Pry Ekman larsson?

[sjrules99]

I was thinking about the Sharks' needs heading into the second half and the postseason, and the only thing I could think of was one more major threat from the blueline. Obviously, Burnzie is one of the top (if not #1) Dman in the league, and pickles is one of th best (if not #1) shut down dman in the league. They have a very strong D, but i feel they are one more elite 2-way defenseman from being an unstoppable threat. They have the forward depth, especially when hertl returns and if Boedker can play as he has throughout his career. The emergence of lebanc basically gives the sharks 4 lines that can score, so I dont see any purpose in adding a guy like doan or some other rental forward as they will replace a good player like karlsson in the lineup. Doesnt make sense to sacrifice valuable assets for such a player.

however, if they were able to add a 25 minute, two way threat on D, to complement pickles and burns, they would be completely impenetrabl.

I would love to see the sharks make a play for ekman-larsson, and then pair him with pickles (either dropping braun down to a third pairing or trading him). That would give the sharks a double digit goal scoring, scary threat on both of the top D pairings to complement four threatening O lines. Here are my thoughts:

From phoenix's perspective:

They are done. This year is toast. Next year is likely toast too as they are completely out of it and totally rebuilding from the ground up. They have several good young players (domi, et al), but they are not ready to make a real run. Thus, they would be wise to get high value of their tradeable assets now. Doan gives them little. Hanzal not much too. OEL has 2 more years after this one before becoming a UFA. He is likely to bolt to a contender after that time. It is true that there are two additional years but that just raises his trade value as I see it. Phoenix needs 3 things: good veteran help on D (29th in goals against), goof young (sub 25) forwards, and picks/prospects. The sharks can offer all three.

Braun+Hertl+1st rounder for OEL. Braun is signed on equal term with OEL at nearly 2M less. hertl is a dominant top 6 forward when healthy. This is a risky part of the deal for the yotes, but he fits the sub 25 top 6 forward mold at a reasonable price. The 1st is a 1st: late but still obviously very valuable. The sharks could sweeten the deal by adding in a top prospect like goldobin, O'regan, or Mueller.

for SJ:

the sharks D pairs would now have a top 2 pairings with ALL star Dmen, All 4 olympians, and a second PP unit pointman. OEL, Pickles, and Burns can all eat nearly 30 mins/game in a key Playoff matchup reducing exposure to dillon or 3rd pairing trouble as we saw last year, and it makes the sharks incredibly hard to contain. The sharks also get that setup at a friendly 5.5M/yr for two additional years.

Furthermore, Hertl has become somewhat expendable. He is still very valuable, but no longer essential. Lebanc and Meier have really stepped up, and with Boedker potentially emerging, they have the depth to easily absorb Hertl being gone. The 1st rounder is so late that there is likely only a 50/50 chance he makes the NHL anyways, and such the price get an elite Dman. They also can absord the loss of goldy (who does not impress me) or mueller or O'regan as although the farm is not all that deep, the sharks need to think about now with Jumbo and patty nearing the end.

Jumbo-pavs-Meier
Couture-Donskoi-Lebanc
marleau-Ward-Tierney
Karlsson-Boedker-Wingels

Burns-Martin
Ekman larsson- Vlasic
Dillon-Schlemko
(Demelo/Heed/Mueller)

Jones

That is a stanley cup caliber roster.

 

[Cbrower91]

Your nuts if you think Hertl is replaceable for a Dman who's getting top minutes on a crap team. Its Jay Bouwmiester all over again, big numbers in Florida but once he went to a team where he wasn't eating up big PP minutes his numbers plummeted. Burns takes those minutes, OEL gets no chance to produce at current levels with Burns in front of him on the PP and top line. Hertl is the future center of this team jumbo doesn't have much time left and you don't give away quality center men for positions your already strong at. Depth forward is what they need with all the injuries, Demelo has proven to be a more then capable 7th dman. Injuries have been the biggest factor on the blue line this year

 

[sjrules99]

