Patrick Marleau

Snapshots: Stone, Nilsson, Marleau

June 30, 2017 at 2:15 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

Even though the Calgary Flames acquired Travis Hamonic to round out their top four, Pierre LeBrun of TSN reports that they’re still trying hard to get Michael Stone under contract before he hits the open market tomorrow. Stone was acquired at the deadline and fit in rather well down the stretch, but was expected to be let go after the Hamonic move.

We ranked Stone #15 on our (rapidly diminishing) Top 50 Free Agent list, projecting a two-year deal worth $7.2MM for him should he hit free agency. Even with their buyouts of Lance Bouma and Ryan Murphy earlier today, it might be tough to fit Stone in at that price given they still owe contracts to Curtis Lazar, Sam Bennett and Micheal Ferland. The Flames have around $13.4MM in cap room, making it definitely possible, but it would mean going into the season with very little wiggle room.

Andy Strickland of Fox Sports is pumping out the deal information, reporting that Steven Oleksy will likely sign a two-year deal with the Anaheim Ducks, while Anders Nilsson will sign with the Vancouver Canucks. Nilsson was among those hinted at by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet yesterday, linking him to the Vancouver Canucks. If Nilsson does sign with Vancouver, it would mean that Ryan Miller is on the market again with a likely Southern California landing spot. With Anaheim looking for another veteran backup to help shepherd John Gibson along, Miller seems like an obvious candidate.
Patrick Marleau has a two-year contract offer in hand from the San Jose Sharks according to Darren Dreger of TSN. Whatever Marleau decides to do will likely impact Joe Thornton, as the two remain close. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll head to another team together, but that Marleau re-upping in San Jose could persuade Thornton to do the same. The pair of veteran forwards are some of the biggest names on the market tomorrow, and could legitimately have the biggest impact on their new (or old) teams.

Free Agent Focus: Florida Panthers

June 27, 2017 at 6:53 pm CDT | by Seth Lawrence 1 Comment

The free agent period is now less than one week away from opening up and there are several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of the Florida Panthers’ free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: D Alex Petrovic only had 1 goal and 13 assists last season, but his possession stats were remarkably solid among his peers at 50.8% Corsi For. He earned $1.05 MM on his last contract, and he is due at least a slight raise. His size (6’4″) and physicality is an important asset to round out the bottom pairings of the defensive corps, even if management isn’t expecting him to light the world on fire. D Mark Pysyk, also 25 years old, has shown a bit more potential. He has less of a shutdown presence, but makes up for it by contributing to the offense on occasion. He moves the puck well with a solid if unremarkable first pass – which in today’s possession-centric NHL tends to increase value. Pysyk still hasn’t put it all together, but he’ll be a useful cog for Florida going forward. Interestingly enough, Florida’s defense is so sparse that both Pysyk and Petrovic were protected.

Other RFA’s: G MacKenzie Weegar.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Jaromir Jagr. Jagr is certainly on the downside of his career, but he still can produce points at a decent clip. He’s been a mainstay of the Panthers offense for the last two-and-a-half seasons. He only netted 16 goals, but added 30 assists to reach a reasonable 46 points. However, his contract was a tad overpriced for a 45 year old, at a $4 MM cap hit. Management apparently wants the veteran back on the squad next season according to a report by the Miami Herald’s George Richards. Richards states that the price would need to come down, but there is a solid chance he could get last year’s salary from another team desperate for production. If Florida truly wants to bring back the battle-tested winger (who sits 3rd in all-time goals), they will need to find room within their internal cap structure. His speed is certainly becoming an issue, and it remains to be seen how integral he is perceived internally.

F Thomas Vanek doesn’t look likely to make a return to the Sunshine State, as he is quite arguably the 4th best winger available after Alexander Radulov, Justin Williams, and Patrick Marleau. The chances of seeing Vanek seeing a contract similar to his $6.5 MM earned the last three seasons are almost completely non-existent, but he could easily fetch near $5 MM offer for multiple years from an offense-starved squad. Vanek did net 48 points last season, but he has the potential to do more. Vanek will almost surely find his kindest offers elsewhere. He only netted two goals in 20 games after being acquired from the Detroit Red Wings.

