Équipe: 2024-25 Sharks de San Jose

Date de création initiale: 4 juin 2024

Publié: 8 juin 2024

Mode - plafond salarial: Basique

If you want some reasoning, here's the read!

My goals here were to improve the team and bring in some real leadership.
I could see a few moves similar to this happening this offseason.

Forwards:
- Henrique - bringing in a 2-way, veteran leader, top 6 forward is a near necessity for this team, amazing for our elite FW youth
- Pageau - another veteran who will also be a leader, will be fine in the 3c position in SJ

Defense:
- Walker - Rumored that SJ is interested in him; good top 4 2-way add and will make our d-core better
- Liljegren - Could be on the way out of Toronto, still young and developing, and would be a good add to the powerplay
- Schmidt - Cap Dump - Insurance if one of the youth isn't ready
- Move on from our log jam of 5th/6th/7th Dmen

Lines:
- Eklund - Granlund - Smith
If Eklund and Granlund continue their play toward the end of last year, this line will be fine, but they will need to because I imagine Smith will be able to score but will be a liability in the defensive zone. Playing with these 2 guys should help Smith develop, but Granlund and Eklund will have to continue their hot streak offensively and their solid play in the defensive zone. Solid line, with lots of talent

- Henrique - Celebrini - Zetterlund
With another veteran on his wing, I think Celebrini would have a much better transition to the NHL rather than being thrown on a line with 2 young wingers. Celebrini is NHL-ready and should be able to take this role with these kinds of players on his wing. Having Zetterlund on this line as well should really create a well-balanced line. He really found his place in San Jose last year, I am excited to see how he can keep improving

- Bordeleau - Pageau - Kostin
Not a ton to say about this line, but it should be well-balanced with skill, size, and experience; solid 3rd line

- Gushchin - Sturm - Kunin
Same with this line: don't love Gushchin in the 4th line role, but will get powerplay minutes, and as a rookie, that's OK

D-Core:
- Ferraro - Walker
Not a first-pairing quality pair, but it's a significant improvement over any pairing we had last year. It will be interesting to see how a more developed Ferraro will do paired with a real top 4 defenseman. Maybe this can turn into a shutdown pairing that is relied on for pure Defense, that is deployed against other teams' top players, to solely limit scoring

- Thrun - Liljegren
At times, it looks like Liljegren can become a really good top-four defenseman; if San Jose can get him for a cheap price, I say pull the trigger and let him play a full season with this kind of minutes. Thrun is also a solid player, and their games should complement them well. It should be a solid 2-way pairing. Let Liljegren run one of the powerplay units

- Mukhamadullin - Emberson
Let Shak play with a defensive defenseman (Emberson). Playing him on the 3rd pair is probably the best for his development, so we don't rush him into a role he is not quite ready for. Let him run one of the powerplay units. It is also worth noting that Emberson was easily our 2nd best defenseman before he got hurt last year, can he come back the same though?

Season:
- This season should be just about developing our youth the correct way, and surrounding them with veterans who are actually skilled is the right way to go about it, in my opinion. This will be a healthier environment for guys to develop under. While this team won't be making playoffs by any means, there should be less of the 10-14 game losing streaks and the looking completely lost disease they had last season.
- Don't oversell at the deadline, just keep the same pace we have been on, and continue to climb up year after year.

Light at the end of the tunnel!

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