Marc-Edouard Vlasic Wants To Stay In San Jose
After taking up four different thoughts in Elliotte Friedman’s latest column on Sportsnet, Marc-Edouard Vlasic spoke to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News about his desire to stay a San Jose Shark for his entire career. 
I like the team, I like the area. We’re competitive every year, and at the end of my contract next year, I’ll have been here 12 years. I guess I do like it here if I’ve been here 12 years. Yeah, if [staying in San Jose] works out, that’d be great. It’s a priority.
Vlasic’s contract is up after next season, when he’ll be 31. Earning only $4.25MM per season on his current deal, Vlasic has been one of the best bargains in the league for the Sharks. A model of consistency, Vlasic has never averaged less than 20 minutes per night for the Sharks, including his rookie season when he was just 19-years old. He draws the tough assignments night in and night out, allowing other players—namely Brent Burns—to feast on the easier matchups.
While Vlasic still will garner very few headlines, his relatively low cap-hit has allowed the Sharks to build a defense corps that is one of the best in the league. Next season when Burns’ eight-year, $64MM extension kicks in the team may need to rework their group if they have any chance of signing Vlasic long-term. Both Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau are unrestricted free agents, and may have to settle for one-year deals if they want to stay in San Jose. If Vlasic is starting a new contract in 2018-19 at the same time Tomas Hertl, Dylan DeMelo and Martin Jones all need raises, there won’t be room for the pair of 37-year olds.
It’s not many players who complete their whole career with one team, but if the Sharks do offer Vlasic a five or six year deal perhaps he will be one of them. His steady presence has been a big part of their success over the past decade, missing the playoffs just once during his tenure. If he ever did hit free agency, there would likely be 30 other teams waiting to knock on his door and bring him into the fold.
Snapshots: Canadiens, Ducks, Flames
The Montreal Canadiens are cruising, winners of six straight games and leading the Atlantic by six points. They’ll have to continue to play short handed for a while though, as Alexander Radulov, Tomas Plekanec and Brian Flynn are all likely out for tomorrow’s matchup against the Calgary Flames. None of the three practiced this morning due to varying injuries, but the Canadiens are carrying enough players to fill their role should they be held out.
Radulov and Plekanec were both absent yesterday when the team slipped by the Vancouver Canucks in overtime, and Flynn was injured during the first period and did not return. In their absence, Andrew Shaw led the forwards in ice time with over 22 minutes, seven more than his average this season. They’ll likely ask Shaw to step up again tomorrow if all three are out, though perhaps Micheal McCarron will draw back in and take some of that weight.
- John Gibson has been out since February 20th for the Anaheim Ducks, but Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register reports that he is with the team on their current road trip. The Ducks will face the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues on back to back nights starting tomorrow, and could definitely use Gibson in one of the games. In his absence Jonathan Bernier has shouldered the load admirably, but saw a slip last night against Nashville. Asking him to play back to backs would be extreme, and would likely turn to Jhonas Enroth against the Blues if Gibson isn’t ready.
- The Calgary Flames have seen a rejuvenated Micheal Ferland since moving him onto a line with Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau and now they’ll insert him periodically onto the first powerplay unit as well according to Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet. The young winger has continued to compete physically all over the ice and has five goals in his last seven games. Trailing only Troy Brouwer in hits on the club despite playing more than five minutes less a game than him, Ferland can create space for skilled players just by being on the ice with them.
- Jannik Hansen finally showed up in San Jose after dealing with visa issues since his trade from the Vancouver Canucks. He was immediately rewarded with time on the first line according to Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News. It looks like he’ll skate alongside Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski for his first game tomorrow night. With Kevin Labanc sent down, an opening was created beside the Sharks top duo and Hansen will get a crack at it to begin his San Jose career.
Snapshots: Team Canada, Labanc, Draft Rankings
Despite falling to the United States in the gold medal game at the latest World Junior Championships, Dominique Ducharme and the entire Team Canada coaching staff will return for 2017 according to Tim Wharnsby of CBC. The former head coach of the Halifax Mooseheads and current bench boss and GM of the Drummondville Voltigeurs, Ducharme is considered an excellent upcoming prospect in the coaching ranks.
The Team Canada job is one that is often a stepping stone for future NHL coaches, and has been held by names like Mike Babcock, Willie Desjardins, and Claude Julien over the years. Obviously there is no guarantee that Ducharme is headed for the NHL, but at just 43 years old he has a long career ahead of him.
- The San Jose Sharks have sent Kevin Labanc to back to the AHL according to Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News. With Jannik Hansen finally arriving to practice with the team today, Labanc no longer had a spot. The young winger has played 49 games for the Sharks this season, scoring 19 points and generally auditioning well for a full-time spot next season. At just 21-years of age, he’s already progressed much faster than any sixth-round pick is expected to.
