Before I get started – check out our Facebook page for the Dudes on Hockey podcast. Yup – we’ve officially sold out.

On our latest podcast, Mike and I review the winners and losers so far in the Western Conference based on UFA singings, trades or just lack of movement and believing in their work-in-progress. Without rehashing everything, here are the two best and two worst teams in the West so far, in my opinion. I didn’t include the Ducks because, well…I think they’re going to miss Pronger more than they realize…and the Avs are obviously losers – so why state the known.

BEST: Los Angeles Kings – By keeping Jack Johnson with a wildly reasonable deal for someone who will likely be an Olympian in 2010, adding a Stanley Cup winner in Scuderi and a premium scorer and character guy in Smyth, the Kings are on the brink of being a playoff team and now certainly in the conversation with upstarts like St. Louis and Columbus. The real question for LA remains in net, and why they didn’t offer Martin Biron the same $$ he got from the Islanders I don’t really understand, especially for one-year – but Dean Lombardi has kept the young guys and continued to layer on the veterans. This could be the year it pays off for LA. I’m not thrilled about their progress, as a Sharks fan.

WORST: Edmonton Oilers – If they don’t end up bribing, convincing, forcing Heatley into moving West to the cold side of hell, then they are screwed. Penner, Smid and Cogliano will all be staring at Kevin Lowe wondering what the hell is going on, and Lowe might be painted into a corner into moving all three for less than value – well, Smid has no value and neither does Penner really with that contract, let’s be honest. Bringing in ‘Bulin works only if they have a defense to stop anyone – which I’m not sure they do. It could be a shooting gallery in Edmonton, they did cough up the 5th most shots per game last year with an average of 32.5. I say good, let them be cold losers. Eskimo Pie anyone?

BEST: Columbus Blue Jackets – Keep to the script. They made giant steps last season and kept their marquee player for the future and added one of the best 3rd line guys in the NHL in Pahlsson. This team is all about Steve Mason, solid team defense and Rick Nash. I think they need a PP guy but otherwise, this team is continuing to be molded into a Ken Hitchcock special. Another playoff appearance looks likely.

WORST: Nashville Predators – What the hell are they doing? Well, nothing obviously. I understand money is an issue, so why then throw it around to a guy with a wrecked back. The rest of their division is getting better and the Preds act is growing old. I think they could slip to the bottom on the NHL this year, staring a top five draft pick in the face in 2010 and be big sellers at the deadline.

This sure sounds like JR is hanging ’em up.  And you know what?  I’m happy about that.  JR is a great presence in the room, and I’m sure he helped a lot of the young players learn about life and success in the NHL.  But there are two reasons why I’m glad (if it’s true):

1. I don’t like to see great players go out with a whimper.  Not that he’s going out with a bang (13 points in 42 games last year), but there sometimes it’s a little sad to see a legend try and make it happen when they are barely hanging on.  Claude Lemieux is an obvious parallel.  Not that I think Lemieux embarrassed himself or anything like that, and not that I want to begrudge a guy who loves hockey a chance to give it another go-round, but you like to think of Roenick in his prime- skating hard, hitting hard, scoring goals, eating steak in Vancouver, etc.
2. You have to really contribute on the ice.  Even last year, there were flashes of the ‘old’ JR, making something happen, but too often his minutes were uneventful.  For a supposed Stanley Cup contender, you don’t want to have uneventful minutes, even on the 4th line.

Reading this over again, it sounds like I’m trying to disparage one of the greatest American-born hockey players ever.  That couldn’t be further from the truth.  Rather, I’m encouraging him to move to the next stage in his hockey career, hopefully involving a broadcast booth, a front office, or even a league or PA office.  Or a podcast, hehe.

Speaking of which, the newest episode is out.

I’m sure fans are abuzz over the recent article by Mark Emmons.  Although, the title is “Sharks’ G.M. Preaches Patience”, there are a couple of significant tidbits in there:

1. Nabby would waive his no-trade clause if asked.  He hasn’t been asked.
2. Marleau would give up the captaincy if asked.  Again, he hasn’t been asked.

Second thing first.  I said back in DOH 49 that I thought the captaincy needs to change.  If that means Marleau has to leave, so be it.  Looks like DW might share my evaluation, and it also looks like there’s some flexibility there.    One, you have to admire Patty for his willingness to “ do whatever it takes to get this team to the next level.”  It’s a bit of an awkward situation to be sure.  But this is the very definition of putting the team first.  For all those Marleau haters out there, you can suck it.

