San Jose Sharks: How They Stack Up Ahead Of Free Agency
A season ago, San Jose added Paul Martin and Joel Ward during free agency, but what would this roster look like if they decide to stand pat later today?
Typically, San Jose Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson isn’t one to dive into the free agent frenzy like many of his colleagues on July 1.
However, after team teal missed the playoffs for the first time in 10 seasons, Wilson was aggressive last summer in inking defenseman Paul Martin (four-year deal) and forward Joel Ward (three-year deal) as both played integral parts in San Jose’s run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Earlier this week, we identified some potential targets for the Sharks should Wilson decide to jump into the market once again this year.
But, I decided to take a look at how San Jose’s roster would stack up if Wilson took the opposite approach and didn’t do anything except re-sign Dylan DeMelo and Matt Nieto who both received qualifying offers.
In this scenario, the Sharks would likely have between $6-$7M in cap space heading into the season as they currently have more than $9M before the DeMelo and Nieto deals according to General Fanager.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at how the 2016-17 version of your San Jose Sharks would look:
Forwards (Projected Lines)
Joe Pavelski – Joe Thornton – Tomas Hertl
Joonas Donskoi – Logan Couture – Timo Meier
Joel Ward – Patrick Marleau – Melker Karlsson
Tommy Wingels – Chris Tierney – Matt Nieto
The Sharks are actually in fairly decent shape up in their forward ranks, but it all would depend where they decided to slot different players.
I decided to keep Hertl on the top line with the two Joe’s since they were one of the most dominant lines in the NHL come season’s end.
The biggest move was the insertion of Meier on to the roster. The organization is really high on him, and he nearly made the squad last year. He would provide an infusion of size and skill into the forward ranks.
The other big decision was where to slot Marleau, especially after Tierney had such a great run in the third-line center role. However, with Meier on the roster, it just makes more sense to put Marleau back at center. That’s quite a lot of depth for team teal down the middle.
Others in the mix would include Nikolay Goldobin and Barclay Goodrow who offer two different dynamics. Goldobin would likely need to feature in a top-six or top-nine role, while Goodrow is someone who could provide depth and energy on the fourth line.
Defense
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Paul Martin – Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon – Dylan DeMelo
The blue line is fairly straight-forward for team teal as DeMelo would slide back into the sixth spot where he featured in more than 50 contests in his rookie campaign. This would be a very solid grouping, but there would be no depth for this group should anyone go down with any injury.
Mirco Mueller would really be the only option, and I’m sure the organization would like him to spend some more time developing his game with the Barracuda.
In this scenario though, the Sharks would have to be very fortunate on the injury-front to get through a full season.
Goaltending
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
San Jose needs someone to play around 20 games in a backup capacity as team teal faces one of the most rigorous travel schedules in the league, while also having 16 back-to-back contests next year.
Last year at this time, it appeared that Troy Grosenick would be the man, but Dell outplayed him with the Barracuda.
Regardless, it would be a gamble either way if the Sharks relied on a backup netminder with no NHL experience to give you that kind of production.
Next: Hertl Deal Gives Sharks Options
As you can see, San Jose would be fairly well off up front, but their blue line depth and backup goaltender would be pretty big question marks.
Wilson always loves to leave some flexibility in terms of cap space to make a move or two at the trade deadline, so I wouldn’t expect the Sharks to go right up against the $73M cap. However, adding some insurance on the blue line and finding a proven backup netminder would fall right in line with team teal’s needs.
Buckle up and get ready for the frenzy!