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Snapshots: Blackhawks, Pavelski, Skarek, Mersch

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After a very active free agent period that saw them bring in several veterans in an effort to become more competitive next season, it appears as if the Blackhawks are finished with trying to land at the bottom of the standings.  Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times suggests that they’re taking a risk in doing so since they haven’t landed a second high-end forward prospect to partner up with Connor Bedard down the road.  Chicago has ample defensive depth and some quality goalie prospects but among their forward prospects, there aren’t any who project as high-end top-line talent (someone like Frank Nazar could get there in time but the safer planning would be with him in a second-line role).  Having said that, the Blackhawks will have ample cap space moving forward so if they don’t draft a running mate for Bedard, they could try to land one in free agency down the road.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Former Sharks GM Doug Wilson acknowledged to Sheng Peng of NBC Sports Bay Area that he made a mistake in not retaining Joe Pavelski back in 2019. The veteran forward was coming off a strong year that saw him put up 38 goals but he had dealt with injuries the two years before that while they also committed big money to retain Evander Kane and Erik Karlsson, not leaving enough for them to pay market value for Pavelski’s services.  He went on to play five seasons in Dallas before calling it a career earlier this offseason.
  • Stefan Rosner of The Hockey News assesses the goaltending depth of the Islanders and suggests that Jakub Skarek’s time with the organization could be coming to an end. Marcus Hogberg is expected to serve as the starter with AHL Bridgeport while Henrik Tikkanen greatly outperformed Skarek last season and should serve as Hogberg’s backup.  Skarek has one year left on his deal so it’s possible that New York will look to flip the 24-year-old to a team looking for extra goalie depth.  If that fails, Rosner wonders if the two sides would consider a mutual contract termination which would allow him to try to catch on overseas.
  • Veteran free agent winger Michael Mersch is considering retirement, relays Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. The 31-year-old had been a staple for Buffalo’s AHL team in Rochester the past four seasons and is coming off a 15-goal, 38-point showing in 66 games in 2023-24.  Mersch has 17 career NHL appearances under his belt, all with Los Angeles back in the 2015-16 campaign.

Pittsburgh Penguins Hire Doug Wilson

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The Pittsburgh Penguins announced this morning that have hired former San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson as a Senior Advisor of Hockey Operations. According to the Penguins press release, Wilson’s role will see him provide his opinion and counsel to Penguins president and general manager Kyle Dubas, as well as offer his expertise relating to all hockey matters, including personnel decisions.

Wilson brings over four decades of NHL experience to the Penguins management group having spent over 25 years in management with the San Jose Sharks on top of his 16-year Hall-of-Fame playing career. Wilson oversaw a Sharks team that was consistently in contention without ever undergoing a true rebuild. Something the Penguins are likely staring down when the Sidney Crosby–Evgeni Malkin–Kris Letang era of hockey comes to an end.

Wilson was inducted into the Hockey Hall-of-Fame as a player in 2020 after dressing in 1024 career NHL games split between the Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks. The Ottawa, Ontario native recorded 237 goals in his career and 827 points and was the Norris Trophy winner in 1982.

He spent 19 years as the general manager of the Sharks, guiding them to 14 playoff appearances as well as a Presidents’ Trophy in 2009, to go along with six division titles. The Sharks never did win a cup under Wilson’s tutelage, coming close in 2016 when they lost in the Stanley Cup final to the Penguins.

Since arriving in Pittsburgh, Dubas has rebuilt the Penguins both off and on the ice, having overhauled their defense, their forward group, and now the hockey operations department. It should make for an interesting season in Pittsburgh as there is renewed optimism after the Penguins missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006. The Penguins have felt stale since 2018 and with the addition of Dubas, along with the Erik Karlsson trade, it seems the Penguins are trending in a positive direction as they enter what is likely to be the final run with this core.

Latest On San Jose Sharks GM Search

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After long-time General Manager Doug Wilson stepped aside from his position for health reasons, the San Jose Sharks will head into rare territory for their organization: searching for a General Manager. The team has had just two GM’s in the last 30 years, between Dean Lombardi and since 2003, Wilson.

On tonight’s 32 Thoughts segment of Hockey Night In Canada, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek provided some insight and speculation on what the Sharks’ GM search could look like, and who could be in consideration for the position. In terms of the type of candidate they might want, Friedman believes that the organization would like a GM who is willing to be visible, who will talk to the media and fans, and who can help to expand their market.