Now first thing second.  Nabby seems like a proud guy, and I can understand the sentiment of wanting to be wanted.  But the natural question to me is, why have an NTC at all?  It seems, especially considering the recent trials and tribulations of Dany Heatley, that an NTC really never works in the players favor.  If you choose to exercise it (a clause that both parties agreed to in the contract, remember) then the player can be made out to seem like a problem child.  And if you, like Nabby, would waive it if asked, there’s no point in having it in the first place.

Along that vein, I do see the point in an NMC, which also covers a player being waived.  Not to bring up a sore subject, but if Kyle McLaren had an NMC, he wouldn’t have spent last season in the AHL.  Frankly, I think that’s a big reason why he’s still unsigned- he was out of sight and out of mind.  It puts teams in a tougher spot- the Sharks probably would have had to make a potentially unfavorable trade to either move Kyle or another player- but I don’t think it carries the stigma of refusing a trade.  Hard to blame a guy for not wanting to stay in crappy hotels and get bussed around New England.  Maybe they should invent an NWC- a no-waive clause.  Player could get traded to another NHL team, but not demoted.

The third thing that’s worth mentioning from the article, is this statement.

“I get the idea of instant gratification and people not understanding why we’re not doing everything today,” Wilson said. “But this team only needs to be built by the trade deadline. Big deals take time and patience. You have to wait for the moons to align.

“Are we done? No.”

This reiterates what we’ve said many times, and on the most recent podcast- DW is interested in doing something, and he’s not going to tell us about it.  Sucks if you’re impatient, but that’s the way he’s always been.

This might be the right place to break down all the things that have happened to the Sharks recently, like the Nichol signing, the new assistant coach, etc., but it’s summer, and we are too lazy.  We’ll just talk about it instead on the latest podcast.  A lot of your comments in the previous thread sparked discussion, so check it out.  Of course, things being how they are, we know for a fact there will be a trade sometime before training camp, but we’ll just tear our hair out waiting for it to happen.  And hoping that the Sharks don’t get reamed.

Since we’re still extremely starved for news (the reported Nichol signing hasn’t even materialized yet), I thought I’d share a bit of Heatley/Sharks trivia I hadn’t heard before – and a reason why these rumors might have some legs after all…

According to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun, Sharks Assistant GM Wayne Thomas is a “good friend of the Heatley family”. The dots are slowly starting to connect here. If Thomas is vouching that Heatley is getting a bad rap in Ottawa, where the team has been severely mismanaged and he has dealt with four coaches in the last four years. While he’s gone about it all wrong, I can’t exactly blame him for wanting to get out of Dodge.

So – we’ve discussed at length the pros and cons of the Sharks trading for Heatley. Pro: the obvious, this guy can flat out play and might be one of the best snipers in the entire NHL. Check out where he ranks amongst the top post-lock out snipers.

Ovechkin 209
Kovalchuk 189
Heatley 180
Iginla 159
Hossa 151
Nash 105

It is hard not to salivate thinking about adding a guy with 50 goal talent to the best passer in the league. He is also a solid playoff performer, with 35 points in 34 career playoff games – including a run to the Cup in 2007. The cons: well, he’s demanded a trade for the 2nd time in his seven year NHL career and he carries a $7.5M cap hit until 2014.

Since we now have the “Wayne Thomas” connection, I don’t think I can discount the possibility of this being a reality anymore – BUT – I could see Doug Wilson trying to paint the Senators into a little bit of a corner, like what Don Waddell did to Brian Murray when he dealt Heatley to Ottawa in 2005. That deal included the more accomplished (and more expensive) Marian Hossa and veteran defensemen Greg DeVries. DeVries was making $2.3M at the time and Hossa was making $6M – Heatley was making $4.5M. So, what Waddell did was make the Senators give a top four d-man who went on to play the PK, PP and even strength minutes for the Thrashers in their playoff run and a very good player in Hossa.

Could Doug Wilson do the same to Murray here? Could he insist on the Senators (who are also in cap hell and actually 2M over the cap at this point) take on some Sharks “problem” players in the deal or insist that the Senators give another decent asset in the process, someone like say Anton Volchenkov? We can offer a winger signed long term, a puck moving defensemen and an underachieving sniper for a top ten player in the league and a really solid top four blueliner. Hell – ask the Sens to toss in a former Shark that has developed into a decent 4th liner in Shean Donovan (.6M) and the money is almost even.