Your nuts if you think Hertl is replaceable for a Dman who's getting top minutes on a crap team. Its Jay Bouwmiester all over again, big numbers in Florida but once he went to a team where he wasn't eating up big PP minutes his numbers plummeted. Burns takes those minutes, OEL gets no chance to produce at current levels with Burns in front of him on the PP and top line. Hertl is the future center of this team jumbo doesn't have much time left and you don't give away quality center men for positions your already strong at. Depth forward is what they need with all the injuries, Demelo has proven to be a more then capable 7th dman. Injuries have been the biggest factor on the blue line this year

perhaps, you are right, and perhaps its stupidly academic as I dont think Arizona would move him. that said, hertl is one more knee hit from being done. he has had 3 knee injuries already and those often dont heal just right. I would not be surprised to see him go out long term again soon. I also think hertl, while good, is not a future #1 C. He is a good player, no doubt, a solid top 6 forward, but he is not explosive like other top C's in the league.

Also, I really like the idea of having 2 threats from the point. Yes OEL would likely see less ice and less prime PP time. However, LA won, not because of doughty, but because of doughty along with Voynov, Martinez, and Muzzin. they had 4 guys on D who could light you up. Chicago had Keith, but also Seabrook, Soupy, and hjalmarsson. The pens had letang, but also Schultz who has emerged as a major threat since leaving EDM. The sharks have one. Pickles is a mediocre threat, but braun, dillon, and schlemko dont force defenses to spread out in the Defensive zone and open up space down low the way burns does. If OEL is paired with Pickles and plays 25-30 mins/gm, then the sharks will basically always have OEL or Burns on the ice (for all but maybe 5-10 mins/gm) and other teams will always have to be keenly aware of the scoring threat from the point. It will open tons of space for the forwards, and keep offensive zone time up and be really tough to shut down.

I don't like dillon. I still see him, much like last year, as the key weakness that other teams can key on. I also am falling out of love with braun. He looked downright bad when pickles went down, and while I think the pickles-braun pairing works well, I wonder if the sharks couldnt leverage that into getting a great return for braun. pickles likely makes any D partner look good and would make a great partner for OEL at both ends.

 

[Cbrower91]

perhaps, you are right, and perhaps its stupidly academic as I dont think Arizona would move him. that said, hertl is one more knee hit from being done. he has had 3 knee injuries already and those often dont heal just right. I would not be surprised to see him go out long term again soon. I also think hertl, while good, is not a future #1 C. He is a good player, no doubt, a solid top 6 forward, but he is not explosive like other top C's in the league.

Also, I really like the idea of having 2 threats from the point. Yes OEL would likely see less ice and less prime PP time. However, LA won, not because of doughty, but because of doughty along with Voynov, Martinez, and Muzzin. they had 4 guys on D who could light you up. Chicago had Keith, but also Seabrook, Soupy, and hjalmarsson. The pens had letang, but also Schultz who has emerged as a major threat since leaving EDM. The sharks have one. Pickles is a mediocre threat, but braun, dillon, and schlemko dont force defenses to spread out in the Defensive zone and open up space down low the way burns does. If OEL is paired with Pickles and plays 25-30 mins/gm, then the sharks will basically always have OEL or Burns on the ice (for all but maybe 5-10 mins/gm) and other teams will always have to be keenly aware of the scoring threat from the point. It will open tons of space for the forwards, and keep offensive zone time up and be really tough to shut down.

I don't like dillon. I still see him, much like last year, as the key weakness that other teams can key on. I also am falling out of love with braun. He looked downright bad when pickles went down, and while I think the pickles-braun pairing works well, I wonder if the sharks couldnt leverage that into getting a great return for braun. pickles likely makes any D partner look good and would make a great partner for OEL at both ends.

I don't agree with you on Schlemko, I'm pretty certain his injury was a concussion and those sort of take time to come back from, plus I want to see his playoff performance I think he's glingbtonbeva key factor I like the little things I've seen from him this far. Hertl is only 23 and has had 1 major knee injury and two minor, that's cut into his development big time. Last year when he was finally healthy and especially in the playoffs he was a absolute beast! So imagine if his development hadn't been stunted where he could potentially be, id say falls more into the lines of a power center kind of like Kopitar. Not expecting him to be Thornton. Pickles is having a strange season and hasn't had much luck on the injury side, hopefully that shit stops lol

 

[Cmon_WTF]

If the Sharks are looking at dmen they will go rental with the possibility to re-sign. They will look at someone like Shattenkirk who has listed San Jose as a desired destination.