Friedman also notes that the team might be interested in a candidate who has no history with the organization, or who might even be somewhat off the radar, as far as expected candidates go. Lastly, Friedman adds that the Sharks may want to not only hire a GM, but expand their front office altogether, increasing the amount of thoughts and ideas within the organization from what they previously had.

While it is curious to potentially change the dynamic of a front office after an incredibly long and successful run by one GM, the Sharks have struggled amid what appears to be a rebuild these past few seasons, and a refreshed change of thought and opinion could help the organization transition to a new group on the ice. As mentioned by Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast earlier, the Sharks organization is not one to be keen on a true rebuild, so any new front office with refreshed perspective would still have to see eye to eye with ownership on the short and long-term plans for the team.

With the talk of perhaps bringing in someone a bit unknown, Jeff Marek gave a name for a possible suitor: Arizona Coyotes’ Assistant General Manager John Ferguson. Ferguson is a well-known name around the NHL and with the Sharks, having interviewed for their GM role already in 2003, when the job was given to Wilson. Since then, Ferguson has bounced around and was notably a scout for the Sharks under Wilson, who was pivotal in drafting a cornerstone player in Tomas Hertl, says Marek. Most recently, Ferguson interviewed for the open Anaheim Ducks GM position after previous Ducks GM Bob Murray resigned. However, that job went to Pat Verbeek.

Time will certainly tell how the Sharks navigate their search, and as Friedman also added, the team is comfortable taking their time in evaluating their options and making a decision. A change of pace from the front office they have had in place for nearly two decades could be what is needed to turn the team back into the perennial Stanley Cup contenders they were just a few years ago. However, moving on from a front office, and a General Manager, who have brought the team so much success will be a difficult task, and replacing a figure like Doug Wilson will be that much harder.

Snapshots: Ekblad, Sharks, Valimaki

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While he may not be ready for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, things are still looking positive regarding the health of Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad. Head coach Andrew Brunette said today that Ekblad remains week-to-week, but he has started skating and should return sometime in early May. That makes it seem likely that Ekblad will at least make an appearance during Florida’s First Round series, which will likely be against the Washington Capitals. It will be the second season in a row where Florida starts the playoffs without their star defenseman due to a lower-body injury, but this time around, it seems he’ll be ready to step in shortly after. Ekblad will have finished his regular season with 15 goals and 42 assists for 57 points in just 61 games, which is still currently eighth among all NHL defensemen.

More from around the NHL today:

  • While San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson had been on a medical leave of absence since November, his departure announcement from the organization today still came as a shock. Long-time assistant GM Joe Will has taken duties since then, and he’ll remain in the interim position, but team president Jonathan Becher said today that the Sharks will hope to have a new GM by the beginning of next year. With that, it’s entirely possible that the Sharks head into a draft and free agency period with Will still at the helm of the club. That may not be an entirely bad thing, considering his familiarity with Becher and the club, but it takes away the chance for his successor to craft their roster ahead of next season.
  • After being sent down early in the year and falling out of favor with head coach Darryl Sutter, the Calgary Flames have brought top defense prospect Juuso Valimaki back up to the big club from the AHL’s Stockton Heat. Valimaki played in 49 of the team’s 56 games last season, recording 11 points and never touching AHL ice. But after just two assists in eight games this season in limited minutes, the team opted to send Valimaki back down to the minors, where he had 17 points in 30 games. The team has no injuries on defense, so it’s a clear sign that the organization wants to see what effect his AHL stint this year had on him and whether he can be relied upon to play minutes for the team in the playoffs if injuries strike.

Doug Wilson Steps Down From Role With San Jose Sharks

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The San Jose Sharks will be under new management next season for the first time in two decades. Doug Wilson announced today that he is stepping down from his role as general manager of the Sharks. Wilson had been on medical leave since November, and Joe Will will continue as interim GM until a new one is found. There is not yet a timeline for that search, but owner Hasso Plattner explained that it will be “guided by the organization’s ability to interview all of the desired prospective candidates.”

Wilson released a lengthy statement, which in part read:

Finally, I want to thank everyone who has reached out during my leave of absence. While I have made great progress over the last several months, I feel it is in the best interest of the organization and myself to step down from my current duties and focus on my health and full recovery. I look forward to continuing my career in the NHL in the future.

