DOH 163 – The Welcome Mat Is Getting Worn
August 13th, 2011, 6:10 pm
Another week, more new Sharks. Colin White and James Sheppard join San Jose, and Mike and Doug break it all down (albeit posted late).
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Regarding Sheppard, I doubt he can regain much of his scoring prowess and the move isn’t anything to get excited about that’s for sure. I do think that it might possibly look smart down the road though. I’m not saying that it might look smart because I am crazy enough to imagine James Sheppard turning out anything like Logan Couture for example, but because there is a chance that having him in the system could pay off. If he gets 40-50 games in Worchester and then a McGinn or Mitchell type of player gets injured in the post season that’s how I see it looking like a smart move. In that scenario losing the third round pick would not have been that bad (given that Sheppard does well enough with his chance) since we are using everything to make a run at the cup now.
James Sheppard is very likely the Wild’s version of Lukas Kaspar, but in the off chance he might be the next Michael Grabner or even Marcel Goc (when he went to Nashville), it will be worth it.
Colin White is going to go from seeing the toughest minutes for the Devils to seeing 3rd and 4th liners all night. Having him and Demers behind guys like McGinn, Desjardins, and Murray is going to help those forwards tremendously.
I really like the Colin White pick up. If you offered me him or Hannan for $1MM right now I’d be inclined to take White even in that toss up simply due to his size and what I think he brings physically. Our defense has gotten a lot bigger and stronger and I like the potential pairings with 1 offensive/1 defensive player per pair and 1 big bruiser per pair to handle things in front of Niemi who we know is going to give up rebounds.
I’m still waiting for the 3rd like to be resolved but I’m not expecting anything. I’d like to see one more legitimate shutdown guy fill in the winger role with Mitchell/Handzus but I’m guessing it’ll be a rotation through most of the year to hope it will fill from within.