- Speaking of draft picks, Jeff Marek of Sportsnet has released his latest prospects rankings for the upcoming draft. While he still has Nolan Patrick of the Brandon Wheat Kings at number one—and calls him Jonathan Toews-lite—Nico Hischier has climbed over Timothy Liljegren into the number two spot. Mississauga’s Owen Tippett jumps up to fourth, while Klim Kostin drops more than 11 spots due to his season-ending shoulder surgery. One to watch is Nicolas Hague of Mississauga, who will get a chance to show his all-around ability in the OHL playoffs soon enough.
Morning Notes: Thornton, Jokinen, Panarin
When Joe Pavelski slid the puck past Nikolaj Ehlers and into the empty net at the end of the San Jose-Winnipeg game last night, it sealed more than just the win. Since it had been Joe Thornton who broke the play out of his end, he registered the secondary assist and the play would go into the history books. That play would be Thornton’s 1000th assist of his career, a feat only previously accomplished by twelve other men in the history of the NHL.
Thornton, now 37 years old, is in the midst of arguably the worst offensive season of his career with only five goals and 41 points through 65 games. The Sharks are in first place with a bullet in the Pacific Division though, and the pending free agent has still been a big part of it. If he wants to play another few years, teams will certainly take one of the greatest passers of all-time into the mix as Thornton hunts down the next name on the assist-list. Joe Sakic is next with 1016, while Wayne Gretzky is still the untouchable leader at 1963.
- If you asked Florida Panthers fans about their greatest player, they might say Olli Jokinen who leads the franchise in goals and points. As reported this weekend, the Finnish forward has signed a one-day contract with the club to retire tonight as Panther. In 567 games, Jokinen scored 419 points and captained the team for several years.
- In the latest piece from Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune, Artemi Panarin apologizes for his comments back in 2012 on Russian TV. A clip from the show had surfaced around corners of the internet and featured Panarin using some racially charged comments. He and the team immediately responded to Hine’s story and apologized for any harm the comments may have made. The 25-year old winger has never been involved in anything like this during his short time in the NHL, and seems to genuinely regret having made the comment.
Snapshots: Schultz, Ryan, Folin
When the Pittsburgh Penguins traded a third-round pick to the Edmonton Oilers last year for Justin Schultz, they thought they were adding a depth defenseman with a bit of upside. What they got instead, is the fifth-highest point producer in the league among defenders. Behind only Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson, Duncan Keith and Victor Hedman, Schultz is providing #1-type production for less than half of what the Blues are paying Carl Gunnarsson and his four points.
That ridiculously low deal is what brought Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to wonder what hell earn this summer when he becomes a restricted free agent for the final time. Mackey thinks that Kevin Shattenkirk‘s four-year, $17MM extension in 2013 is the low-water mark for what one might expect this summer, which would already represent an almost $3MM raise per season. The Penguins don’t look to have an issue with the raise though, as they’re likely taking $5.75MM off the books when Marc-Andre Fleury eventually leaves town.
- The San Jose Sharks have sent Joakim Ryan back to the AHL, with David Schlemko expected to play in tonight’s game against the Winnipeg Jets. Ryan was brought up just yesterday when it looked like Dylan DeMelo may not be ready to re-join the team. Instead, DeMelo did play his first game in almost two months and with it the need for Ryan was removed. He’ll head back down to the AHL where he has dominated this season, registering 33 points in 46 games.
- Christian Folin will miss at least three weeks with an upper-body injury, the Minnesota Wild announced today. The 26-year old defenseman suffered the injury last night against the Sharks, and will be out for almost the rest of the season. While the team recently had Jonas Brodin re-join the lineup, this is another hit to a defense group that isn’t as deep as they would like heading into the playoffs.
- The New York Rangers will be scratching Adam Clendening tonight and inserting Steven Kampfer in his place. In the latest article from Larry Brooks of the New York Post, Clendening doesn’t agree with the demotion but will take it as motivation going forward. Tanner Glass is also expected to get into the lineup for the Rangers, who take on the surging Tampa Bay Lightning tonight in Florida.
Snapshots: DeBrincat, Hansen, Eberle
The Chicago Blackhawks have another one coming. For a team that has drafted near the end of the first round for the past decade, they have re-filled their prospect cupboards quite effectively. Even without a first round pick last season, the Blackhawks look like they’ve struck gold with their top selection. Alex DeBrincat scored twice again today for the Erie Otters and broke 60 goals for the first time in his junior career.
