The San Jose Sharks have already dispersed several players back to their junior clubs, most notably Kevin Labanc. I’ll admit that Labanc has grown on me with his solid 200-foot game and desire to be an impact player, but the Sharks got it right by sending him back. There’s no need to send him into the fire early. Patience is key for young guys like Labanc – which is why Rourke Chartier and the rest of the really young players will likely be sent back to junior before camp is over.
San Jose has several, self-drafted, prospects that have taken a jump in worth, but the only one that has a chance to make the big club is Nikolai Goldobin. There’s nothing wrong with that, especially with the current makeup of this team.
I won’t lie, I would love for Goldobin to make this team in 2015-2016 – and his agent surely would as well – but I can’t see it happening. The Sharks have a win-now mentality that isn’t conducive with a ‘develop our own youth at the same time’ mentality.
You could argue, though, that Joonas Donskoi could make the club, as well as Dylan DeMelo, but, really, do we hold those players to the same expectations that we would for Goldobin? I’d wager not.
What everyone should expect from training camp is the expected. The prospects – the true youth – will head back to junior or wherever they came from, and the main core will stay intact. Players like Donskoi and DeMelo have opportunities to emerge as roster players because they are fringe guys coming out of the AHL – or in Donskoi’s case, coming from Liiga and potentially being ready for some depth work at the NHL level.
All in all, there shouldn’t be much surprising decisions by the time the San Jose Sharks training camp ends as far as personnel goes.
What could be surprising is line combinations. Where will Patrick Marleau end up? Will DeBoer throw everyone for a loop and not pair Paul Martin with Brent Burns? Martin had some pretty nice things to say about Burns recently.
“Burznie [has] that offensive capability to get up the ice and create offense that way from the back end,… Martin said, comparing Burns to Letang. “So for me, [it’s] to read off where he’s at, and if he’s up the ice, falling behind, making sure we’ve got it covered that way.… (The Gackle Report)
For those of you under a rock, Kris Letang is pretty fantastic, and Paul Martin would know. If the top four defenders on the San Jose Sharks after training camp don’t look like this, I’ll be puzzled, shocked and disappointed: Vlasic/Braun, Martin/Burns. The forwards? Well, that’s a different story. I’ve already advocated a Thornton/Marleau reunion for maximum value, but the actually lines remain to be seen. That’s the most interesting part of training camp/pre-season for me with San Jose.
There’s also the case of where Tomas Hertl, Matt Nieto, Joel Ward and Tommy Wingels slot in. Those four players and where they are situated in the lineup will have a direct impact on how much success this team has. I have my thoughts, but I want to know yours. What do your 2015-2016 San Jose Sharks forward lines look like for opening night?
Thanks for reading.