Given the title of general manager in 2003, Wilson led the Sharks to the playoffs on 14 different occasions and captured the Pacific Division title five times. They only reached the Stanley Cup Final once, and never did win it, but his time at the helm brought an almost unparalleled level of regular season success. The team averaged more than 45 wins and 100 points during his run.

Wilson was also ultimately responsible for drafting franchise icons like Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Tomas Hertl, and Timo Meier, as well as acquiring Joe Thornton and Brent Burns. While it never ultimately resulted in an NHL championship, his time in San Jose certainly brought the city and Sharks’ fans a lot of wins.

In 2020, Wilson was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, celebrating his outstanding playing career that spanned more than 1,000 games. That included two seasons as captain of the Sharks, a few years before he joined the team as the director of player personnel in 1997, his first role with the team. In all, it’s been more than three decades since he has called any other NHL organization home.

Why The 2022 Trade Deadline Could Be A Seller’s Market

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The 2022 NHL Trade Deadline is not exactly imminent. The delayed March 21 date this season is 11 weeks away and a lot can change in that amount of time. However, the end of the holiday trade freeze is the unofficial start to trade season leading up to the deadline. In the first few months of the season there have been ten trades completed, but outside of the Jack Eichel deal there have been very few moves of any substance. That may not change any time soon either.

An active trade deadline requires there to be identifiable buyers and sellers and they must be willing and able to deal. Buyers should not be an issue this season; the eight teams currently in a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference may be locked in, as nearly 100 percentage points separate the eighth and ninth team in the conference standings, while the Western Conference includes 13 teams with .500+ records. Therein begins the sellers problem though. Only three teams out west look like potential sellers right now, while there could be more teams willing to sell in the east but many are in a rebuild and don’t have much to offer, while others are merely lacking impact rentals. There are also a number of fringe teams that probably should be sellers, but are close enough to a playoff berth that would mean so much to their players and fan base that they may hold out.

The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek notes another wrinkle that could limit sellers: five teams are currently operating with an interim GM. The Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks have hired new heads of their respective front offices in Jeff Gorton and Jim Rutherford, but neither has in turn hired his GM yet and seem unlikely to make major moves independently. This could take Gorton’s Canadiens, one of the most obvious sellers on paper, off the market. Rutherford’s Canucks hope to be in the playoff race, but he has already vowed that the team will either sell or stand pat this season and the longer it takes to hire a GM, the more likely it will be the latter. The Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, and San Jose Sharks are all operating with temporary GMs, all of whom have limited experience. Chicago and Anaheim fired their most recent GMs and have internal replacements for the time being, while San Jose GM Doug Wilson is currently away from the team for medical reasons. As Duhatschek points out, the likes of Kyle Davidson, Jeff Solomon, and Joe Will are not only new to the GM position, but lack the relationships around the league to make impact moves. So while the Blackhawks look like bona fide sellers and the Sharks and possibly the Ducks could get to that point, will they actually be willing to make trades?

The Seattle Kraken also fall into a category all their own. The NHL’s newest team was just put together in its entirety this off-season. Although they struggled mightily all season and do possess a number of expiring contracts, it remains to be seen if GM Ron Francis is ready to blow it up.

On top of all of this, the rental market among potential sellers is not strong. Of the top 20 impending UFA’s in per-game scoring this season, zero are on teams with sub-.500 records and just three are on teams not currently in a playoff spot. Expand that to the top 50, and only ten players are on sub-.500 teams: Phil Kessel, Travis Boyd, and Johan Larsson for Arizona, Vinnie Hinostroza for Buffalo, Chris Wideman for Montreal, P.K. Subban for New Jersey, Tyler Ennis for Ottawa, and Calle Jarnkrok, Colin Blackwell, and Mark Giordano for Seattle. Even if valuable defensemen like Ben Chiarot and Colin Miller or even a future Hall of Fame goaltender like Marc-Andre Fleury are considered, it’s not exactly an inspiring list for teams adding at the deadline. More importantly, it’s a short list for a potentially large group of buyers.