To Ottawa: Michalek, Ehrhoff, Luko and Cheechoo (11.9M in cap hit)
To San Jose: Heatley, Donovan and Volchenkov (10.6M in cap hit)

You tell the Senators, “we don’t give a #$%& about your cap problems. Send down Luko if you want or make another trade – but if you want us to take Heatley, you’re going to have to give us Volcheknov (or Chris Phillips).”

This is the type of deal I could see Doug Wilson angling towards here. You have the Sens in a terrible spot – so make them part with a sweetener to take out their trash.

Starved for Sharks news? Well, here goes nothin’.

On his blog, Sharks beat writer David Pollak reported that the San Jose Sharks could announce the signing of a free agent 4th line center with some “grit” to replace Marcel Goc’s role on the team. This sent my rampant speculation meter buzzing this morning and here’s some names I came up with on who this mystery man could be.

Manny Malhotra (2008-09 Columbus Blue Jackets)
We’ve talked about how Malhotra would be the desired UFA player left at this position. He was in the top ten in the entire NHL in faceoffs won last season, he kills penalties, he has some “grit”. The concern might be that he is looking for a multi-year deal, and DW might be unwilling to go there with the cap situation being what it is – but I think Mike and I are in agreement, this is clearly the best player left on the board. If we sign him, I will get an instant feeling of happiness. Contract guess: 2 years, 3M.

Michael Peca (2008-09 Columbus Blue Jackets)
Mike seemed to throw up a little bit in his mouth when I brought up Peca, but I don’t know if it would be so bad. He played 71 games last year, he plays the kill, he brings veteran leadership and “grit”. He can still be a solid 3rd/4th line guy on a good team – but if it is Peca, then that certainly spells the end for Jeremy Roenick. No room for both those guys. Contract guess: 1 year, 1.2M.

Derek Armstrong (2008-09 LA Kings)
He is an NHL 4th liner and at age 36 might not have a ton left in the tank. The major downside to Armstrong is he doesn’t play the PK and doesn’t really win faceoffs. But “grit”, yes he does add to that department. Contract guess: 1 year, 1M.

Mike Sillinger (2008-09 NY Islanders)
He has missed the better part of the last two seasons with two major hip surgeries, but IF healthy, and that is a major IF – he can be an important part of a winning team. He can win faceoffs and play the PK. Hell, he’s played for 12 different NHL teams and hasn’t made it to San Jose yet…He made 2.3M last year. No way in hell he gets that making a comback. Could be DW’s redemption project of the offseason and come on the cheap. Contract guess: 1 year, 0.5M.

Eric Perrin (2008-09 Atlanta Thrashers)
Perrin is durable, is a league leader in playing PK minutes and has won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay. He is not going back to Atlanta after begging to be traded at the deadline. He can win a faceoff and has some offensive ability, with 45 points in 2007-08. The downside is it sounds like this guy thinks he’s a 2nd line dude and craves PP time. And “grit”…not so much. This guy has zero fighting majors. Know your role, meat. Contract guess: 1 year, 1M.

Now for my educated guess. While I hope, pray and light a candle that it is Malhotra, I’m going to lower my expectation meter and go for one of these other options.

Survey says: Derek Armstrong.

The word “grit” and the fact that Armstrong has played the last six seasons on the west coast and fits the profile of the type of UFA that would be interested in coming to San Jose. He will be zero help on the PK, but he’s not a void offensively (35 points in 2007-08), will come in and play the “bodyguard” role in a middle-weight capacity for 3-4 fights a year and certainly provides “grit”. Think Scott Thornton as a center – that’s who this guy is.

Just a hunch.

Even though the Sharks have been inactive, we haven’t.  New podcast here.  This time of year is ripe for speculation, and that’s what we do best, so this week is full of ideas about what the Sharks might do between now and the beginning of the season.  I know some of you out there are getting frustrated, and it’s hard not to be.  I still trust DW, but I admit, that trust was shaken a tad when Kent Huskins was signed.  I hope the other shoe that drops is an italian-made loafer.

