Sharks' Window to Win

[SJVP408]

We talk about the Sharks going 'all in' to win it this year, but realistically, how many seasons do you think the Sharks have of winning it all? I would tie it directly to Thornton's, Marleau's, and Boyle's rate of decline. The rest of the team is either trending up, about to hit their prime, or just entered their prime.

As Boyle declines, I'd expect Burns, Demers, and Vlasic to improve. As Thornton and Marleau decline, I'd expect Couture to improve. Clowe's and Pavs' game should stay where they are currently at for another 3-4 years. Niemi is 27 and has only been subjected to what amounts to 1.5 seasons of the NHL. He should be stable for the duration of his new 4 year deal.

Thornton, Marleau, Havlat may be on the downside of their prime age, but still have a good 2-3 years left of being clear cut top line talent. Boyle's decline should be offset by the maturation of the younger dmen. It's very reassuring that Doug has locked up the core for the Sharks chances to win and it's going to be a very fun 3 years as a Sharks fan.

 

[abaskin18]

I feel like no matter what happens the fan base will find something to whine about. I don't foresee that window ever closing in my lifetime.

Oh, my bad, you said window to WIN... 3 years with this core.

 

[ads_2006]

if we win the cup this year

should help attracting more talent this way

 

[sjrules99]

its hard to predict...

I would argue that patty and jumbo are already in decline. Jumbo's injury in the PO's might have been a part of that. I would argue that within one or two seasons, they will be significantly worse. Boyle is surely already there. his play in the PO's showed that he struggles to keep up with the fastest forwards.

Demers should improve. vlasic may or may not since he hasnt exactly shown much improvement and has been in the league for 5 years. Burns' play in his own end remains to be seen, so I dunno if he will be quite the savior replacement for boyle that he is touted to be. Offensively, there is little question, but he needs to be good at both ends to garner boyle-like minutes. Cooch is awesome, but he is the only up-and-coming forward on the team. Furthermore, I dunno how much better he can be? he had over 30 goals last year, and I'm not sure he has the tools to score 40 on a year over year basis. Even if he does, his development couldnt be said to replace both jumbo and patty.

As of now, I think the sharks have 1, maybe 2, more seasons to win it WITH THIS SAME CORE. Now, I wouldnt be surprised at all to see some major changes in the roster if they fall short again. I think we cna expect one burns-level addition per year for the next few, such that by the end of jumbo and patty's current deals, the team will look pretty different.

 

[RaiderZar]

Addition by subtraction: no more Heatler, Wallin or Huskins. Our window just grew 10 fold.

 

[23sharks]

I'm guessing 3 more years with the majority of this group. There are going to be roster changes every year, but if you are talking about the core group, I'd give it 3 years. That's factoring in upgrades like Burns. If the group from last year stayed the same, I would say they would have finished up in about the same spot next season.
When Wilson goes out and gets Weber, Ovechkin, and Crosby....I'll give them 5+ years.....

 

[sjrules99]

I'm guessing 3 more years with the majority of this group. There are going to be roster changes every year, but if you are talking about the core group, I'd give it 3 years. That's factoring in upgrades like Burns. If the group from last year stayed the same, I would say they would have finished up in about the same spot next season.
When Wilson goes out and gets Weber, Ovechkin, and Crosby....I'll give them 5+ years.....

Stranger things have happened. Weber is obviously not satisfied in nashville and if the preds fall out of the PO contention, they could entertain offers for weber. They let timmonen walk. Traded Franson (who looks pretty darn good). Zidlicky, Hamhuis... the list is long and with Suter and rinne coming up on UFA status, along with weber as a RFA for 1 more year, nashville is gunna have some serious decisions. I dunno if they can dish out the cash to keep all three of those guys, and I'm sure they would rather get something in return for them.

Weber may well be available at trade deadline time. The price will be steep, but it is possible and we know dougie is not afraid to dish out big money and big prices for star players. he went big for jumbo, boyle, heater, now burns. He could deal pavs, vlasic, and 2 1st rounders for weber later on, then resign him to 5 years at 7.5M per year and be set on defense for the next 5 years.

Anything is possible if the deal makes sense...

 

[Destroydacre]

3 year window that many have said sounds good to me. I think Marleau and Thornton have about 3 more years of elite status left in the league (and then still some more good years as well, but they'll need more talent to supplement their game at that point). Boyle still has it offensively and with Burns and White in place of Wallin and Huskins, he should be able to reduce his ice time while not having to go up against the opponent's top line every shift. Should keep him good for a couple more years. If the Sharks had the talent in their minor league system that could develop and be ready in 3 years when I expect the top guys to start their decline, then I'd say the window is longer, but they don't so we can't say for sure the Sharks can still keep things going after that time. There's just no one there to pick up the reigns yet.

 

[Cbrower91]

The window is honestly resting on the shoulders of Pavelski,Couture, and Clowe. It stays open as long as those guys contribute.

 

[Bowlby]

you know, for as much as not making it to the stanley cup has sucked, we sure as hell have been pretty lucky these past years... we could be islanders fans....

 

[RaiderZar]

you know, for as much as not making it to the stanley cup has sucked, we sure as hell have been pretty lucky these past years... we could be islanders fans....