Other UFA’s: F Micheal Scarbossa, D Jakub Kindl, G Sam Brittain, F Kyle Rau, F Brody Sutter, G Adam Wilcox, F Chase Balisy, F Graham Black, F Paul Thompson, D Reece Scarlett, G Colin Stevens, F Steven Hodges, D Brent Regner.

Projected Cap Space: The Panthers do have slightly over $20 MM in cap space if they were to re-sign no one, but they are almost certain to re-sign Pysyck and Petrovic to short-term deals. Weegar has also been extended a qualifying offer, but it will likely be a two-way deal. Assuming they make a combined $4 MM, GM Dale Tallon will likely have about $16 MM in space with 16 roster players accounted for. His main concern has to be solidifying the defense so a repeat of last year doesn’t happen. However, with Jon Marchessault and Reilly Smith inexplicably shipped to Vegas, and likely one of Jagr and Vanek headed to other destinations, Tallon needs to add solid secondary scoring. It’s expected that Florida will be active on July 1st and into the Summer, especially with so many expiring organizational contracts – they only have 26 of the allotted 50 as of today. The organization has tried to revamp on the fly, but they will need a remarkably successful summer to re-coup all that is being lost especially in light of the meager talent available in the UFA pool. The biggest money constraint is whatever ownership places the internal cap at, which is unbeknownst to the league at large.

Snapshots: Daley, Hainsey, Cannone

June 27, 2017 at 4:23 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

Several reports from around the league have teams in hot pursuit of Trevor Daley, including Detroit and Boston according to Craig Custance of The Athletic and Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald respectively. Daley was ranked #23 in our annual free agent rankings, and while Pittsburgh seemed a likely destination for him to return to it was easy to see why there would be interest from elsewhere.

The veteran puck-moving defenseman continues to log big minutes and put up respectable point totals. While not exactly an offensive defenseman who will contribute a ton of goals, he can move the puck quickly and accurately out of the zone and carry it through the neutral zone. That ability, combined with his extensive playoff experience the last couple of years winning back-to-back Stanley Cups, will seem pretty appetizing on the open market on Saturday.

In terms of other Red Wings free agent notes, Custance and Ansar Khan of MLive both link the team to fellow Stanley Cup champion Ron Hainsey. Khan also lists Dan Girardi and Brian Campbell as options, as the Red Wings continue to look at veteran options to help their blueline. While Detroit isn’t expected to compete next season, Ken Holland has been clear about his desire to return to the playoffs as soon as possible. Adding any of the above defenders won’t do that on their own, but they could potentially be flipped at the trade deadline for a younger asset.
In addition to all the love that Patrick Marleau is feeling on the open market, Andy Strickland of Fox Sports reports that the San Jose Sharks have apparently made a two-year offer for their long-time forward. It will be interesting to see if the 37-year old is able to secure a third year from a competing team, and what the cap hit would be on it.
The Minnesota Wild have re-signed Patrick Cannone to a one-year two-way deal. The minor league forward made his NHL debut this year getting into three games with the Wild, but was held scoreless and is still looking for his first NHL point. A dynamic AHL player, Cannone was set to be an unrestricted free agent but will come back for $650K in the NHL and $225K in the AHL next season.

Several Teams Showing Interest In Patrick Marleau

June 27, 2017 at 3:22 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

Even at the age of 37, Patrick Marleau scored 27 goals and was an effective offensive threat. Now, as Craig Custance of The Athletic reports, quite a few teams are showing interest in the pending UFA. Custance lists Toronto, Anaheim, New York (Rangers), Carolina, Nashville and Los Angeles in the mix for him, also noting that San Jose remains interested in bringing him back. Marleau was ranked #6 in our list of the Top 50 Free Agents, expecting him to eventually return to San Jose to finish his career.