For those teams looking to make a meaningful trade this season, the conundrum is when to make a move. On one hand, with a small group of exciting targets it may be beneficial to make a trade early and possibly avoid the high prices of deadline bidding wars. On the other hand, the pool of sellers could also expand closer to the deadline and prices could drop if there is a flood of supply to meet the demand. Until that happens though – if it even does – there will be few moves to make early on and quite possibly right up to the deadline. Serious contenders should be prepared to pay up or sit tight this season.

Doug Wilson Taking Temporary Medical Leave

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The San Jose Sharks have announced that general manager Doug Wilson is taking a temporary medical leave from his day-to-day duties with the club. In the interim, assistant general manager Joe Will will be handling the daily operations.

Wilson, 64, was recently inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions to the game as both a player and executive. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic tweets that Wilson has been dealing with a persistent cough since September, but this absence is not believed to be COVID-related.

Across the hockey landscape, fans, media, and players are extending their support for the Sharks GM. The staff at PHR is no different, and hope to see him back to work soon.

Sharks Still Uncertain Of How To Handle Impending Evander Kane Return

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3:25 pm: The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz confirms that Kane was at the Sharks’ practice facility yesterday, but was not present at the same time as the rest of the team. It’s an interesting development, but Kurz still notes that the “next step for him remains unclear.”

10:36 am: Before the month of November is over, Evander Kane will be an active NHL player once more. The controversial star is set to return from a 21-game suspension in nine days, as the San Jose Sharks play game No. 22 on November 30. But will Kane actually be back with the team and in the lineup at that time?

The Sharks have had nearly two months to ponder this question, but seem no closer to making a decision on Kane’s future. Curtis Pashelka of The San Jose Mercury News caught up with Sharks head coach Bob Boughner recently and received the same non-answer that he and GM Doug Wilson have continued to provide throughout the saga: “I don’t have any information… There are decisions that need to be made.”

Kane has been the center of attention in San Jose for over a year now, and surprisingly little of it is due to the actual cause of his suspension. Dating back to last year, Kane has filed for bankruptcy, been sued by his creditors, used the threat of a potential contract termination by the Sharks as a tool in his bankruptcy proceedings, faced allegations of betting on hockey and a full NHL investigation, as well as other unsavory allegations from his estranged wife, and battled rumors that many of his teammates were unhappy having him in the locker room. Yet, it was his use of a fake Coronavirus vaccination card to circumvent the NHL COVID Protocol that finally led to discipline.

Amidst all of the drama of the last year, Kane was also the Sharks leading scorer and set a personal career high in per-game production. After getting off to a solid 7-4-1 start without Kane this season, San Jose has lost four of their past five games as their offense has dried up. There is no question that the team could use Kane’s scoring ability, not to mention his physicality. The fact of the matter is that they also still owe him a considerable amount of money to provide this on-ice value for three more seasons beyond this year as well. The question that Wilson and Boughner must answer then is whether the off-ice concerns outweigh the on-ice benefits and, if so, what to do about it.

If the team believes that they can re-introduce Kane to the team without creating issues amongst both their locker room and their fan base, then the power forward may actually be back in the lineup come November 30. However, if Kane has simply become too polarizing, the Sharks will have to get creative in order to move him. Any potential trade interest, however unlikely, will be nowhere near market value for the talented scorer, but San Jose could jump at the first offer. They could also place Kane on waivers and see if anyone bites. Should Kane go unclaimed, he could be reassigned to the AHL and dealt with in the off-season similar to how the New York Rangers handled Anthony DeAngelo last year. However, as the Sharks and Barracuda share a building, it may not have the same impact. The Sharks could even just pay Kane to stay home, again kicking the can down the road. San Jose is in the unenviable position of both re-tooling and being strapped for cap space, so Wilson and company will do all they can to avoid an expensive buyout, which would be the last, worst case scenario option.

Whatever the decision on Kane, it needs to be made soon. The Sharks are on the clock to make a call that – one way or another – will have a substantial impact on their season and quite possibly the future of the organization.

San Jose Sharks Re-Sign Rudolfs Balcers, Joachim Blichfeld

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The San Jose Sharks are taking care of some offseason work, re-signing restricted free agent Rudolfs Balcers to a two-year contract. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reports that the deal will carry an average annual value of $1.55MM. Sharks GM Doug Wilson released a short statement on the deal:

We were excited to bring Rudolfs back to our organization last season and he became an important part of our lineup in what was his first full NHL season. He showed that he is a versatile forward who can provide offense for our club as a Top-9 forward. We are happy to have him.

