The Sharks have the following players already lined up for roster spots up front:
Thornton, Marleau, Pavelski, Couture, Hertl, Ward, Nieto, Wingels, Smith, Karlsson, and Tierney. That’s 11 of 12 forward positions seemingly set in stone.
Tierney is a center, which should remove any doubt about his full-time status on the big club and Karlsson just received a nice raise that should render him a regular.
The question is, now, who is number 12?
Joonas Donskoi Nikolay Goldobin Mike Brown Raffi Torres Barclay Goodrow
Those five players are who I would peg as the top of the running list for the last position in the forward group. It’s likely that, regardless of what Igor Larionov thinks, Nikolay Goldobin will be kept with the Barracuda.
There could be a legitimate case made to have Donskoi playing with the Barracuda to adjust to the pro game in North America – although I’d rather see Donskoi ahead of Brown, Torres and Goodrow.
Raffi Torres’ situation still isn’t clear, no matter how optimistic some reports may be. There’s nothing that suggests Torres is going to be playing this year for certain. That leaves Brown and Goodrow.
My preference would be to do to Mike Brown what was done to Adam Burish last year – send him to the AHL and bury most of his contract. It won’t provide significant cap relief, but this move shouldn’t be about money. It should be about letting the better players play. If I had to make a guess, I’d wager Barclay Goodrow starts the season as the 12th forward for the San Jose Sharks – though he could be on a very short leash with Donskoi waiting below him.
This all means that the only change to the forward group is the addition of Joel Ward. While the team is deeper with his addition, it’s still not a glowing bottom six that can contribute to a four line roll. This team should be able to successfully send out three lines, but an adequate fourth is what can send teams deeper into the playoffs.
Now, of course there could be significant growth in player development over the season for some players who struggled last year - but let's not count chickens before they hatch. I'd much rather see Donskoi in the bottom six than Goodrow, but Goodrow is familiar and Donskoi needs to see some smaller ice, which may even mean some pre-season games might be enough for a better gauge.
So, my question to you Sharks fans is this:
Assuming the above 11 players are locked into roster spots, who do you think will be the 12th forward on opening night for the San Jose Sharks?
Thanks for reading.