Marleau broke the 500 goal mark this season, giving him a good shot for the Hall of Fame when he retires. There are only five non-active members of the 500-club not to be inducted yet: Keith Tkachuk, Pat Verbeek, Pierre Turgeon, Jeremy Roenick and Peter Bondra. While Marleau likely has more in common with those five than many of the players ahead of him, another couple of seasons like 2016-17 and he’d be pushing his way into the top-25 all-time. He’s also one of the most durable players in recent years, playing every game of the last eight straight seasons and at least 74 contests in each of his 19 years, save for the lockout-shortened 2012-13.

On any of the teams listed above he would be a big addition, giving speed to a slow team like Los Angeles or experience to a young team like Toronto. No matter which way he goes, his first step and uncanny scoring ability will be on display once again. Should San Jose not come to an agreement with him, it will be an odd sight to see him in something other than a Sharks sweater. Since being selected second overall in 1997 Marleau has played in 1,493 regular season games and 177 playoff contests, all for the same franchise.

Life Without Hossa: Looking At Chicago’s Options

June 22, 2017 at 8:15 pm CDT | by natebrown 1 Comment

Following the stunning news that Marian Hossa would miss the entire 2017-18 season, much has been written, spoken, and analyzed regarding the loss of an impactful player. At 38, Hossa still put up great numbers (26-19-45) with the Hawks and continued to be the two-way forward whose best contributions often came away from the puck. It goes without saying that Hossa’s signing prior to the 2009-10 season was the missing piece that fulfilled the Chicago machine that won three Stanley Cups over the next six seasons. Often described as a true gentleman and all-around great human being, one can’t help but feel bad for a guy who appeared to still have several good years of hockey left in him–not to mention the effect it’s had on his life.

So now what?

There are a myriad of issues at play here, some of which have already begun to discussed. Long rumored to be traded to Vegas, center Marcus Kruger still finds himself a member of the Blackhawks. While it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll still be in the Windy City come training camp, it’s very likely that the loss of Hossa gave the Blackhawks brass pause in terms of ensuring their depth isn’t totally wiped out. Though Kruger hasn’t put up the numbers that earned him the $3.08MM contract he owns, he’s still a very worthy center who like Hossa, makes his impact felt off the scoresheet, mostly on the penalty kill and in the faceoff circle.

But his contract is still cumbersome for a player who hasn’t cracked 20 points since the 2013-14 season. Unloading the contract, if they can, would help with additional cap issues and that was apparently the plan until the Hossa announcement. But it’s anyone guess as to what Chicago will do.

Chicago Sportsnet’s Tracey Myers goes writes that general manager Stan Bowman feels it’s unfair to speculate about a player’s status. Having Kruger off the books along with Hossa’s contract would certainly free up over $8MM. But if Kruger isn’t moved, it’s not an issue since Hossa’s contract will come off the books.

Not exactly.

Should the Blackhawks get cap relief from placing Hossa on the LTIR, it would relieve north of $5MM. This would allow Chicago to fill it with another player or two in theory. But it’s not as cut and dry as it sounds. Myers goes on to explain:

Here are two basics about the cap: a team can be 10 percent over it during the summer, and a team must be at or below it the day the regular season begins. If the Blackhawks place Hossa on LTIR, it wouldn’t take effect until the second day of the regular season. So on Day 1 of the season, the Blackhawks would still be carrying Hossa’s $5.275 cap hit.

Once the LTIR would take effect, though, the Blackhawks would have wiggle room. If they spent to the $75 million cap, they could utilize Hossa’s entire $5.275 million cap hit on other players.

It’s not about the Blackhawks finding a guy this summer that makes an equal cap hit.

The Chicago Tribune’s Chris Hine doubles down on this, tweeting that Chicago most likely won’t be major players after July 1. Hine wrote earlier today that one other option the Hawks would have would be trading the contract to another team, to completely escape the hit should the league deny the move to the LTIR, though this seems unlikely.

Teams eager to reach the cap floor would stuff the contract away, and Hossa, if this truly ends his career, would never take the ice for that team. The Arizona Coyotes have done this in the past, taking Pavel Datsyuk and Chris Pronger’s contracts when it was known their playing days were over.

