early, it couldn’t have gone any better for Jones or the San Jose Sharks.
Next: Sharks Get Fresh Start Under Peter DeBoer