In case you were feeling down in the dumps about the Sharks, and you want to get more depressed, read this.  Gabe Desjardins watched video of every Sharks even-strengh goal against, and assigned blame to a defenseman.  Let’s just say he makes it sound like we could use a #1 and a #2 defensemen now.  However, I’m not a fan of this methodology for two reasons:  One, it’s very subjective.  Without watching all the goals myself, I think it’s in the realm of possibility that you could quibble on the blame of 10-15% of them,  which could change those rankings around.  I try to read almost everything Gabe writes, but it makes me suspicious when he says that the results reinforced what he already thought.  Two, it assigns blame for a goal to one person only.  Maybe Blake missed coverage a little bit, putting Vlasic out of position.  Vlasic gets beat and there’s a goal against, but who gets the “error”?  Blake for putting Vlasic in a bad spot, or Vlasic getting beat?

In other news, the latest this morning is that since the Pronger extension doesn’t start until 2010, and Pronger will be 35 in September of that year, the extension counts as an “old man” contract. This means it counts against the cap for the entire term, even in Pronger retires before it’s over.  I’m not sure I like that contract now…

I’ve been bad. I went and looked at Hockeybuzz and it freaked me out.

I was bored last night trying to get to sleep and stumbled upon a three way trade rumor between San Jose/Chicago/Toronto but of course with no names attached. I always knew Eklund’s rumor ratio sucked but I never guessed he had a hilarious 3% accuracy, but thanks to the website hockeybuzzhogwash.com, they’ve been tracking his shots in the dark and found he has predicted 15 out of 472 rumors on his site correctly – that’s the 3.1%.

So, knowing this, I would discount the trade rumor on the spot – but my internet searching got the best of me and I found a twitter from Puck Prospectus as “speculation” as to who might be involved in this three-way trade. Prepare to vomit all over yourself.

To Toronto: Versteeg, Brian Campbell, Cheechoo
To Chicago: Marleau, Kaberle and Nabby
To San Jose: Jason Blake, Huet and 2010 1st round pick.

Have you picked your jaw up off the floor yet?

From a website that I usually respect and that recently teamed with Dudes on Hockey guest, E.J. Hradek, on several pieces on ESPN.com – this has got to be the biggest load of @&*. Either this guy Andrew Rothstien is deranged, has a great sense of humor…or is deranged. So, he’s actually inferring the Sharks are going to trade two expiring contracts that would allow them to have $12M in cap room next season and a struggling Rocket Richard winner for a LW who had a bounce back year with 63 points but still has cancer and is signed until 2012 and a wildly overpriced goalie in Huet that is signed until 2012 for big money and sucks HUGE in the playoffs…oh, and that 1st round pick.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…..HAH….HA…Dear Puck Prospectus, either you owe your readers an apology or I will be my roof ready to jump if you are right.

Now, I do buy that perhaps Toronto and Chicago are good trade partners with the Sharks, especially with the RFA trouble the Hawks have gotten themselves into – but the players I see Doug Wilson being interested in from the Hawks is RW Patrick Sharp and/or RW Dustin Byfuglien. If the Hawks want to get Marleau for those two players for one year and Marleau will approve the move, I would make the deal. As for Toronto, I’ve talked before about how Kaberle could be on the Sharks radar because he could fill the legit #2 role in a “Detroit” model, skilled and responsible – not physical. Boyle and Kaberle would be our answer to Lidstrom and Rafalski. Not quite the same, but pretty darn good. Toronto needs scoring bad, bad, bad and might be willing to roll with Michalek and Cheechoo.

Gotta be a major move coming this week – just not the insanity listed above.

Generally, I regard the writings of David Pollak, the Sharks beat writer, as close to gospel as you can get.  And as he had written several times in the recent past, Dany (What’s Up With the Spelling) Heatley coming to the Sharks wasn’t going to happen.  But in his most recent post, he admits the possibility of Heatley to the Sharks may not be as remote now as it once was.  The $4M payment to Heatley on July 1 means that any potential trade partners wouldn’t have to shell out, making the prospect that much more attractive.

The flip side is the cap situation.  As Mr. Plank has amply described at Fear the Fin, the Sharks are once again near the cap ceiling.  This essentially means that any deal for Heatley would have to be at least cap neutral.  The Sens have more players signed at approximately $55M, so they might be able to take a million or two, but certainly not more than that.  And given that the Sharks still have players to sign in order to get to a proper active roster figure, that means only top salary players make sense to go the other way.  Trading Ehrhoff, Vlasic, and Lukowich might be about the same cap hit as Heatley, but then the Sharks would need to sign two more players for the already paltry $2-3M the Sharks have left under the cap.

