Blades of Teal
Fansided

3 Trade Deadline Budget Moves for the San Jose Sharks

By Lucas Burrell

SAN JOSE, CA - FEBRUARY 02: An overhead view as the San Jose Sharks celebrate the overtime win against the Arizona Coyotes at SAP Center on February 2, 2018 in San Jose, California (Photo by Brandon Magnus/NHLI via Getty Images)
SAN JOSE, CA - FEBRUARY 02: An overhead view as the San Jose Sharks celebrate the overtime win against the Arizona Coyotes at SAP Center on February 2, 2018 in San Jose, California (Photo by Brandon Magnus/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 4
Next
PHILADELPHIA, PA – FEBRUARY 09: Philadelphia Flyers left wing Michael Raffl (12) warms up before the NHL hockey game between the Anaheim Ducks and the Philadelphia Flyers on February 09, 2019 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadlephia PA. (Photo by Gavin Baker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – FEBRUARY 09: Philadelphia Flyers left wing Michael Raffl (12) warms up before the NHL hockey game between the Anaheim Ducks and the Philadelphia Flyers on February 09, 2019 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadlephia PA. (Photo by Gavin Baker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Michael Raffl

This one is more of a gamble for the San Jose Sharks considering Michael Raffl has struggled this season. He’s accumulated 11 points through 43 games and is on a career low 0.09 goals per game pace. He’s spent most of his time this year on the fourth line averaging 11:37, per Hockey-Reference.

His minimal impact this season is credited to a number of reasons. Whether that be declining performance because of age, bad teammates, or just bad luck, Michael Raffl has the history of being a solid contributor. He has playoff experience and a 20 goal season on his résumé.

The underlying numbers suggest that he’s performing well considering his surroundings. His 39.91 ZSR per Corsica.Hockey illustrates that the Flyers are using him in more of a defensive role. His 48.24 CF% and  0.25 xG+/- are good indicators that the team does a relatively good job staying a float when Raffl is on the ice.

His shooting percentage is 9% which is 3% lower than his career average over 6 years, according to Hockey-Reference. Similar to Matt Cullen it’s not hard to picture Michael Raffl taking off after joining the San Jose Sharks. Their ability to generate consistent offense would grant Raffl more opportunities to succeed and convert his limited shots into goals.

The fourth line left-wing spot is one of the San Jose Sharks weakest positions, which makes Raffl a good fit on this roster. The Flyers have played a lot better lately, but I doubt they see Raffl as part of their future. He’s on the last year of his deal worth 2,350,000 million AAV, per CapFriendly and could be had for a 4th or 5th round pick.

Home/Editorials