All reports I've read have the Sharks in the market for a scoring forward. They've been linked to Landeskog or Duschene but with Hertl back and healthy and the Couture-Marleau-Boedker line showing good chemistry they may have dropped out of that market. If they are still looking for a forward their sights will probably drop to someone like Vrbata.

 

[Cbrower91]

If the Sharks are looking at dmen they will go rental with the possibility to re-sign. They will look at someone like Shattenkirk who has listed San Jose as a desired destination.

All reports I've read have the Sharks in the market for a scoring forward. They've been linked to Landeskog or Duschene but with Hertl back and healthy and the Couture-Marleau-Boedker line showing good chemistry they may have dropped out of that market. If they are still looking for a forward their sights will probably drop to someone like Vrbata.

I can't imagine what the cost of shattenkirk would be, and how effective would he be in the #3/4 spot behind burns on the depth chart plus #2 PP time. Unless they dump Braun and expose Martinninntge expansion draft and pair him with Burnzie. Maybe goldolbin,Braun, heed, picks?

 

[sjrules99]

I can't imagine what the cost of shattenkirk would be, and how effective would he be in the #3/4 spot behind burns on the depth chart plus #2 PP time. Unless they dump Braun and expose Martinninntge expansion draft and pair him with Burnzie. Maybe goldolbin,Braun, heed, picks?

Shattenkirk has defensive issues that scare me, though I suppose that if paired with Pickles, it could be a parallel situation to martin-burns. One offensively gifted, one defensively solid.

That said, I dont see Shattenkirk as the kind of guy the sharks should chase. He is an upgrade offensively that I want them to have from the D, but he's not THAT good offensively and has been lucky to play with a highly talented team. OEL has a crap team to play on with crap forwards and no depth and still makes alot happen. I doubt shattenkirk would be worth acquiring unless they could somehow move Dillon instead of Braun in the deal (not likely).

Goldy has little value and heed is unlikely to be dealt just because it sets a really bad precedent to sign a free agent from europe, then trade him.

At this moment, I would rather dougie sit on his hands than trade future assets for a rental forward (not needed) or a mediocre defensive upgrade (not needed). Unless he lands a star Dman like OEL, it makes little sense to move major assets to fill a non-existent need.

Now, that said, adding a depth character forward for the 4th line like iginla or doan for a very small price (mid round pick) would be interesting. They would be highly motivated and it would be a feel good move. This is probably both of their last seasons and both would love a chance at a cup. It's not needed, and if the asking price is anything above a 3rd rounder, I wouldn't do it, but Iggy or Doan on the second PP unit or on the 4th line with spotted top 9 duty would help with depth. Injuries can happen and having a vet like that to slot in could prove useful. And if it worked, it would be so cute and would give dougie some kudos for giving them a chance.

 

[RP-29]

You bastages are talking about hijacking OEL to play on your second D pair?



Hell, the Wings' best defenseman might not crack your third D pair as it stands!

 

[Cmon_WTF]

Hell no to both Doan and Iginla on any line.

 

[sjrules99]

Hell no to both Doan and Iginla on any line.

No Andreychuk effect, cmon? Like I said, for nearly free, playing 8-10 mins/gm?

I suppose a ryan carpenter or goodrow might be a better option, but it's a nice thought.

 

[Cmon_WTF]

They dont need anymore leadership. They need to keep the speed and skill they finally have in the line up. Right now their only need is to find someone who will make the Joes more effective at even strength because those two have been an absolute disaster when they are not on the ice with either Marleau or Burns. They are doing a little better with Hertl but the team really needs Hertl to be the 3rd line center. Tierney has done an admirable job but he should really be on the 4th line.

 

[Cmon_WTF]

If you want to add veteran experience then hope the Stars are sellers at the deadline and try to pick up Patrick Sharp. At least he still has the speed and skill to play the game at a high level and fast pace.