The San Jose Sharks have lots of their cap space tied up in veteran players, in response they expect their younger skaters to take on bigger roles.
Earlier this week the San Jose Sharks announced the signing of Kevin Labanc to a one year deal. With the 23-year-old winger locked in for next year Sharks fans can finally take get a clearer picture of what Team Teal’s roster might look like heading into next season.
The Sharks still have players like Melker Karlsson, Barclay Goodrow, Marcus Sorensen and likely Joe Thornton on their roster who will take on similar roles to what they had last year. They added the likes of Johnny Brodzinski and are rumored to add Patrick Marleau on a team friendly deal. However even with those additions, the losses of Joe Pavelski, Gus Nyquist, and Joonas Donskoi leave Team Teal severely lacking forward depth.
This void opens up a few opportunities for some of the young skaters within the San Jose Sharks organization to take on big minutes during this upcoming season. This sentiment got echoed by Team Teal’s General Manager Doug Wilson and recorded by Sheng Peng during a media scrum following the Kevin Labanc signing.
Wilson, on young #SJSharks forwards cracking line-up: "We have a group of young players ready to seize that opportunity. When you've got a strong defense, maybe the best in the league & you're strong down the middle, integrating wingers is probably the easiest thing to do." (1/2)
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) July 8, 2019
Wilson cited Gambrell, Chmelevski, Chekhovich, Gregor, Blichfeld, Halbgewachs, Bergmann, Yurtaikin, Suomela, Kellman & Ferraro on D, before adding, "We're going to have a lot of competition in camp." (2/2)
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) July 8, 2019
(Don't worry if he missed a name. Sund, for example, should be in mix)
For the first time in a while the San Jose Sharks are littered with offensive talent within their farm system. Skaters like Chmelevski, Chekhovich, and Blichfeld caught the attention of Sharks scouts and fans alike with their breakout junior campaigns during the 2018 – 2019 season. However there are still plenty of other players who are capable of taking on bigger roles at the professional level.
Now it is true that the San Jose Sharks will likely have some cap room to spare after everything is all said and done after extending the remaining free agents that were previously discussed. But that doesn’t mean that the Sharks need to spend in order to round out the edges of this roster.
To be honest the Sharks would be wise to sit on the remaining space heading into next season, unless Doug Wilson feels that he needs that capital to facilitate a deal. But a trade at the moment seems unlikely with most teams being content with their current clubs after filtering through the draft and free agency so it might be awhile before we hear any new regarding that.
Perhaps waiting for a time closer to training camp or even patiently waiting for the trade deadline during the regular season would be the Sharks best bet at finding the optimal piece for the right price to help supplement this roster. But for now the Sharks seems pretty content with their core group and have signaled that the young skaters within their organization will be getting a shot at playing big minutes in Teal.