DeBrincat is currently on a 17-game goal streak, and is a lock to lead the OHL in scoring this season. This from a player who was cut from the Team USA World Junior squad late last year, and had to wait until 39th overall to hear his name last summer. While it’s not certain that he’ll be able to duplicate his scoring touch at higher levels, his skill, creativity and shot have dominated the OHL since the moment he stepped on the ice. In three seasons, DeBrincat has scored 324 points in 185 games including 119 (60G, 59A) this season.
- While Nikolay Goldobin is scoring breakaway goals in Vancouver, the San Jose Sharks are still waiting for their big deadline acquisition to join them on the ice. Jannik Hansen has been held up by work visa issues since the deadline, and still won’t join the team in Minnesota tonight according to Kent Youngblood of the Mercury News. He’s also not expected to play tomorrow night against the Winnipeg Jets, but should be ready to go on Thursday when the Sharks return home.
- Tim Campbell of NHL.com discusses the Edmonton Oilers and their new line of Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Milan Lucic in his latest column. The trio has found instant success, and Eberle is feeling like it has actually been an excellent season for him, despite the lack of goal scoring. As Campbell points out, the 26-year old winger has an extremely low shooting percentage this year at just 8.8% but still has 14 goals and 39 points this season. If it came up to a more regular percentage of 12.5%—which is still much lower than his career mark—he’d have his fourth straight 20-goal season already. The Oilers can’t wait to see what he has in store for the playoffs, as Eberle was once known as one of the most “clutch” performers in hockey from his time at the World Juniors. In 56 career international contests—which includes five appearances in the World Championships—Eberle has recorded 70 points.
San Jose Sharks Recall Joakim Ryan From AHL
The San Jose Sharks reached into their defensive depth and recalled Joakim Ryan from the AHL early Sunday afternoon. The team will play the next two games on the road and may need some insurance while heading to Minnesota and Winnipeg.
Ryan is in the middle of his second straight outstanding season in the minors since coming out of Cornell in 2015. The small defender has 63 points in 121 games in his AHL career, moving the puck quickly and effectively all season long. Selected in the seventh round of the 2012 entry draft, the 23-year old look like he’ll at least take on a part-time role in the NHL one day.
The Sharks sit first in the Pacific Division but have the Edmonton Oilers nipping at their heels. Their matchup tonight in Minnesota is one to watch, as it very likely could be the Western Conference final this season. If Ryan gets into the lineup (which is still doubtful), he’ll have a tough time transitioning from AHL wingers to one of the deepest forward groups in the NHL.
Trade Deadline Summary: Winners & Losers Of The Pacific Division
The NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone, and while it wasn’t the most exciting deadline day in recent memory, there were quite a few notable moves. Here are the winners and losers of the upstart Pacific Division:
Winners
Anaheim Ducks:
- Acquired Patrick Eaves from Dallas Stars for conditional second-round pick
The Ducks had one real need at the deadline and that was another top six winger. By getting ahead of the market and making the deal for Eaves earlier this week, Anaheim was already a winner at the deadline. The conditional second-rounder, which can become a first, is a steep price. However, given that Eaves is having a career year, the market value had yet to be set, and the Ducks desperation had grown due to the Antoine Vermette suspension, they were right to swing a deal when they had the chance. It was a quiet deadline day in Anaheim, but this is still a team that could make a lot of noise down the stretch.
Arizona Coyotes:
- Acquired 2017 third-round pick and conditional 2018 fifth-round pick from Calgary Flames for Michael Stone
- Acquired 2017 first-round pick, 2018 second-round pick, conditional 2019 fourth-round pick, and Grayson Downing from Minnesota Wild for Martin Hanzal, Ryan White, and 2017 fourth-round pick
- Acquired Teemu Pulkkinen from Minnesota Wild for “future considerations”
- Acquired Joe Whitney from Colorado Avalanche for Brandon Ranford
The Coyotes messed up by not trading Radim Vrbata (and might have been able to get more for Stone), but put that aside and what they were able to get from the Minnesota Wild is pretty extraordinary. The team wanted to re-sign Hanzal, but when talks fell apart, it became a foregone conclusion that he would be moved. Yet, that inevitability never drove the prices down and the Wild ended up offering an amazing deal for the career Coyote. The Avalanche should take note because this is how you work the trade deadline as one the league’s worst teams. In exchange for impending free agents who were not coming back in Hanzal and Stone, Arizona ends up with five picks and two prospects (assuming, as it often does, that “future considerations” means nothing) and the team has suffered almost no loss. If GM John Chayka has decided to deal Vrbata, he likely would have added another pair of good picks to that mix, but as it stands, the Coyotes still did pretty well.