The reality is that the Blackhawks are not only losing a great player, but also a leader. And that’s not instantly replaceable. Though there are options in free agency, adding a Joe Thornton or Patrick Marleau should they become available would still garner considerable cost, one that doesn’t seem justified. Players like T.J. Oshie would require a longer deal team for a lot of dollars, a spot the Blackhawks can’t possibly be in. As for Kevin Shattenkirk, he’s rumored to be heavily interested in the New York Rangers and while it would be an upgrade on the blueline, he would fall under the category of too expensive as well.

So what options are left? Thankfully, help is on the way in the name of Alex DeBrincat, who set the OHL on fire as a member of the Erie Otters. Though the Hawks will exercise patience with him, he at least is a glimmer of hope with a scoring prowess and coming in at the age of 19. But don’t doubt Bowman’s to find a deal. The most likely upgrade will come from a trade, one that will address some of the concerns while keeping things economically viable.

Few players are irreplaceable, but Hossa certainly seems to be. Between the contract issues and the loss of him on the roster, the Blackhawks certainly have a number of interesting decisions ahead to try and fill the void.

Las Vegas Has Several Free Agent Options As Well

June 17, 2017 at 6:32 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 1 Comment

Not that the Las Vegas Golden Knights don’t have enough to do over the next few days, from going through the protection rosters, to making side deals, to participate in the NHL draft and then announce their team by June 21, but the team also needs to start thinking about free agents as well. The team has an exclusive window to negotiate with any unrestricted free agents. While the team has already inked KHL center Vadim Shipachyov to a free agent contract, more signings are sure to come. But who are their best options?

The Hockey News’ Jared Clinton has several suggestions of players the Golden Knights should consider to bolster their team for their initial season, including Arizona’s Radim Vrbata, Calgary’s Michael Stone, Washington’s Karl Alzner, Philadelphia’s Michael Del Zotto as well as San Jose’s Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.

The scribe argues that Vrbata might be an easy choice. Although contents of the protection rosters won’t be known until tomorrow morning, Arizona is expected to provide very little in terms of available players on their roster. So going after one of the Coyotes free agents may have more meaning than a fringe prospect. Enter Vrbata. The 36 winger could be the perfect linemate for Shipachyov as he put up a 20-goal season for Arizona last season and is two years removed from a 31-goal season. And at age 36, Vrbata might come at a shorter deal than some other free agent options.

Both Thornton and Marleau are options as well. While both are expected to look for their best chance to chase a Stanley Cup, it’s conceivably possible that Las Vegas could convince one of them to be the face of the franchise. Thornton is coming off a 50-point season at age 37, but put up 82 points just the year before that. Marleau, on the other hand, had 27 goals last year and could also be a nice fit alongside Shipachyov. Also at age 37, Marleau hasn’t slowed down yet.

The rest of the suggestions that Clinton gives are blueliners, which may not be that important to the Golden Knights considering that many feel that the expansion draft will be loaded with defensive talent, but few quality forward options. Alzner was originally drafted by Las Vegas general manager George McPhee when he was with the Capitals and he could be the leader of the defense for a number of years. The 28-year-old Alzner is one of the top two free agent defensemen available (next to teammate Kevin Shattenkirk) and his defensive style might be a perfect fit in Las Vegas. The downside to Alzner is the team would lose the ability to use an expansion pick on a top prospect such as goaltender Philipp Grubauer or defenseman Nate Schmidt if they sign Alzner, so that option is not as likely.

Stone could be a good addition to the roster if they opt not to go after Alzner. Stone has been a solid top-4 defenseman for both Calgary this year and Arizona before that. Stone is more of a two-way player and might be able to provide some much-needed offense. He had just three goals and 12 assists in 64 games this year between the two teams, but had six goals and 39 points one year ago. Del Zotto is more than capable of providing offense for the Golden Knights. While not a defensive player, he’s had several good seasons, but injuries have often curtailed his career.

Sharks Reach Out To Thornton And Marleau

June 17, 2017 at 10:32 am CDT | by Mike Furlano Leave a Comment

The San Jose Sharks have talked with veteran pending UFA forwards—and former captains—Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, reports the NHL.com’s Eric Gilmore. Both are set to become free agents on July 1st, and could potentially leave for the right price.

