Given their collection of forward prospects, it’s unsurprising that David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period is reporting that the San Jose Sharks are pivoting their attention to their defensive core. San Jose took a step forward in that endeavor today, claiming 22-year-old blueliner Vincent Iorio off waivers from the Washington Capitals.
Still, Iorio won’t be enough to handle the potential mass exodus from the Sharks’ blue line this season. Veterans Nick Leddy, John Klingberg, Mario Ferraro, Timothy Liljegren, and Vincent Desharnais are all pending unrestricted free agents, and that’s likely by design. Given that defensemen are typically at a premium throughout the trade deadline season, San Jose could hypothetically get a haul should they make each of them available leading up to March.
Unfortunately, the Sharks, like most teams, lack the necessary depth to sustain the departure of five defensemen from the active roster. If they move each of the pending UFAs, that would leave San Jose with Dmitry Orlov, Sam Dickinson, Shakir Mukhamadullin, and Iorio penciled in for the rest of the year.
The Sharks could conceivably recall Lucas Carlsson or Jack Thompson to fill in the depth. Still, the former is already 28 years old and isn’t expected to contribute to the next competitive iteration of the Sharks.
In the short term, it would be in the Sharks’ best interest to stick to the waiver wire for additional reinforcements. The Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, and Nashville Predators may put some defensemen on the wire in the next few weeks as some of their injured defensemen return to the lineup.
Acquiring a younger defenseman would objectively become easier closer to the deadline. As teams begin to separate from the pack and weaknesses become apparent on contending teams, San Jose will be in a much better position as a rebuilding club to take advantage of a buyer’s desperation.
Tired: arguing about the Hawks and Sharks respective rebuilds.
Wired: Korchinski for Musty.
Is there an actual end to this Sharks rebuild?
That’s prob coming soon. They’ve built a nice collection of forward talent, added a potential franchise goalie, and now looking for potential building blocks at D. I’d say if they can show some competition this year, they’ll start adding to their core next offseason. They’re behind the Hawks and Ducks in their rebuild, but if Askarov pans out, it’ll be exciting being a Sharks fan again.
Also, at least they’re looking better than the Wings rebuild that’s been happening for… what year are they in now?
I saw a good video breaking down successful hockey rebuilds. If you classify a true rebuild as 3 straight years of top 10 picks/bottom 10 in the league then for successful rebuilds it takes at least 7 years.
It’s on the forseeable horizon, but it’s not going to be as simple as, “We have lots of good prospects now.” The Sharks have taken a lot of dead cap space in return for futures, so it’s going to be a situation where they have to wait for those contracts to expire AND investing money (wisely) in talent when it’s available. Nobody wants a Leafs-David Clarkson contract on their books just because the money is there.
No.
Weird… burn it to the ground and somehow it takes a while to build it back up. San Jose hasn’t even gotten to the disenchantmen stage. Celebrini or not, the Sharks have years to go.
Keep dreaming, Karen. Cup contenders 2028 – 2038.
Whose dreaming?
The Hawks have 4 -6 D Men at Rockford that could be playing in the NHL. Korchinski, Allan, Del Mastro, Harding, Mast plus Kaiser and Crevier rotating between the Press Box and the ice. You’re not getting Rinzel, Arty, Vlasic, or Murphy. And Grelcyk is a good fit right now. But the Hawks don’t really need anything right now. At least until the deadline when some things move out. Anyway dropping a dime can’t hurt.
You should always build from the back out. Blue liners take longer to develop than forwards do. But when you pick 1st overall and the most important thing in hockey is available Top line centers. You must take the center.
Just take the lower picks in the 1st round that is acquired and spend everything on the D. If you draft 7 or 8 in the top two rounds in the next two years. At least 3 will pan out
You can take either Jacob Bryson or Ryan Jophnson from the Buffalo Sabres. They must have some blackmail on Terry Pegula or Kevyn Adams to be playing in the NHL though.