San Jose Sharks Acquire Jannik Hansen
The trade deadline doesn’t sleep. After much of the east coast media has gone to bed, the west coast teams are still working. The San Jose Sharks have acquired Jannik Hansen from the Vancouver Canucks. In return, the Canucks have sent Nikolay Goldobin and a conditional fourth-round pick. Amazingly, the condition is that if the Sharks win the Stanley Cup this season, the fourth would become a first-rounder. 
While Hansen is a nice player for the Sharks to add to their playoff run, this is an incredible return for the Canucks. Hansen will turn 31 on March 15th and is signed for through next season at $2.5MM. Vancouver will retain 20% on that contract through 2017-18. He scored a career-high 22 goals last season, but it took an aggressively high shooting percentage to do it. That 18.8% mark was quite a bit higher than his career mark, though perhaps some of it comes from playing with better players.
After missing a good chunk of this season with a knee injury, he has scored just 13 points in 28 games. He does give the Sharks some more playoff experience, as he has suited up 64 times in the postseason. It’s unclear where he’ll fit into the San Jose lineup, though Hansen has proven he can play basically anywhere up or down the roster and give you dependable defense with some offensive upside.
Goldobin is a tough prospect to part with though, as he has done nothing to lower his stock since being drafted in 27th overall in 2014. His AHL numbers are outstanding with 90 points in 115 games, though he hasn’t yet been able to crack the Sharks lineup with any regularity. When paired with Jonathan Dahlen who was acquired yesterday in the Alex Burrows deal, the Canucks have added two prospects that would immediately rank near the top of their system.
The fact that the fourth-round selection was added is amazing in itself, but the condition is just gravy for the Canucks. The Sharks were two victories away from winning the Stanley Cup last season, and are poised to go on a deep playoff run once again. The chance of gaining a first-round pick in addition to Goldobin is slight, but still an unbelievable possibility for a rebuilding squad.
After hanging around the playoff chase for a while this season, the Canucks have had a very good few days before the deadline. Moving out aging veterans and not settling just for draft picks will supercharge any rebuild they attempt. They need it after handing out a questionable deal to Loui Eriksson this summer and still having the Sedins under contract.
Pierre LeBrun of ESPN was first to report the trade on Twitter, while Bob McKenzie of TSN gave us the return. LeBrun also noted that the Canucks are retaining on Hansen’s salary.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Trade Candidates: Valtteri Filppula
With the trade deadline now just days away, we’re wrapping up our profiles of several players whose names are still on the trade block and are likely to be dealt by March 1st.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been busy, dealing Ben Bishop to Los Angeles, and Brian Boyle to Toronto. Another couple names keep popping up and one of those is center Valtteri Filppula, a player who can offer a playoff team depth down the middle.
Contract
Filppula signed with the Bolts before the 2013-14 season, a five-year, $25MM deal. With two years left on that deal, Filppula and the Lightning have a chance to help one another. The deal includes a no-trade clause which Filppula would have to waive, but should it be to the right team, general manager Steve Yzerman could make a deal to ease the financial strain on his team.
2016-17
Filppula is a defty centerman, known for creating plays and less for scoring goals. He’s only had two 20-goal seasons–once in Detroit and Tampa Bay. But he creates offense and is responsible in his own end, making him a valuable player come playoff time. This season, Filppula has already eclipsed his point total for last year, recording 34 in 59 games this year. He’s currently fifth on the team in points, and valuable in the faceoff circle.
Season Stats
59 GP: 7 goals, 27 assists, 34 points, +1 rating, 17:30 ATOI
Suitors
It’s going to take some creativity on Yzerman’s part to make this trade happen. Less than 24 hours from the deadline, Filppula’s name has been tagged in a number of scenarios, with Bob McKenzie tweeting that of the 13 teams listed on his no trade clause. It makes McKenzie’s tweet that much more interesting since one of the blocked teams could potentially work it out. The Florida Panthers, who have surged lately, could absorb the hit for another season and it would provide more depth. The Toronto Maple Leafs would be another option, reuniting Filppula with Mike Babcock, who he was a Stanley Cup with in 2008. Filppula’s playoff experience, and strong performances during those playoff runs, would make him valuable to a team looking to get that necessary bump in depth. If Tampa is willing to absorb even a little bit of salary, the Edmonton Oilers, or the Nashville Predators could be destinations. Even the New York Islanders, who are knocking on the door, could swing a deal with the right financial plan. The Oilers look less likely, however, after swinging a deal to acquire David Desharnais.
Likelihood Of A Trade
The challenge for Yzerman is getting Filppula to waive his no-trade as well as massaging a deal that doesn’t financially cripple a team. Retaining only half of the deal for an extra season would help, but still require more work as Yzerman has a number of moves to make in the offseason. Shedding the contract would be helpful for Yzerman and the Bolts while Filppula would help a team during a playoff run.