Thornton has amassed 215G and 722A in 914 regular season games over 11.5 seasons for San Jose, and an additional 21G and 84A in 125 playoff games. Though he will be 38 next season, Thornton still managed to put up 7G and 43A in 79 games. If the Sharks and Thornton come to a deal, it will most likely be a two or three year deal. Because Thornton’s contract is a 35+ contract, it stays on the salary cap if Thornton retires early.

Marleau has been the face of the franchise since he was drafted 2nd overall in 1997—one pick later than Joe Thornton to the Boston Bruins. In 19 seasons, Marleau has 508G and 574A, and an additional 68G and 52A in 177 playoff games. Like Thornton, expect Marleau to get a two or three year deal, but slightly less than Thorton because of Marleau’s lesser production.

The two veterans, however, are not the only contractual talks concerning San Jose. Both goaltender Martin Jones and defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic are free agents at the end of next season, and San Jose will want to sign them to extensions as soon as possible.

Expansion Primer: San Jose Sharks

June 13, 2017 at 6:02 pm CDT | by Seth Lawrence Leave a Comment

We’re continuing to break down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, coming up next week: which players are eligible, and which will likely warrant protection or may be on the block. Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4pm CDT on June 17th. The full rules on eligibility can be found here, and CapFriendly has provided a handy expansion tool to make your own lists.

The San Jose Sharks took an expected step backwards this season after an impressive display in 2015-16 saw them reach Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. The team is certainly at a crossroads, with long-time leaders Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton hitting unrestricted free agency. They were ousted quite easily in the first round by the upstart Edmonton Oilers, and GM Doug Wilson will look to craft a strategy that will put them back in contention for a title.

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards:

Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski, Mikkel Boedker, Joel Ward, Tomas Hertl, Melker Karlsson, Jannik Hansen, Chris Tierney (RFA), Barclay Goodrow (RFA)

Defensemen:

Brent Burns, Paul Martin, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Justin Braun, Brenden Dillon, David Schlemko, Dylan DeMelo, Mirco Mueller (RFA)

Goaltenders:

Martin Jones, Troy Grosenick, Aaron Dell

Notable Exemptions

Joonas Donskoi, Timo Meier, Kevin Lebanc, Marcus Sorenson, Danny O’Regan, Tim Heed, Joakim Ryan

Key Decisions

The Sharks are looking to infuse some youth into their lineup next season, and they are hopeful that one of the poor-performing vets in Mikkel Boedker or Joel Ward will be the only loss to expansion. Unfortunately for them, it seems unlikely that the Golden Knights are looking to acquire many greybeards. A huge debate, at least from the outside, is whether they will opt to protect 8 skaters and one goalie, or the more popular 7F/3D/1G setup. San Jose has done quite well to build a stable group of defensemen, but they do have some forwards they’d prefer not to sacrifice.

On offense, there are three locks to be protected, at the least. Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski are the offensive leaders of this team and are both in the primes of their careers. Tomas Hertl has amazing creativity and flare, and will only improve as he just turned 23. Melker Karlsson seems the next safest bet, as he has displayed great defensive play and versatility. He is the team’s swiss-army knife, and has too much value to sacrifice. The remaining group of forwards that would be exposed if San Jose opts to go the 4F/4D/1G route would be thus: Mikkel Boedker, Joel Ward, Jannik Hansen, Chris Tierney. Losing one of Hansen or Tierney would be irritating, but surmountable.

On defense, Brent Burns is a dominant offensive force from the blueline – he led the league in points from the blueline. Marc-Eduoard Vlasic takes the bulk of quality competition and has been a rock defensively. Justin Braun didn’t have the most phenomenal year, but he is an integral piece of the team going forward. This leaves Paul Martin, David Schlemko, Mico Mueller, and Brenden Dillon all exposed – with one of the group nearly certain to be lost. Martin has been a top-pairing guy for a decade, and his loss would be significant. Vegas’ has stated the goal of starting young and could certainly pass over the 36 year-old. It’s a sizable risk, but it certainly seems a possible scenario that he remains untouched. Dillon hasn’t performed well enough to warrant protection over the other two D-men. He had a much better possession season this year (53.0 Corsi For %) than last (49.3% CF), but his offensive impact is truly minimal. He also sees bottom-pairing minutes and a lower quality of competition than Schlemko.

