Less than 24 hours stand between the NHL and July 1. The opening of free agency always brings a flood of news and notes to go along with the ridiculous overpayments that are typically doled out by managers around the league. As fun as it is to watch your favorite team bring in a big name, don't expect the San Jose Sharks to be particularly active buyers this year.
It seems like Doug Wilson still stands by his rebuild comments, saying as recently as two days ago that the Sharks needed to improve on the team chemistry front. From Arpon Basu of NHL.com
We've got talent, a lot of teams in this League have talent, but you've got to give L.A. credit; that was probably the closest team. Everything you hear about them is how close they were, how they take care of each other. You have to have that. There's teams that had it and lost it, there's teams that are trying to get it. That's really the core of what we're trying to accomplish.
Team chemistry. That's the name of the game here, folks. Perhaps labeling what's happening in San Jose as a "rebuild" was a severe misbranding by Wilson and his cohorts. The pieces are there for the Sharks to be a good team, and everyone knows it. In Wilson's mind, it comes down to his players and their willingness to go to war with and for each other. He sees some issues there, so it's not particularly surprising to hear rumblings about the possibility of Joe Thornton losing the C for the 2014-15 season.
No 'C' in San Jose next season? Sharks coach Todd McLellan's vague musings on the future of Joe Thornton's captaincy. http://t.co/TfXNg8wTq1
— Yahoo Sports NHL (@YahooSportsNHL) June 29, 2014The Score reports that the Dallas Stars have had talks with the San Jose Sharks in regards to acquiring superstar Joe Thornton
— Blackout Dallas (@BlackoutDallas) June 28, 2014Ottawa Sun reports the Toronto Maple #Leafs & Detroit #RedWings are among the clubs thought to be interested in Joe Thornton
— Hockey Tracker (@Hockey_tracker) June 30, 2014Don't expect #SJSharks to actively pursue FAs starting 7/1. Wilson not wavering on "rebuild," still says he'll go with his own younger guys.
— David Pollak (@PollakOnSharks) June 30, 2014The Sharks will remain an interesting team to keep an eye on this summer, but not because of what they'll do via free agency. This is a big summer for the franchise, but don't expect any big splashes to be made as the free agency period opens tomorrow.