I just found out that Victor Chi, the Sharks beat writer for the Mercury News, the local San Jose paper, was laid off, along with 30 others in the newsroom. I’ve actually emailed Victor a couple of times regarding Sharks matters, and he did email me back, always polite. Since then I would note his byline. I guess this is one of the things that happens when there’s a big series of tubes.

Victor, if you still want to blog on the Sharks, let me know. The pay is, um, limited. Either way, I hope you catch on with another publication that pays a little better than we do.

Grier wrote his “In Wilson We Trust” post, and I’m going to provide the counterpoint.

All Wilson’s eggs are in one basket right now – Souray. If Souray is not signed, it’s yet another year where the Sharks strike out in the free agent market. There might be some trades in the works, but then we’d have to give up something for Redden, Murray, or JovoCop. The whole point of free agency is you just pay the guy, and have to give up nothing in return. With the above three we lose players and pay them their millions in salary. Not the same thing. And keep in mind they’re going to want quality players. I don’t think Patrick Rissmiller will be enough to get those guys.

So Wilson’s painted himself into a corner, with only one major free agent left, and several teams in the bidding. I might be a bit insulated out in here in sunny California, but I don’t think San Jose is considered an elite hockey destination. We may have the biggest ice center west of the Mississippi, but we have the standing of toddlers in the hockey world. Chara took less money to sign with Boston, for God’s sake. A franchise that is only slightly better managed than Chicago.

I hate to cast an approving eye to the south, but the Ducks did it right. They hedged Niedermayer retiring by signing Schneider. They’re hedging Selanne’s retirement by signing Bertuzzi. Those guys retire, they’re not as good as last year, but they’re not floundering in the bowels of the Western Conference- they are still a good playoff team.

The Sharks biggest liability last year is a greater liability now. Hannan is gone, with no one to take his place. And the last decent defenseman on the market played the last 7 years in the biggest hockey town in North America, probably the world. Color me unconvinced that Wilson can pull of a miracle here.

As the signing of Brad Stuart with the Kings comes across the wire, it makes me wonder what is going on inside Sharks headquarters. Stuart settled for a one year deal at 3.5 million. How does Roman Hamerlik get 5.5 million over four years in Montreal?

The fact that the Sharks have been invisible makes me wonder what Doug Wilson has up his sleeve. Others are getting impatient and have the feeling that Wilson has abandoned his promise to deliver a Stanley Cup. He promised there would be changes, he promised that he would do everything to improve this team within reason. He got rid of Bell. He cleared the cap room. So…where is the big move? I think it is still coming and I have faith in Doug Wilson that it will have an impact and it will make sense for this franchise long term. According to reports, the Sharks have 15 million dollarrs of cap room, no money is not the problem. They will resign Marleau at 5/6 million per, so really they have 10 million. Ehrhoff and Michalek are UFA’s next season and you gotta figure Wilson is working on extensions there – probably 2-3 million each. There is a big picture here that people are forgetting about – but still Wilson will make it happen.

I think he could be talking to Boston about Glen Murray. He has two years and 8.2 million left on his deal but could be a bargain compared to what other free agents have been getting on the market. Reuniting Joe and Murray could spell for magic on the top line.

Another possible deal Wilson is looking at is dealing for Ed Jovonovski. He is making 6.5 million for the next three years, but if Souray is searching for over 7.0 million and his defense is suspect, perhaps Wilson prefers JovoCop. He could also be taking a long, hard look at Nick Boynton, who was released by the Coyotes last week.

I still think Wade Redden is a possibility because the Senators have a major problem on the horizon next season. Spezza, Heatley, Mezaros, Emery and Redden all will be UFA’s next year and they will not have the room to keep them all. If Drury and Gomez got seven million this year, Spezza and Heatley will fetch eight million plus on the open market next year, if not more. With some young D already in the fold, Redden could be the odd man out in the salary bonanza in Ottawa. Redden would look good in Teal. We shall see…

I am not giving up. I have moments of impatience, but in Wilson I Trust.

Is probably Drew Remenda.