Of the remaining two, Schlemko is clearly the better player at this moment. Schlemko had a great possession year (54.6% CF)and has been a positive influence on every team he’s played. Protecting Schlemko would serve to provide insurance if Martin were for some reason claimed. There is a marginal case to protect the younger Muelller, as he is only 22 and could serve as a cheap option on the blueline for the next few years. He did only played 4 NHL games last year, and impressed no one, but as a recent first-rounder Vegas could jump on the opportunity. The organization does seem low on him, so he could easily find himself on the outs.

In net, Martin Jones will obviously be the protected asset. The team just re-signed backup Troy Grosenick, but with the plethora of available goalies Vegas can choose from, he’s entirely safe.

Although there are plenty of no-trade clauses (NTCs) on the roster, there are no players who require protection due to an NMC. Additionally, the Sharks will benefit heavily from their foresight (and/or luck) with having Thornton and Marleau both turning UFA this particular off-season. Vegas could theoretically “claim” either, but it wouldn’t do anything other than give the Knights a head start on potential contract negotiations. With those two older players relatively safe, the organization will focus on protecting others who will contribute to their chances in the near future. Schlemko had a solid year and will be playing long after Martin is retired, and that will likely be the tie-breaker.

Projected Protection List

F Joe Pavelski
F Logan Couture
F Tomas Hertl
F Melker Karlsson

D Brent Burns
D Marc-Edouard Vlasic
D Justin Braun
D David Schlemko

G Martin Jones

By all indication, the Sharks are trying to compete again next year. I fully expect them to sign at least one of Marleau and Thornton and to make another strong push in the Pacific before going complete re-build. Burns is still a top defenseman, and with a solid re-tooling of the bottom-six, it’s not an inconceivable goal. Schlemko is not too far behind Martin in terms of performance, and could see his role improved. They are flirting with moving him for assets, which wouldn’t be the worst decision if they then protected Martin. One of the two has to be there to round out the top-four on defense.

As for Vegas, they could go with a semi-“proven” commodity in the speedy Boedker, fill out the roster with the solid but unremarkable Tierney, take a risk on an unproven talent like Mueller, or go the safest route and employ the aged Martin to guide the youngsters along. They will have options, but no loss the Sharks couldn’t endure.

Offseason Keys: San Jose Sharks

June 10, 2017 at 8:23 am CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

While the expansion draft is set to headline a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months ahead. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the San Jose Sharks.

After making the Stanley Cup Final the previous season, the Sharks took a step back this year as they were ousted by the Oilers in the first round. Now, the team finds themselves with a bit of cap space to work with this offseason, giving GM Doug Wilson the opportunity to potentially reshape his team. Here are some keys to San Jose’s summer.

Decisions On Long-Term Veterans

The Sharks have a pair of high priced veterans that they need to decide whether to retain or to let go in Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. Both have been there long-term (Thornton 12 years and Marleau for 19) and reportedly would like to return but both will also be 38 next season and are on the downswing of their careers.

However, both players are still top six forwards in a free agent marketplace that isn’t brimming with a lot of high end options. If Wilson decides to go in another direction with both of them, each player should garner plenty of interest on the open market. However, both will almost assuredly come in well below their contracts from this past year (Thornton at $6.75MM and Marleau at $6.67MM).

That expected interest level makes their contract situations intriguing. Most players at the age of 38 go year-to-year to avoid any risk of the 35+ penalty. However, with the duo being among the better free agents available, they shouldn’t have much difficulty garnering a multi-year contract if that’s what they decide to chase down. It would be surprising if both were to walk but at the same time, it would also be surprising if both were to return as well as that would limit how much money they have to spend elsewhere.