Balcers, 24, was part of the 2018 trade that brought Erik Karlsson to the Sharks, but never found his groove with the Ottawa Senators. In 51 games there, he scored six goals and 17 points, failing to secure a spot even in a rebuilding roster. When he landed on waivers at the beginning of this year, the Sharks happily brought him back to the organization that drafted him in 2015.

In San Jose, he finally was given an opportunity to play significant minutes, and rewarded the team with 17 points in 41 games. By the end of the season, Balcers was playing more than some of the team’s more prominent forwards, mostly because of his responsible defensive nature. There is offensive potential still there to unlock, but Balcers could also be a valuable bottom-six piece because of his two-way ability.

A reliable bottom-six isn’t really something the Sharks have had in recent years, and something that will be key to any sort of plan that GM Doug Wilson has. The team has so much cap space tied up in aging players that they will need a breakout from someone like Balcers to really get them back into contention. He doesn’t need to score 100 points, but he must provide some excess value on the $1.55MM hit he now carries. That’s a risk, but a calculated one on a player that they’ve known for some time and obviously believe in.

The team has also re-signed Joachim Blichfeld to a one-year contract. Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News tweets that the two-way contract is worth $750K at the NHL level. Wilson provided a statement on that deal as well:

Joachim was a top player in the American Hockey League last season, leading the Barracuda in goals and points. He has shown over his career that he is a goal-scorer at each level, and with the experience, he has gained in his short time at the NHL level, we feel that he is ready to compete for a spot in our lineup next season.

Blichfeld, unlike Balcers, still spent the majority of this season in the minor leagues. The 23-year-old forward suited up just five times for the Sharks, scoring a single goal but earning himself a suspension along the way. He’s another late-round pick, selected 210th overall in 2016, but has shown glimpses of a huge offensive ceiling. In 79 career AHL games, Blichfeld has scored 28 goals and 54 points. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given his success in the WHL, where he posted 114 points in 68 games during the 2018-19 season.

Like Balcers, he’ll be given an opportunity to play in the bottom-six next year, but it certainly isn’t a guarantee that he stays there all season. He could show that his offensive upside is good enough to warrant some powerplay time or even skate next to more skilled linemates further up, or could end up back in the minor leagues. Blichfeld is still waiver-exempt for another season, meaning he could face a turbulent season bouncing up and down between levels.

San Jose Still Looking For Veteran Goaltending

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The San Jose Sharks acquired young goaltender Adin Hill a few days ago, giving them a potential answer in net for the 2021-22 season. Hill has shown plenty of promise in his limited experience, including a .913 save percentage in 19 appearances this year. It’s hard to turn the keys over to a 25-year-old netminder with just 49 games under his belt though, so the Sharks are still looking for a veteran netminder for next season, according to Kevin Kurz of The Athletic.

What does that mean for Martin Jones, a veteran who is already under contract? It seems likely, as Kurz suggests, that Jones has played his last game for the Sharks. The 31-year-old goaltender is still signed for three more seasons and carries a $5.75MM cap hit, but has played so poorly that he is a prime candidate for a buyout. In 137 appearances since the start of the 2018-19 season, Jones has posted a .896 save percentage, still somehow going 68-53-11 in the process. The fact that he had a winning record last season even on the struggling Sharks team suggests that perhaps if they improve the goaltending situation there are better days ahead for this San Jose roster.

Still, a buyout would be expensive, costing the Sharks at least $1.67MM in cap space over each of the next six years. Add that to a veteran replacement and things might end up being pretty similar in terms of salary cap costs for the Sharks, meaning they’ll need to make sure whoever they bring in is a clear upgrade (though, at this point, that’s not difficult to accomplish). Hill of course is also not proven at the starting level, meaning someone that can take the reins in a pinch should be appealing to the Sharks.

There are plenty of veteran names on the market this year, including many that have been starters or tandem goaltenders in recent years. Frederik Andersen, Jaroslav Halak, James Reimer, Petr Mrazek, Jonathan Bernier, and others would all likely fit the role at various costs, but the Sharks could also pursue a trade if those free agent prices get out of hand. At any rate, it appears GM Doug Wilson’s work isn’t complete when it comes to goaltending.

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