Yeah, they have 4 cups...

 

[Cbrower91]

The islanders almost look like they have direction now

 

[Slimpikins]

you know, for as much as not making it to the stanley cup has sucked, we sure as hell have been pretty lucky these past years... we could be Panthers/Thrasher/Blue Jackets fans....

fify

 

[MrChangoT97]

:confused2:atleast the F'ing Panthers made it to the Stanley Cup Finals.

BUT THIS HAS TO BE THE YEAR FOR THE SHARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please Doug make the right choices in getting the right 3rd & 4th line players for this team, if the Rookies don't work out.

 

[Likewall32]

We talk about the Sharks going 'all in' to win it this year, but realistically, how many seasons do you think the Sharks have of winning it all? .

ZEROOOOOO cause they wont win. They are gonna be rolling only 2 lines that can score and Havlet is a big question mark. No 3rd & 4th make them the new Blackhawks (loook what they turned into ater the cup season & they lost the 3rd & 4th lines). Because they already have the D, if they fail, DWil will try & improve the forwards next offseason by giving up D. They have alternated/traded off scoring & D multiple times. D sucks, get D lose scoring, scoring sucks, get scoring lose D, D sucks, get D lose scoring etc etc rinse repeat.

Sharks are the Chicago Cubs of hockey, except that management actually tries to win. Only prob is they have no clue how to put together the right right formula of players to win big.

Realistically, I dont see the Sharks hoisting the cup til this batch of players/coaches/GMs runs its course and are slowing replaced (Not that I dont like the players & staff, cause I do, so its not a knock to them, they just cant get it done for whatever reason)

 

[Cmon_WTF]

ZEROOOOOO cause they wont win. They are gonna be rolling only 2 lines that can score and Havlet is a big question mark. No 3rd & 4th make them the new Blackhawks (loook what they turned into ater the cup season & they lost the 3rd & 4th lines). Because they already have the D, if they fail, DWil will try & improve the forwards next offseason by giving up D. They have alternated/traded off scoring & D multiple times. D sucks, get D lose scoring, scoring sucks, get scoring lose D, D sucks, get D lose scoring etc etc rinse repeat.

Sharks are the Chicago Cubs of hockey, except that management actually tries to win. Only prob is they have no clue how to put together the right right formula of players to win big.

Realistically, I dont see the Sharks hoisting the cup til this batch of players/coaches/GMs runs its course and are slowing replaced (Not that I dont like the players & staff, cause I do, so its not a knock to them, they just cant get it done for whatever reason)

I don't quite get this. In what way is Havlat a questionmark? If you're talking the likelyhood of an injury I can understand but on the ice and in the lockerroom there should be absolutely no questions. The guy plays hard game in and game out and is a much, much better hockey player than Heatley. He soured a bit on a team that made no effort to win but even with that he wasn't a distraction on or off the ice.

As for the 3rd and 4th lines we don't really know what the Sharks have. Handzus is a great 2-way 3rd liner and if Mitchell continues playing like he did to finish out last year he is also a very good 2-way 3rd liner. Murray, if he can stay healthy, is exellent for the 4th line and McGinn could be strong in that role too as long as he learns to keep his head in the game. Dejardins, while still a questionmark, showed more in his short stint with the team then Nichol did all last season which is most likely why Nichol wasn't re-signed.

On paper this team, as it stands, is the best San Jose has ever put on the ice.

 

[Toolrulzz]

Sharks are the Chicago Cubs of hockey

That makes absolutely no sense.

 

[Likewall32]

That makes absolutely no sense.

Its not hard to understand and is actually a quite common comparison for hockey fans I know in the chicago area, I will put it simple: The sharks are a team that will never win the cup any time soon and the team will constantly sell out games and rank high in fan base, and revenue just like the chicago cubs. and like the cubs every time the team looks like its about to get over the hump, they shoot themselves in the foot or some fluke play bounces them out of an important game.

Does it make sense to you now?

 

[Likewall32]

I don't quite get this. In what way is Havlat a questionmark? If you're talking the likelyhood of an injury I can understand but on the ice and in the lockerroom there should be absolutely no questions.

On paper this team, as it stands, is the best San Jose has ever put on the ice.

Thats exacly what I ment, and have to disagree with the last line of this statment as I felt the 04 team roster was a much better all around stong in every position and line then the current... And even tho I erased the part of you post bout Handzus, Ill add what I aready said when they signed him. The guy is a bum. McGinn is a bum. I like Mitchell a ton, but he reminds me of a poor mans Viktor Kozlov when he was a shark - the parts are there, the tools just cant put it together.

 

[Toolrulzz]

No, because the Cubs franchise has been around since 1876 and haven't been to a World Series since 1945 and haven't won one since 1908. And since their last WS appearance 66 years ago they've made the playoffs a whopping 6 times winning a grand total of 9 playoff games, 6 of those wins coming in one postseason.

The Sharks, on the other hand, have only been around 20 years, have made the playoffs 14 times and have 6 division titles. They've been to the playoffs 6 straight seasons, 7 if you don't count the lockout. And, like Cmon said, have assembled the best roster I can ever remember them having with the moves this offseason. We, as Sharks fans, have not suffered anything near what Cubs fans have suffered.