Extension Talks

San Jose has a pair of key players that will hit one year before unrestricted free agency on July 1st. Goaltender Martin Jones has outperformed his contract ($3MM per season) since joining the team in the 2015 offseason and has emerged as a legitimate starting goaltender. Accordingly, he’s going to be looking to be paid like a number one starter and as a result, he could stand to double his contract starting in 2018-19.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic is one of the quieter top pairing blueliners in the league as Brent Burns garners most of the attention. However, the 30 year old has been a significant part of their back end for a long time now and has been a big bargain on their back end for a while now. He won’t be poised to take as big of a jump as Jones will but he’ll still be due a nice bump from his current $4.75MM cap charge.

Both players will garner long-term extensions and finding ways to get deals done quickly would not only lock up two key parts of their core but would go a long way towards determining whether they will need to pursue long or short-term deals with some of their offseason targets. Early indications are that progress is being made on new contracts with both players with the hopes of announcing them early in July.

Add Offensive Help

It sounds strange for a team that has the firepower on paper that San Jose did that they would need some help offensively but goal production was a concern at times this past season. They were in the bottom half league-wide in goals scored while they were well below the league average with the man advantage. Mikkel Boedker was added last offseason to help their attack but he struggled to make much of an impact. Youngsters like Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc showed signs of upside during stints with the big club but probably aren’t ready to step into a full-time top six role.

This is where it will get particularly tricky with their two veteran free agents. Both are still capable of contributing but are on the downside of their careers; it’s hard to expect Thornton and Marleau to significantly outperform their recent numbers which suggests if this core remains intact for next year, the offense may continue to have some difficulties.

As things stand, Wilson has $58.7MM committed for next season to 17 players per CapFriendly which gives them the flexibility to look towards making a bigger move if he sees fit. They’ll have the money to go after the top names in free agency or make a big splash via the trade market which should help get that offensive lift. It also makes them a team to keep a close eye on over the course of the offseason if Wilson decides to shake things up.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Where Will Thornton Land?

June 4, 2017 at 6:58 pm CDT | by Seth Lawrence 4 Comments

With a free-agent class this sparse, the expansion draft and the transactions it will force are certain to steal much of the thunder from Free Agent “Frenzy”. That said, there are quite a few names, who while not dazzling, could be invaluable additions to a cup-contending team. One of the names that has often been overlooked thus far is the masterful playmaker Joe Thornton. Only a year removed from a Stanley Cup Final, the San Jose Sharks now will need to make a decision on their two long-time leaders in Patrick Marleau and Thornton. For all the flack the forwards have gotten over the years for leadership issues, including both being stripped of the captaincy, they have been remarkably consistent assets to their franchise.

Marleau looks the more likely of the two to stay put. The 37 year-old did net 27 goals this past season, good for 3rd on the team behind only Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns. With him being only one of three forwards to net more than 11 goals last year, his loss of production could be devastating. Unless Marleau wants to chase a championship elsewhere, he seems a good lock to stay. He will certainly be expected to take a paycut from his $6.66 MM, as would Thornton ($6.7 MM) if he decided to stay. Thornton, on the other hand, could get quite expensive, and negotiations could be considerably more complicated.

Proven, top-nine capable centers are at the top of many teams’ wanted lists. Most teams in the league wouldn’t be averse to taking Jumbo Joe on a sweet deal, so you could even expect a cap-crunched squad like Chicago or Pittsburgh to make a call if he truly is looking for a championship. Toronto would certainly be willing to take a risk on the aging player, and Edmonton would love his veteran presence. Anaheim and St. Louis would both love his talents as a third-line pivot and are both conceivably just a piece away. Montreal looks to be headed in the direction of youth up front, but they’ve been looking for a strong presence up the middle for years. There is no shortage of landing spots for Thornton if he would decide to test the market, and this interest could easily drive his price up.

Ultimately, however, it’s hard to see Thornton leaving Northern California, especially to a conference rival. He has stated his desire to return to the team, saying “I’d love to come back….but we’ll have to see.” It could turn into a drawn-out process, depending on how hard other teams make strong pitches for him. He is 38 years-old and scored just 7 goals last season, so age is an element that will enter the calculus in a new deal. But when the next best available centers are Martin Hanzal and Nick Bonino, the competition for his services could get fierce. As of yet, no contract negotiations have reportedly begun for either Marleau or Thornton.

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