First things first- I was a little surprised, like everyone else, that the GM didn’t make any real moves on either draft day.  However, given the kinds of deals that happened, and more importantly, the kinds of deals that didn’t happen, I understand it.  I know grier disagrees with me, but I think the Pronger deal was another instance of Philly panic.  They gave up one regular roster player, a great prospect in Sbisa, and two first round picks for one year of Chris Pronger.  Of course, if Pronger re-signs after this year and the Flyers go on to win the cup in the next few, Paul Holmgren will look like a genius.  Save that, Bob Murray in Anaheim clearly made the better deal.  The Bouwmeester to Calgary deal I thought was excessive too- a third round pick and Jordan Leopold simply for the rights to negotiate with Bouwmeester for an extra week.

Also, the kinds of deals I thought would happen, didn’t.  No moves for Heatley, Gaborik, or other top players.  Bryan Murray in particular was hunkered down, waiting for a huge offer that never came.  Can we blame Doug Wilson for not taking the bait?

One more note on the draft- I’ve said before, and I’ll say again, that draft picks, even 1st round ones, are a crap shoot.  If we look at 1994 to 2003, probably the last year we can make a judgement on the quality of first round picks, according to a great spreadsheet on PPP, less than 40% of first round picks have played over 200 games in the NHL.  If you take the first two rounds, that number drops to less than 25%.  Even the best minds in hockey can’t consistently pick NHL roster players in the draft.

If you look at the Sharks in that period, they actually do very well.  19.8% of all of their drafted players in that period have played over 200 games in the bigs, fifth best in the NHL.  And an even 50% have played at least a single NHL game, good for third in the league.  I’m not sure how to interpret this next part- the Detroit Red Wings are dead last in both categories.  I might have to save that discussion for another post.

But onto the big news of the day: the Sharks have decided not to tender qualifying offers to some restricted free agents.  The big name among them is Marcel Goc.  Can’t say I’m outraged. Goc, in that list of first round draft picks that have played over 200 games, never turned himself into a player that a team needs to have around.  Certainly not a bad player, but he never found a niche, a place where he’s a go-to guy.  Not skilled enough to score a bunch, not gritty enough to be a stereotypical third liner, and not defensive enough to be a PK specialist.  Even in the faceoff circle, Jumbo and Pavs are certainly good enough.

As far as the others go, Plihal, Kaspar, and a host of Worchester Sharks, I’m not too broken up about that either.  I’ve gone on the record excoriating Kaspar for his uneven play, and Plihal, who won Sharks Rookie of the Year basically by default, has Marcel Goc disease- a nice guy, not a bad player, but not someone you’re thrilled to put in the lineup every day.  At least not on a team that should consider anything but the Stanley Cup finals a disappointment.

The guys who did get QOs- Clowe, Mitchell, Greiss, and Staubitz, are all players with significant room to improve.  As we’ve talked about on the podcast, Greiss could be the steady backup this coming year, perhaps getting 20 games or more in net.  Wilson is clearly high on Staubitz, a guy who beat the tar out of Tootoo this year, and could be slotted to be that guy on the Sharks.  Mitchell can be in between Jordan Staal and Max Talbot- a guy that never gives up, and chips in goals in key spots.

If nothing else, Wilson hasn’t fallen prey to something we’ve seen before- sentimentality.  I’m just interested to see if that state of mind carries over into larger roster moves.