Is It Torrey Mitchell time?
November 23rd, 2009, 1:00 pm
With the Worcester shuttle in full effect sending down a flu ridden Logan Couture and his cohorts Ben Ferriero and Ryan Vesce, this leaves one hole in the Sharks roster for Wednesday nights game vs. the Central Division leading Chicago Blackhawks.
Is it Torrey Mitchell time? In case you’ve forgotten what he looks like, I included a picture of the dude to the right. Meet Torrey Mitchell all over again, folks. Remember the speed and fearlessness we saw in four playoff games vs. the Ducks? The joy of a scrappy role player we saw in 2007-08 with his 20 points and 50 PIM’s. If he’s healthy, the Sharks just got even better. As impressive as McGinn, Couture and Ferriero have been in guest appearances, they were just holding the place warm for Torrey.
So where should he play? Well, for starters he’ll likely be paired with McGinn and McLaren on the 4th line until he gets his NHL legs back but eventually, a 3rd line of Malhotra/Mitchell/Ortemeyer is something to look forward to. Mitchell is another top notch bottom six forward, another possible scoring threat with his speed and another PK guy (he was 2nd amongst Sharks forwards in 2007-08 in PK avg. time). Welcome back Torrey. Here’s to good healthy and another reason why this team is better than last season’s record setting club.
The rumor mill is a buzz that all is not right in Calgary with a certain star player. We’ve heard rumblings of Dion Phaneuf being moved in the offseason and with the addition of Bouwmeester and Regehr, should we be too surprised that Darryl Sutter is going to pick his brother over the player? I think not, these turtles stick together. Not that Sutter would ever deal Phaneuf in the conference, but what kind of blog would this be if I didn’t make a plea of how we might be able to get him, if he is truly available. I would suspect the price would be a young top four d-man, a top six forward and a young NHL ready player. So would you trade Vlasic, Clowe and McGinn to have a potential pairing of Boyle and Phaneuf? This would mean that Joslin would be part of the defensive core for the rest of the season, but I think Joslin has proved he can handle it.
Acknowledging the odds are those good friends, Slim and None, I’m just saying hypothetically, would you do it? Doug Wilson has never been afraid to trade for a marquee player (Boyle, Heatley, Thornton, Campbell). He will pull the trigger. He has stones of steal, but is this the right deal? Not enough? Don’t mess with a good thing or make a good thing better. You be the judge.
I Love Dan Boyle. Trade Me to San Jose!
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Man, that is steep price for a guy that is on the ice for over 3 goals every 60 min (2nd worst on the flames for their regulars). I mean, he plays a mean style, but Vlasic is doing exactly what everyone wants him to do (play more physical against the opponents best players while trying to add more offense to his game) and is locked in at $3.1mil for the next 4 years, a steal for a top pairing Dman who is still growing.
As it is, even in a non-cap world, I may not deal Vlasic for Phaneuf straight up, in a non-cap world I say no go.
But how to get him to SJ… Clowe would have to be a part of it. But without Vlasic’s salary, the trade is a non-starter unless Calgary takes Huskins on top of someone like Demers or McGinn. I just don’t see it happening without Vlasic, which is too rich for my blood.
As much as I like Phaneuf, I think we have our own version coming up in Nick Petrecki. Patience, dudes, patience.
Here’s hoping Mitchell is healthy. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that SHG he scored against the Ducks in his first year.
My gut reaction is that I wouldn’t make that trade, but I think I could be talked into it. I guess ultimately Doug Wilson has made enough good trades that I would give him the benefit of the doubt.
Just for fun, I looked up the 2003 draft (where the Sharks picked Michalek at 6 when Phaneuf was still on the board).
Notable picks:
6 – Milan Michalek – SJ
7 – Ryan Suter – NSH
9 – Dion Phaneuf – CAL
11 – Jeff Carter – PHI
13 – Dustin Brown – LA
14 – Brent Seabrook – CHI
16 – Steve Bernier – SJ
17 – Zach Parise – NJ
19 – Ryan Getzlaf – ANA
24 – Mike Richards – PHI
28 – Corey Perry – ANA
I know it’s pointless to second guess drafts from 6 years ago, but pretty amazing that the Sharks could have drafted either the Getzlaf/Perry combo or the Carter/Richards combo instead of Michalek/Bernier. What a great draft for Philly and Anaheim…
The joys of drafting at 18. You never really know how it will turn out. It’s not even like those guys were busts, they just weren’t as good in the end as a lot of other players that got drafted.
I agree with Ruben… Clowe, Vlassic and McGinn is too much. But, that said I’d love to see DW make another stunner move late and steal him away. I wonder if with this high asking price if we could find ourselves in another great trading position??
I’d give Vlassic and Clowe in a heartbeat, McGinn no… I might not give McGinn up at all… I don’t think Clowe and Vlassic alone would do it though. At least not now, at the deadline it might.
Imagine Phaneuf and Murray together…wowzer…