the fix...

[sjrules99]

So, let's assume for the moment that the sharks swan dive remains a swan dive and they either miss the PO's entirely, or slip in as the 7th or 8th seed and lose to any of vancouver, detroit, or stl.

Forget DW and tmac changes. How would you change the roster as it currently is. In other words, you have to deal with existing cap restrictions (say 64.3M, same as this year since with the CBA action, its not clear what is to come) and existing salaries as listed on Capgeek. Currently, they have 8.7M or so on the cap left with 7F, 5D, and 2G. Try to make perspective deals at least somewhat reasonable given the other team's needs and the market prices (i.e. don't say trade niemi to the NY Rangers, who obviously dont have any need for a goalie). Let's be as realistic (as opposed to emotional and ridiculous) as we possibly can.

So, you are the GM, what do you do with the players?

 

[Likewall32]

Wouldnt matter how we want it, the main guys people want off the roster have NTC or NMC which is a handicap when thinking up trades. SJ is also a team that would rather give up the future then land a top player in the FA market. so that lets that out. so basically trade options are slim to none

 

[sjrules99]

Here would be my answer (all done over the summer)

My Philosophy: Maximize as much value and salary in your top 9F and top 4D. A good forward can play 18-20 mins, making your 4th line play zero, if desired. On back to backs, they might need to play 5 mins or so to give the top guys a break, but with three good lines, the 4th line becomes relatively unnecessary except in case of injury. However, if you have 9 good forwards, then 8 good forwards is still pretty good in case of injury. The sharks now have 6 good forwards, and thus only 5 with injury. That's obviously insufficient. On D, a top Dman can play at least 25 mins/game. That means your bottom pair may only play 10 mins each and thus can be anyone from a jay leach to a vandermeer or whatever. This makes the top 4 D the key there.

Step 1: Buy out handzus. I would love to trade him for a 7th rounder in 2064, but worst possible scenario, I buy him out. I now have 10.4M on the cap (his buyout costs 1.6M over 2 years, or .8 per, so I save 1.7)

Step 2: Trade Nemo for bozak straight up and call up stalock. I think Toronto takes this deal given that Bozak is a UFA after next season and they desperately need a goalie. Nemo gives them a #1 goalie at a reasonable cost who has won a SC and instantly gives stability to their net. Stalock costs 900k or so. this trade drops 3.8M and adds 2.4M for a net gain of 1.4M on the cap. I now have 7F, 5D, 2G and 11.8M of cap space.

Step 3: resign galiardi for 1M. He shouldnt cost more given the last two years of failures for him. However, he has shown an ability to play in the the past if given lots of ice with good players. 8F, 5D, 2G, 10.8M left.

Step 4: Package Murray + demers or Braun + Petrecki for Okposo, Grabner, or Moulson. NYI has strome coming up as well as niederreiter to go with tavares, so they already have an abundance of youth up front. However, the only Dmen they have signed for next year are streit, macdonald, and hamonic and no RFA's either. No UFA's of high value will want to go there, so signing a weber, suter or the like is highly unlikely. Streit is gone after next year too assuming he even lasts the year. They obviously need major help on D and this trade would help them next year with murray and into the future with petrecki and demers. Assume that it is Okposo who goes since moulson is a 50+ point player for just 3M and grabner scored 30 last year, so NYI holds them. Okposo's -20 is scary, but the skills are there and the D, I believe, can be coached and helped by better Dmen behind him and a better system. At 23 (nearly 24) years old, he's a good age for a breakout and signed long term at a reasonable number compared to his potential. Murray+Demers = 3.75 and Okposo would be 2.8 = roughly 1M savings on the cap. I now have 9F+3D+2G and 11.8M. (note: this trade might be a tough sell, so if needed a mid round pick can be added, but hopefully I negotiate well )

step 5: resign desi, ferriero, wingels for roughly 600k per average. Should not cost more than that given that none of them has been a regular in the lineup for a whole season. 12F+3D+2G with 10M left.

Step 6: Resign Braun for 1 to 3 years at 1M per year. he too hasnt been an NHL regular for a full season yet and should not cost more than 1M. 12F+4D+2G with 9M left.

