For the first part of the season review let’s take a look at role performance and see who overperformed or underperformed according to dCorsi60 from war-on-ice.com. You can play the eye-test game with these players along the way but, generally, you should come to the same results +/- a few players. We could look at the team as whole and say they underperformed as a group but there were some bright spots among the dark season.
Keep in mind these are the season numbers for each player so, for example, a guy like Chris Tierney who really excelled over the last portion of the season might not come in as underperforming on the eye test, but keep the entire season in the picture. Tierney’s play was promising for the last little while and he’ll have a chance to improve his season performance next year in a bigger, more consistent role. I did keep Freddie Hamilton and Bryan Lerg off the list for their 1-2 games of service.
Let’s look at The Exiled players first – those who were traded or claimed on waivers.
Demers, McGinn and Desjardins: They all underperformed. No surprises here. Demers actually turned his entire season around when he went to Dallas and finished his time with the Stars sporting a 11.23 dCorsi60.
Sheppard and Kennedy: Sheppard met expectations for his roles. He had a better season this year with the Sharks than previously and the result was good. The Sharks were able to flip him for something of worth at the trade deadline and Chris Tierney emerged from the shadows to pick up his game with an increased role. Kennedy is an effective bottom six player and if you’ve played along all season you’ll know where I stand with him. I liked him. The Kennedy trade – barring a surprise Cup win by the Islanders this year – was a massive failure. A 7th round pick for one of your most effective role players is a shameful return. Kennedy was in the doghouse for reasons unknown and no matter what he did he wasn’t getting out.
Let’s move on to The Replacements – the players who played between 4 and 27 games for the Sharks this season.
Haley and Hayes: Both of these players equally underperformed during the course of their short season with San Jose. They were fill-ins when the juggling balls would escape the grips of Todd McLellan for the fourth line. This shouldn’t be a surprise as there wasn’t a large expectation from either player.
Brown and Burish: Despite the Sharks pretty win/loss record with Mike Brown in the lineup he isn’t an effective player. Heart and grit are good assets if you can combine that with even the smallest hint of talent – but Mike Brown doesn’t qualify for that. You can find tough players that aren’t a liability and that should be the goal for next year. Adam Burish is, well, Adam Burish. Nice guy, I’m sure, but not much of a hockey player at this stage in the game.
Stollery and Tennyson: Stollery’s numbers ‘wow’ me because what I saw in Stollery was an excited player who was constantly out of position and fighting to stay afloat in the defensive zone. He did manage to come out unscathed for the short time he spent with the Sharks but I’d wager that wouldn’t hold up over the course of the season if he didn’t settle himself down. Tennyson struggled, there’s not much else to it. He underperformed and found himself in the McLellan doghouse. It’s going to be tough for him to make his way back into the lineup moving forward after a rough season.
Tarasov and Fedun: Here are two players I would have liked to see more of. Tarasov was a spot filler who played well during his time up and the performance gauge reflects that. Fedun is a guy I wanted to see all season long and when he –finally – got the chance to play he played well. He’s got the ability to be a solid puck mover and if his defensive zone play can tighten up he may end up being a solid regular defender. His right shot is working in his favor.
Ben Smith: Acquiring Smith was a weird favor to the Blackhawks for salary cap purposes. He, like Mike Brown, has a giant heart and great work ethic – but he’s lacking in the hockey talent part of things. Smith has a lot to work on in the offseason to become an effective role player and if he shows up to training camp without improving the Sharks should go in another direction. There’s no need to waste roster spots with capable players lying around – or players that deserve a chance to prove something.
Lastly, The Regulars – the guys who played between 38 and 82 games for the San Jose Sharks in 2014-2015.
Thornton, Pavelski and Karlsson: What a fantastic line this was, wasn’t it? Karlsson gelled with 19/8 as soon as he was placed on the line. He always seemed to be in the right spot and he wasn’t a liability on the ice. Is he a first line, or a top six, player? Probably not, but he’s going to be one solid third liner when the universe balances. Thornton and Pavelski are great, not much else to say on those two.
Couture, Marleau and Wingels: This was the Sharks main second line throughout the year – and they failed at their job. Couture, despite a solid season on the scoresheet, didn’t get the job done away from the puck. He’s supposed to be the Sharks shutdown master and he was more like the student this season. Marleau’s struggles were well documented all season and a blind person would know he underperformed.
I don’t think that this year signifies the end of Marleau at a high level, but it’s definitely concerning. Wingels is a textbook mark of eye-test trickery. I love Tommy Wingels and he’s got some upside to him, but he didn’t play well this year. He bounced around without finding much success anywhere after the start of the season and needs to come back in a big way next year. He finished the season more in line with being a fourth line player than the third line player he can be.
Tierney, Nieto and Hertl: Tierney played better down the stretch and leaves us with a positive outlook for his future seasons. Nieto and Hertl are possession giants that struggled offensively during their sophomore campaigns. I still wouldn’t rule out Hertl as a potential top-six winger but he sure did play well on the third line. Nieto couldn’t buy a goal for much of the season but played strong night in, night out, for the Sharks. These three players give the Sharks a good third line to move forward with.
John Scott, Barclay Goodrow and Scott Hannan: Both Scott and Hannan played in significantly more games than they should and the numbers should line up with what you think of them – just plain bad. I can’t envision either player being back with the Sharks next year. Whichever role they played in throughout the year they failed to execute effectively. Tarasov and Fedun should have been playing over both of these players all season long. Goodrow had a rough year and how effective he is depends largely on his linemates. He did look better down the stretch like a lot of Sharks but, overall, he had a disappointing campaign.
Irwin and Mueller: Mueller was on the underperform side of things but he’s a rookie, so he gets a pass. As expected, he’s got things to work on but he was the Sharks fifth best regular defender. He’s got the tools to be a solid second pairing defender in the NHL once he gets some confidence after an in-and-out of the lineup season. Irwin was the lesser of two evils in Scott Hannan all year but he actually didn’t play terrible for a good stretch during the second half of the year. Should he be back on the blueline for San Jose next year? No, but he wasn’t as awful in the end as I thought he’d end up.
Burns and Dillon: Brent Burns got thrown under the bus all year – but he actually got better as a defender as the season went on. By the end of the year Brent Burns was a solid top four defender, like it or not. Without Burns on the blueline there would have been almost no puck movement. Brenden Dillon is a beauty. He played well for the Sharks and is only getting better. He should be part of the solution moving forward in San Jose.
Braun and Vlasic: Braun underperformed, Vlasic overperformed. That’s what the eye-test would have told me all year. Braun needs polishing. He has a hard time functioning without Vlasic more so than other players do and it hurts his overall value to the team. The Burns/Vlasic pairing didn’t work out because Braun couldn’t handle a different partner. For Vlasic, well, he’s an underrated stud defender. He’s a legitimate number one rearguard in the NHL and while he might not put up the Norris offensive numbers he’s going to give you strong defensive zone play and smart zone exits. He’s invaluable to the Sharks.
That wraps up part one of the season review. Thanks for reading.
*I'd like to send a huge thank you out to everyone who donated to the Canadian Cancer Society and helped me hit (and exceed) my fundraising goal for the Ottawa Marathon. I crossed over the 100% mark and the support is greatly appreciated. http://convio.cancer.ca/goto/timchiasson