team needs

[sjrules99]

Obviously the need for a top pairing dman is glaring, but one other need that perhaps has gone overlooked is for 2 3rd line forwards. One could argue that seto'[s return will provide a much needed 3rd liner with punch, but they got absolutely nothing from their bottom 6.

The top 6 forwards and boyle all have over 20 pts. The next best forwards are seto and mitchell with a pathetic 7 points, on pace for a whopping 21 for the season. that's 4th line production, not third. Not a single bottom 6 forward is on pace to break even 10 goals this year. The sharks really miss Manny's 3rd line production and mitchell obviously isnt cutting it.

Dougie's got a whole shopping list of needs, I'm sure, but perhaps a legit 3rd line threat should be near the top given the likely low cost of such an acquisition. How about going after jamie Langenbrunner??? Rental, yes, but what a heart on that guy and he can definitely be a threat to score and has 2 cups to his credit. 2.8M cap hit makes him affordable if they dont mind moving mitchell, Mcginn, and/or a mid round pick. I dont think it would take all that much to get him...

 

[Cmon_WTF]

IMO, unless Wilson can land a youngish dman who'll be with the team for a few years to come, he should just stand pat for the remainder of this year then actually sack up and make some legit offers in UFA this coming offseason.

 

[Destroydacre]

IMO, unless Wilson can land a youngish dman who'll be with the team for a few years to come, he should just stand pat for the remainder of this year then actually sack up and make some legit offers in UFA this coming offseason.

I'm starting to lean this way as well. Just ride out this season. Let Braun get his minutes and maybe through injuries or whatever Joslin can get some minutes too. At least see what you have with those guys. Let the Sharks squeak into the playoffs/miss or whatever then in the off season Wallin, Huskins and Setoguchi all come off the books. If they decide that Stalock is ready and let Niemi walk there's some more money saved. Couture is the only member of the top 6 not under contract for next season, so he's gonna get a raise. But still the cap thing I'm looking at has the Sharks at $48M for next year. Assuming the cap stays around $60M and figuring that the money that the bottom 6 players will get should be about the same is they're getting this year, the Sharks should still be looking at about $5M left over, enough to get a top end defenseman. That would give the Sharks:

Boyle Murray
Top FA Vlasic
Demers Braun/Joslin

Assuming Vlasic can improve paired with a stud dman and with Demers a year older and hopefully at least one of Braun or Joslin having a year under his belt, that's not too shabby of a defense. It's something you can build on at least. And that would hopefully take a few minutes off Boyle's TOI too. He's been playing way too many minutes this year. As things stand now though I just don't see the Sharks going anywhere this year. Not with Huskins, Wallin and Vlasic playing like he has been.

 

[Cmon_WTF]

Couture has one more year on his ELS. And current projections for the cap right now are an increase to $62.0m provided the players enact the 5% inflator again.

 

[Destroydacre]

Couture has one more year on his ELS. And current projections for the cap right now are an increase to $62.0m provided the players enact the 5% inflator again.

The source I was looking at had Cooch as an RFA next year. Take away the $2.25M I figured for his raise and add in the $2M if the inflator is used and the Sharks could be looking at $9M to spend this offseason.

 

[Cmon_WTF]

The source I was looking at had Cooch as an RFA next year. Take away the $2.25M I figured for his raise and add in the $2M if the inflator is used and the Sharks could be looking at $9M to spend this offseason.

Yeah, I don't know why but I've seen more than one article/salary chart that lists him as RFA after this season.

Honestly what I'd like to see happen, even though I know there is no chance in hell, it Heatley's salary come off the books. I'd like to see this move mainly for salary structure reasons. Heatley, McGinn, and Mayers off the forward group and Vlasic, Huskins, Wallin removed from the defense.

I'd love to see Wilson move Heatley for a guy like Versteeg plus picks.

Other guys I'd like to see Wilson target:
Dan Girardi and Ryan Suter via trade
and Trevor Daley and Jussi Jokinen via UFA

Setting a line-up that could look something like:
Marleau - Thornton - Versteeg
Clowe - Couture - Setoguchi (Yes, I'm suggesting keeping Seto)
Jokinen - Pavelski - MacIntyre/other UFA signing
Mitchell - Nichol - McCarthy

Boyle - Girardi
Suter - Daley
Demers - Murray

That's a line-up with a lot of speed, a lot of puck moving ability, a lot of versitility, and a lot of offensive dimentions.

 

[Cbrower91]

They just need a hug

 

[Destroydacre]

Yeah, I don't know why but I've seen more than one article/salary chart that lists him as RFA after this season.

Honestly what I'd like to see happen, even though I know there is no chance in hell, it Heatley's salary come off the books. I'd like to see this move mainly for salary structure reasons. Heatley, McGinn, and Mayers off the forward group and Vlasic, Huskins, Wallin removed from the defense.

I'd love to see Wilson move Heatley for a guy like Versteeg plus picks.

Other guys I'd like to see Wilson target:
Dan Girardi and Ryan Suter via trade
and Trevor Daley and Jussi Jokinen via UFA

Setting a line-up that could look something like:
Marleau - Thornton - Versteeg
Clowe - Couture - Setoguchi (Yes, I'm suggesting keeping Seto)
Jokinen - Pavelski - MacIntyre/other UFA signing
Mitchell - Nichol - McCarthy

Boyle - Girardi
Suter - Daley
Demers - Murray

That's a line-up with a lot of speed, a lot of puck moving ability, a lot of versitility, and a lot of offensive dimentions.

I'd be for keeping Gooch as well if Heatley was traded. But yeah I don't see the Sharks trading Heatley either. I was going on the notion that there won't be any major trades made by the Sharks this year, but Wilson very well may do some dealing. There's just no way to predict what he's gonna do.

 

[Bowlby]

well u guys have pretty much laid it out, some scoring depth and a top 4 d-man(or 2?)