The San Jose Sharks have a deeper lineup this year than they did last season, and they’ve added a few good prospects while watching their 2014 draft class enjoy a nice season.
That doesn’t bode well for two of the Sharks current players that are heading into the final year of their contracts.
Ben Smith
Smith is overpaid for what he brings to the team and without a significant increase in his all-around play, he could find himself searching for a new home after next season. The quick and dirty answer for why he’s on the hot seat is because he makes $1.5M and if he wants that again it doesn’t make much sense for San Jose to do so with how he currently plays.
A cheaper – just about half the cost – player on an entry level deal could come in and do what Ben Smith does for the San Jose Sharks. His PK assignments can be dumped off on someone else at little, or no, change to the unit’s success.
The Sharks would be better served, as it stands now, to use the Torres, Brown and Smith dollars that will be off the books to deepen themselves with better talent while inserting an ELC like, say, Nikolay Goldobin into the fold for the 2016-2017 season – assuming he doesn’t crack the roster this year. It’s going to take one very impressive season for Ben Smith to cement his position within the Sharks organization moving forward.
Matt Nieto
First off, I love Matt Nieto. He plays a solid game of hockey but hasn’t had much luck. He’s not on the hot seat for complete job-loss like Smith, but he’s still at risk of losing something.
It’s the lack of luck and the hands of stone that might cost him a chance to play a bigger role within the organization in the future. The difference between Nieto and Smith is that Nieto is a restricted free agent and can be retained easier for less.
I don’t think he’s in jeopardy of not receiving a qualifying offer, but he is on the hot-seat as far as his position within the team goes.
If Nieto can’t find a way to finish offensively then he’s going to be forever relegated (potentially) to fourth line duties which, for me, would be a disappointing scenario for a player with decent potential like Nieto. He has several young kids within the organization working against him as well.
Dylan Sadowy, Rourke Chartier and even the elder Joonis Donskoi are all candidates to move ahead of Nieto on the imaginary depth chart of the future if Nieto can’t find a way to put up numbers similar to Tommy Wingels. If Nieto can find a way to record Wingels’ numbers then it will be hard to keep him out of a role bigger than the fourth line.
As much as I like Nieto, he’s in danger of being passed on the opportunity list by other players the Sharks have that could be ready to contribute after his current deal is over. Having Nieto as a fourth liner would still be solid depth for San Jose, but it’s not the outcome that was initially pitched for Matt Nieto.
Thanks for reading.