#SJSharks and head coach Todd McLellan have mutually agreed to part ways. http://t.co/GGFhDwpAUv
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 20, 2015Todd McLellan is finished as head coach of the San Jose Sharks. Fired, mutual, quit. Whatever you want to call it, it's over.
Assistant Coaches Jim Johnson, Jay Woodcroft, and Video Coordinator Brett Heimlich were let go as well.
No announcement of position shifting for Doug Wilson so it looks like the Sharks will press on with Wilson at the helm again.
On to the rest of the original post...
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Lottery Impact
The Oilers winning the lottery changes nothing for the San Jose Sharks. They still select ninth and they will still likely be hoping that Ivan Provorov is around, although New Jersey, Philadelphia and Columbus may have something to say about it.
McDavid, Eichel, Strome, Marner and Hanifin should be the top five picks. After that there is nothing really set in stone so there is a chance that the Sharks land Provorov – or maybe they can swing a deal to move up to ensure they get their man.
It will cost them something – but it won’t be an astronomical price to slide three spots. We’re not talking Mueller or Goldobin + the first or something ridiculous. It’s something to consider and would definitely make the Sharks draft day interesting should they swing a deal to move up.
On the other hand, if Provorov was there main target and Werenski doesn’t stand out for the Sharks there is always the option of trading down to acquire more assets and draft a defender like Oliver Kylington. The Swedish defender is no slouch.
The Sharks have options and whichever way they go – even if they don’t draft a defender – they’re going to get a quality player to put into the system.
Let’s say Provorov isn’t there – or isn’t going to be there - what would you do with the pick? Would you trade up to get him? What would you offer? Are you that confident that Werenski is so much better than the rest of the first round defenders that you wouldn’t trade down? If you would trade down, what would you want for the 9th overall pick? Comment section.
Worcester Sharks
The baby Sharks are the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference and will face off against the Hersey Bears in the first round of the AHL playoffs. That series gets underway on Friday, here is the schedule from www.theahl.com
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Series “B… (best-of-5) 2-Hershey Bears vs. 7-Worcester Sharks Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 24 – Hershey at Worcester, 7:00 Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 25 – Hershey at Worcester, 7:00 Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 29 – Worcester at Hershey, 7:00 *Game 4 – Fri., Apr. 1 – Worcester at Hershey, 7:00 *Game 5 – Sun., May 3 – Worcester at Hershey, 5:00
It will cost them something – but it won’t be an astronomical price to slide three spots. We’re not talking Mueller or Goldobin + the first or something ridiculous. It’s something to consider and would definitely make the Sharks draft day interesting should they swing a deal to move up.
Niemi Wants to Return
There have been whispers that Niemi wants to come back. Too bad for him.
He’s going to want a raise and he just isn’t worth it. The only way Niemi should be back is if the Sharks have absolutely zero options elsewhere. It’s time to move on. The Sharks should already have a few draft targets in mind for the 9th overall pick so the focus right now should be on figuring out which goaltender is worth targeting via trade to be the cage guardian for 2015-2016.
There’s no need to go out on a whim and trade for someone’s backup because they played 10 good games. Do some investigation and find the right guy. There’s no need to go full-Oilers and hope for the best.
Thanks for reading.