I’m burying the lead here- this means the Sharks have to be offering a deal that includes Patrick Marleau or Evgeni Nabokov.  Considering the Sens got Pascal Leclaire at the deadline and the Sharks don’t have an obvious #1 to step in this year, I think it’s highly likely that Marleau is the one.  Marleau, Ehrhoff, and a pick maybe?

Not that I’m supporting such a proposal.  Heatley clearly is damaged goods, and the fact that he bitched about wanting to be traded, then didn’t waive his NMC to go to the Oilers certainly doesn’t make him look good.  Even the most charitable explanation- that the Rangers and Sharks made decent proposals that he preferred – still makes him look like a punk.  Funny thing is, this is one of the very few times we’ve seen a opposing player actively favor the Sharks (Dan Boyle avoiding Atlanta doesn’t count).

However, the question remains, do the Sharks really need this brand of headache?  40-50 goals, especially if Joe is there setting him up, is a difficult thing to pass up.  But I still say no.  Too many questions and too much money in this economic climate is asking for trouble.

Check out the new podcast about UFA Day here!

July 1 has come and gone and as I expected, Doug Wilson wasn’t in on the fun – he never is. Whether it’s by choice or because NHL players still don’t view San Jose has a free agent destination, Doug Wilson never has much to report on July 1st. So, if you’re disappointed – don’t slit your wrists yet – you had to know this was going to happen. I always get caught up in UFA frenzy, wondering if this will be the year the Sharks get a big fish – but there was no chance. The trade route is where we’ll see our major changes.

The Sharks made one signing today, technically a “re-signing” but this player never played a single minute for San Jose after he was acquired in a trade at the deadline due to a foot injury. Kent Huskins, a member of the Stanley Cup winning Ducks, must have seen something he liked in the Bay Area and is sticking around for two seasons at 3.4M total. His addition means there will be some subtraction among Vlasic, Ehrhoff, Luko and Murray – one of those dudes isn’t going to be on the team next year – and honestly, I think two of them won’t be there. Doug Wilson loves to play this angle, there are going to be a few teams pretty upset they didn’t land a UFA today and they will come calling to Doug Wilson who has his own version of Komisarek in Murray signed long term, plus he has a smooth skating Ehrhoff to those who lost out on Ohlund. Those are valuable assets to have on the table to someone who might be itching to make a splash. The Sharks didn’t give Huskins $1.7M per season to sit on his ass – he is going to be playing in the top six every night, no question in my mind.

Here’s something to ponder based on a comment I saw on David Pollak’s blog. If the Sharks were willing to $1.7M for Huskins, why not add an extra year and sign formers Preds defendeer Greg Zanon, who inked with the Wild for a reported three years/$5.8M. Zanon is a shot blocking monster, with 237 blocks, and was a major part of Nashville’s top ten penalty kill. Now maybe Zanon wanted to return to the mid-West where he played his college hockey in Nebraska and in the AHL in Milwaukee, but I’d like to think that while the coaching staff saw what Huskins can offer in practice, having the opportunity to sign the league’s leading shot blocker in Zanon for the same price was at least considered…

Here are some players I’m keeping an eye on in the next week or so to see if they should be checking out Bay Area real estate:

Tomas Kaberle – while I don’t think he is the perfect fit, he is damn good d-man and could be a solid #2 to Boyle’s top banana. If Burke was asking for Kessel, would Ron Wilson be interested in Cheechoo or Michalek?

Speaking of Phil Kessel – if the Bruins have him on the block and were looking to add D, how about Ehrhoff for Kessel?

Scott Hartnell – Either Carcillo or Hartnell has to go, and Hartnell makes more $$. Doug Wilson might be able to get him for a low price – Philly can’t add any more payroll.

Jack Johnson – Dean Lombardi struck out on both Havlat and Gaborik (big surprise), so maybe the long-term signed Michalek would tempt him enough to unload Jack Johnson to the Sharks…especially if Johnson won’t sign. These two teams could be perfect dance partners in a trade, if they can stomach dealing within the division. Jack Johnson in theory would be perfect-o if he develops as projected along side Dan Boyle. He could be the next Rob Blake…or he could be the next Jeff Jillson. It’s worth the risk if the deal is there, if you ask me.

Let’s keep our wits about us. Dan Boyle wasn’t a Shark until July 4th. Who knows what will happen tomorrow.