Another off day for the Sharks and after tonight they’ll either be in 10th place in the West all by themselves with a Minnesota win or have watched Dallas equal them in points should the Stars come out victorious. Either way you look at it there’s nothing good coming from tonight’s games.
Let’s talk about some positive things for a minute.
Nikolay Goldobin
Goldobin is in action this afternoon in the Finnish League, playing his 14th game. Through the first 13 games of his Liiga career, the Sharks top prospect has recorded five goals and four assists for nine points and sits with a -2 rating. His ice-time has ranged from 15:51 to 24:25 in those thirteen games and has generally been up and down on a game-by-game basis.
From a development standpoint it’s good to see Goldobin finding success in a professional league and you have to think the Sharks are banking on him being in a top-six role for 2015-2016 in San Jose. He has more upside than Tomas Hertl does so it shouldn't come as a shock to anyone to have him considered a future top-six player in San Jose.
Raffi Torres
Torres return is getting closer and his plan is to return without an ACL. That’s fine by me. I was never a huge Raffi Torres fan, nor do I think he’s had any impact at all on this team since being acquired due to his minimal games played, but at this point injecting his lunch-pail attitude could be good for the team as long as he doesn't do anything stupid on the ice like he has in the past.
The plan is to start skating over the next few days and take it from there. There is no actual timetable for his return but I’d guess if things go well we could see him in early January.
Now let’s see how the Sharks really feel….
The team’s frustration is mounting and, like I said yesterday, the confidence is gone. This quote from Joe Pavelski via Kevin Kurz on twitter is an indicator of how the Sharks confidence is doing and where they’re at mentally.
Pavelski: "The harder we try right now, it’s like the worse it’s going, so we’re probably not doing the right things from guy to guy."
— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzCSN) November 27, 2014And finally….
Yesterday we fired Todd McLellan and searched for a replacement. The results were inconclusive and ranged from Leafs and Oilers fans trying to trade Carlyle and Eakins for expired bus tickets to blowing the up the entire roster and starting over. One step at a time people. The coach is always the first to go, that’s just how the NHL food chain works. Don’t worry though, because it’s another off day we’re going to fire Doug Wilson right now and search for his replacement.
Who should replace Doug Wilson?
Depth is an issue in San Jose, anyone disagree? Didn't think so.
There has been lots of talk but no action on solving this problem dating back to last season so we’re left with no other option than to call Wilson into question.
I’ve read articles and comments defending McLellan based on Wilson’s lack of moves. It’s true, McLellan can’t acquire his own depth, but if you actually watched this season you’d notice that McLellan is a loose cannon behind the bench and hasn't been doing himself any favors in the decisions department.
Back to Wilson.
Who is out there right now that is a serviceable replacement should Wilson lose his job? Do the Sharks promote someone to interim-GM or just go right ahead and grab themselves a full-time manager?
I don’t like the idea of trading Thornton or Marleau right now, and I never have, because that signals a rebuild when I think this team is still a playoff capable team that with a few depth acquisitions up front and a top four d-man can still legitimately compete in the West as usual. They started the season 4-1. 19 games later some think it’s the end of the world and that tearing up the core will move the Sharks forward this year.
However, if that’s the route that people want to take maybe a change in GM is enough to persuade them to waive the NMC. It’s not completely ludicrous to think that they both might be holding out just to spite Wilson because of how they've been treated lately.
Ex-Players seem to be the theme right now with Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman taking posts over the last few years and they've done a good job, Yzerman especially.
What about Rob Blake?
The current assistant GM in LA played two seasons in San Jose and might make a pretty good general manager. He’s learning under a great one right now in Dean Lombardi so that has to count for something.
Would Blake consider a move within California or does his loyalty fully reside in Los Angeles, where his playing days were spent in majority? Yzerman traded the Red Wings for a GM position in Tampa so it’s not unrealistic to think Blake would do the same.
Share your thoughts on who should replace Doug Wilson as GM should he be fired in the comment section. Do you like Rob Blake as an option or is there someone you like more? Oilers fans, no attempts to trade MacTavish for food stamps. The Sharks don’t need your problems, they've got enough of their own.
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