Step 7: Sign Suter or weber. Likely, I would guess nashville will keep weber, but likely wont resign both. 6 years 40M for suter sounds about right (6.7M per, same as boyle). 12F+5D+2G with 2.3M left. I would make this a high priority and make that offer on July 1 at 9 am (or whenever the UFA season opens.) In fact, if no one else has traded for his rights but nashville seems sure to let him go, then potentially trade a late pick for the right to negotiate. Gotta get him. I would be shocked to see him go much above 7M, but if needed, go there up to 7.5M. That said, I'd still run with the 6.7M number for now based on my previously listed deal.

Step 8: Sign one vet Dman like a vandy or something like that for 800k. Scotty Hannan returns???

Step 9: allow competition internally for the #7 dman, and #13 forward. Best camp performance wins! those people get roughly 600k each for 1.2M. That gives me 13F, 7D, 2G, and no cap space. The downside is that acquiring at the deadline will be tough, but perhaps LTIR space will allow it? otherwise, I dont foresee a glaring hole there...

My realistic (although not most desirable) team would therefore be:

Top 9 F: thornton, Marleau, Pavelski, Couture, Bozak, Havlat, Clowe, Okposo, Galiardi.

The changes would be: Mitchell, Handzus out. Okposo, Bozak in. I would say that is a very big upgrade...

Defense top 4 would be: Boyle, Burns, Suter, Vlasic (bottom pairing of Braun and hannan/cheap vet)

Changes would be: Murray and Demers out. Suter and Hannan in. BIG upgrade with Suter playing 25+mins.

Goalie: Griess, Stalock

Neimi out. Stalock in.

The way I see it, that would give the sharks three real scoring lines. Say:

Thornton-Marleau-Pavelski
Couture-clowe-havlat
Okposo-Bozak-Galiardi.
(Note: this is in no particular order since all three lines would be expected to play 18-20 mins or so)

I wouldnt be surprised to see all 9 forwards break double digit goals and all three lines would have multiple scoring threats. If a guy like havlat got hurt, maybe okposo moves to cooch's line and you still have three good scoring lines because of bozak's ability. The depth up front is there.

On D, boyle, burns, suter, and vlasic can all play 25+ mins. All three of Boyle, Burns, and Suter are strong at both ends, and while I wish pickles was stronger offensively, such is life. At least this way the sharks have three strong offensive threats from the blue line instead of just two this year and minutes currently eaten by murray and demers/braun/white/vandy will go to suter which is a massive upgrade.

lastly, I have not dealt a single draft pick (unless the deals didnt work) and still got a 27 year old star defenseman and two top 9 forwards under 27 in okposo and bozak, so the future core is being built without hurting the present.

The risk is that it puts your eggs in an unproven basket in net. If both Stalock and Griess falter under the pressure, the whole year would be shot. however, Chicago put all their eggs in the nemo basket and won the cup. he was pretty unheralded and inexperienced but it paid off big time. anaheim made it one win from a cup in 03 with giggy who had never played a PO game in his life. Leighton for philly. halak for Mtl. Unproven goalies have been able to lead teams pretty far, so I think it's worth the risk.

 

[MrChangoT97]

I have a idea, but ill wait till after the season is over.

 

[sjrules99]

p.s.: I assumed that no prospect in the system emerges like cooch did. I am assuming that doherty, irwin, Abeltshuser (9th in QMJHL D Scoring), Demelo (6th in OHL D scoring) or most importantly Moffie (2nd in CCHA D scoring) remain in the minors/jrs/college or serve as #7 dmen playing minimal ice time and not having a major impact on the team. Moffie appears to be one of the best defensemen, if not THE best defensemen in the CCHA (The leading scorer, Krug, is just 5'9'', 180), and I think he was ranked among the top 10 in all of college hockey. I also assume that no forwards like Nieto (5th leading scorer in hockey east) or Freddie Hamilton (T-7th in the OHL) make the team either or at least don't have any impact on the team.

of course, it is entirely possible that Moffie makes the team and emerges as a real strong player, much like Shattenkirk did. That would be awesome

The sharks' cupboard, although bare compared to many, does have a few possible pearls. Moffie and Nieto look like pretty strong prospects and Hamilton as well. I've heard good things of Abeltshauser as well given his size and performance for Germany. The prized prospect is absent, but possible NHL quality guys still seem to be there...

p.p.s.: I totally called that trade as a huge win for STL. Shattenkirk is a stud and Johnson is so overrated.

 

[naes666]

does rooting for Vancouver count as an option?