Reports have Ottawa shopping Wade Redden, who is due to be a UFA at the end of next year. If this is true, it is possible Doug Wilson could be looking at this instead of giving mega-cash to Souray. Perhaps an offer of Ehrhoff and a pick would get it done?
If this came to pass, then Wilson could sign Brad Stuart or Andy Sutton to round out the core. Just thinking out loud…

Sharks fans have watched almost 48 hours tick by without seeing Doug Wilson dip into the unrestricted free agent market to improve upon last years team that fell short of said goal – Winning Lord Stanley’s Cup. I had high hopes for July 1st after how aggressive Wilson was at the NHL draft last week. He made cap room and solved two huge roster problems by getting rid of Toskala before there was a real problem in training camp and dealing Bell, who was just a waste of roster space at this point. He got two promising young players to add to the Sharks already excellent depth of young talent. He promised to be active. Doug? Where are you?

He took care of the most important matter by getting Joe Thornton before he hit the UFA market next offseason. Joe gave a hometown discount, a steal for 7.2 million a year, especially seeing Drury, Gomez and Briere get the same kind of cash without nearly the same resume as Big Joe. We had all read the rumors, Sharks were a lock to get Drury. Well, when the price kept going up and up and up, I can’t blame Doug Wilson for jumping ship. Having Drury, Marleau and Thornton makes zero sense – we needed an impact winger, which is why it is disappointing the Sharks couldn’t land Smyth. I guess a call from Joe Sakic made all the difference. According to reports, the Sharks were never really in the hunt, they made an offer but Ryan was deciding between Toronto, the Isles (who really got screwed yesterday by losing Poti, Smyth, Blake and all their dignity) and the Avs. So now, we sit and wait as all the other middle of the road UFA’s go off the board. One big name remains. One name that Mike and I have been talking about since the season ended. Sheldon Souray.

Doug Wilson has to get this done. He has chased a big time blueliner for the past two offseasons, striking out with Neidermeyer and Chara. I think he has been targeting Souray all along and the fact that Hamerlik has signed in Montreal crosses them off the list. Preissing, Nagy, Handzus and Calder all signed in LA and Lombardi still needs cash to sign Cammerleri (a restricted FA) so you have to figure they are out of the Souray chase. That leaves us – the only team with over ten million in cap room to spend that hasn’t struck yet. Come on Doug Wilson. Deliver the goods. I have faith in you.

I think it is also possible he is targeting a veteran forward like Slava Kozlov and Wes Walz. Don’t totaly rule out Forsberg and…yes…Bill Guerin. I think Guerin owes the Sharks a hometown discount to come back for one more year at a discounted price for playing like garbage in the stretch. He was not the impact player as advertised and at 2 million for one year, I would take the chance he would have a chip and play hard.

So…we wait and see. I think Wilson won the game of poker and the announcement of Souray is only hours away.

Tom Preissing reportedly signs with the Kings.

Yesterday was the first day of free agency. Rumors were abound about the Sharks- they were in the hunt for Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, or Ryan Smyth. I personally think they need to worry about their blueline more. So what happened? Jack squat. They watched Drury sign with the Rangers, Briere sign with the Flyers, Smyth sign with the Avs, and Gomez sign with the Rangers too. Then instead of playing ‘unrestricted defense’ against the Ducks, we watch them sign Mattieu Schnieder, and then watch the Wings sign Rafalski. To further help our d-line, we watch Scott Hannan leave for greener pastures in Colorado. As of today, Rob Davison is in our top-6.

This may not get mentioned much with all the big-name free agent signings- but Philly pulled off a complete tea-bag of Edmonton, getting possibly the best defensive defenseman in the league in Jason Smith, and Joffrey Lupul, for Joni Pitkanen and (throwaway) Geoff Sanderson. Pitkanen is nothing to sneeze at- I’d love it if the Sharks got him instead, but I don’t think he’s a proven asset yet. He manages to disappear for stretches at a time. It does show me than TSN has the best hockey coverage- as of right now, that deal is the leading story. It’s among the 15 right-column free-agent signing stories on ESPN.com

The only item on the plus side of the column is that we re-signed Joe for another 3 years, at a pretty considerable home-town discount. Considering Gomez signed for more money than Joe, it’s hard to dispute that the Sharks got a great deal.

Four critical free agents are still available where the Sharks are concerned- Slava Kozlov, Sheldon Souray, Brad Stuart, and Tom Preissing. If the Sharks come up empty handed with this group, It’s clear that the Sharks lost ground in the West.