1. The Sharks have a chance to purge themselves of prospects who haven’t worked out so far. Going by the cap situation on NHLNumbers.com, the Sharks have nine RFA’s and two UFA’s outside of the active roster. Daniil Tarasov is the only one that jumps out as a must-sign player. Others like Eriah Hayes, Michael Haley, Troy Grosenick and Taylor Doherty could be kept just so the Barracuda have some transfer – and the Sharks something to use in the event of an injury massacre – but this is an opportunity to completely change an underwhelming prospect system.
2. Sticking with that, to scour the ranks of the NCAA as well as the KHL and other European leagues for young talent to bring in could provide some serviceable players of the same age, but with a potentially higher ceiling. Yes, the Barracuda will need players to ice a team – but that doesn’t mean they need the players that seemingly have no future in assisting the Sharks in any capacity.
3. Adam Burish should start the 2015-2016 season in the same place he finished this year – the AHL. He’s got one year left that pays $1.85M and definitely doesn’t bring that value to the ice. He’s an easily replaceable player – as is Mike Brown, who should also join him in the AHL next year. Torres, Brown and Burish combine for a cap hit of over $4M – otherwise known as a waste of money. Do any of them bring anything so special to the Sharks that they can’t be replaced with functional bottom six players? The answer is no.
4. Of the active roster players there are 7 UFA’s and two RFA’s. The RFA’s – Dillon/Karlsson – should absolutely be resigned and there isn’t much chance they won’t be. For the UFA’s – Niemi, Stollery, Lerg, Scott, Hannan, Irwin, Fedun - I’d let them all walk except for Taylor Fedun. There’s a chance for a positive turnover in San Jose. Wilson can’t trade the players he wants to, but he can get rid of the garbage he’s been hoarding. Consider this off-season “Heavy refuse pick-up… and put as much on the curb as you can.
5. Will the new Sharks head coach choose to put the ‘C’ on someone? The drama from last year hasn’t cleaned itself up yet. Do the Sharks really plan on playing without a captain until Joe Thornton retires just so Wilson can prove a point? I think it would be hilarious to see a new coach come in and dub Thornton the captain again, but I’d wager a guess that Joe Pavelski is going to be wearing the ‘C’ in October under a new regime. Just get it over with and start the year with as little possibility for controversy as you can.
6. Speaking of captains, I wonder if Logan Couture is going to get weepy again when he doesn’t get a letter? If Pavelski gets the ‘C’ the logical rotation of assistants should remain the same – Thornton, Marleau and Vlasic, or maybe just naming two of them full-time. Couture has shown very little in the way of proving his value as a leader. Thanks for reading.