 

[koblix]

I like the idea of 3 lines and Suter

 

[Cbrower91]

id trade thornton for Spezza straight up

 

[filosofy29]

I still think this team is highly talented and on paper the best they've ever iced. So my humble opinion is that there's something wrong in the locker room. This team doesn't even look like they care when they lose. They do not look like a desperate team laying it all on the line by blocking shots and crashing the net. Thornton is the Captain and rarely ever has quotes in the newspapers after losses.....why? He almost always has a quote in the paper after wins. I have ZERO idea if he is the problem or not, but like I alluded to in my Clowe/Thornton thread, I think there's a rift there and that TMac sides with Clowe.....and Rules said I could be GM .

So if I were GM, here's what I'd do:

Trades:
To TOR: Antii Niemi and Douglas Murray
To SJ: The rights to Nikolai Kulemin and a 2nd Round pick in 2012. Re-sign Kulemin to a 3 year $7.5M contract ($2.5 average per year)

Force Thornton out (ala Tampa Bay and Boyle):
To WPG: Joe Thornton
To SJ: Bryan Little and Grant Clitsome

UFA Signings:
Ryan Suter: 6 years - $40M
P.A. Parentau: 3 years - $11.25M
Brandon Prust: 1 year - $1M

Lineup:
Pavelski-Marleau-Parentau
Kulemin-Couture-Clowe
Galiardi-Little-Havlat
Prust-Handzus-Winnik

Burns-Suter
Boyle-Vlasic
Demers-Clitsome

Stalock
Greiss

Hopefully though, the Sharks pull their head out of their collective arses though and storm back to win the Division. Then, get a little playoff magic.....it could happen. And we all look back and laugh at our doom and gloom posts.

I will admit though now, I am getting very nervous about the playoffs. I still think they'll make it although I'm not sure how far they'll get after that.

Oh and Naes, I fucking loathe Vancouver, so I'll just root for the Nashville Predators.

 

[naes666]

Force Thornton out (ala Tampa Bay and Boyle):
To WPG: Joe Thornton
To SJ: Bryan Little and Grant Clitsome



oh yeah the CLIT commander!

Oh and Naes, I fucking loathe Vancouver, so I'll just root for the Nashville Predators.

I hear ya, they used to be my backup Western Team but after last years hideous sportsmanship, lost a lot of respect...so i may be looking for a new backup team...not sure i can root for Nashville but they are underdogs to a degree so it would be an easy transition from being a Sharks fan!

over in the East i am still a Devils fan and Islanders but have been really enjoying Winnipeg this year.

 

[naes666]

p.s. cannot and will not EVER EVER EVER root for Phoenix (as long as Raffi Torres is on their team) and I HATE DALLAS and DETROIT.

maybe we should pull for St. Louis?

 

[Stackem]

Agreed with Filo and Kork - any fix it plan that doesn't start with moving Joe, is a not a fix it plan. Doug needs to demand from Thornton the list of 5-10 teams he's willing to be traded to and make something happen.

Will this occur? No. What will happen? Blame / fire the coah (again), blame / change the bottom six (again), blame / change the D (again), blame / change goalie (again), get angry, makes lots of noise, promise to resolve... blah, blah, blah...

 

[Ray_Dogg]

I don't see how you could go another season with Thornton and Marleau. This team would need a new direction and it starts at the top. Some championship caliber leadership would need to be brought in.

 

[23sharks]

Wouldnt matter how we want it, the main guys people want off the roster have NTC or NMC which is a handicap when thinking up trades. SJ is also a team that would rather give up the future then land a top player in the FA market. so that lets that out. so basically trade options are slim to none

Definitely true. With all the NMC's on this team, you are going to see pretty much the same team the next 2 seasons after this one.
They have supposedly made some good free agent offers to players, but you're right, they certainly haven't landed any impact guys through free agency.

 

[SJVP408]

Hold on...


wrong thread

 

[SJVP408]

yeah...they protect a lead.

Sharks Win!

 

[Cmon_WTF]

Apparently the "Fix" is not dressing Colin White...

 

[sjrules99]

I dont know how you have a draw in the O-zone with 12 seconds left and give up a 3 on 2... Survived, but man, it takes all the sharks have and some luck to beat the edmonton oilers. If they win tomorrow, Ill be thrilled but shocked.

 

[SJVP408]

Apparently the "Fix" is not dressing Colin White...

Direct correlation. White stay away.

 

[naes666]

Apparently the "Fix" is not dressing Colin White...

^^^^^ winner winner chicken dinner ^^^^^