The offseason has been so active thus far, with the Sharks in the thick of it, making a big trade for Brent Burns.  The Dudes cover that, the draft, which free agents the Sharks might target, other NHL news, and reveal a possible new listener.

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No Tooth. No Shirt. No Problem. I'm Brent Burns baby.

Really quick post. We’ll have more coverage on the podcast next week.

As we do every late-June, Mike and I sit around and watch the NHL Draft and lament how nothing happens for San Jose. There have been some big moves in the last 24 hours and the Sharks just joined the party in a major way.  San Jose landed a legitimate top pairing d-man in Brent Burns and a 2012 2nd rounder from Minnesota for Devin Setoguchi, top prospect Charlie Coyle and our 2011 1st round draft pick. A heavy price to pay, but think about it this way, the Sharks just got a player in Burns who led their team in time on ice, 2nd in PK time and 2nd in PP time. He is 6’5, hits, blocks shots and had 46 points last year with 17 goals. If Burns were a UFA on July 1st, he would have been the top rated defensemen on the market, in the Dudes’ opinions.

It should be noted that Todd McLellan coached Burns in the AHL in 2004-05, so he’s clearly familiar with the player and what he can offer. We’ve been begging for a partner for Boyle and we finally got him. It should be noted that with Burns on the team, the Sharks still have 9.5M in cap space (including the bonus cushion) and that’s plenty of room to add two quality 3rd line players on the UFA market, a position that Doug Wilson could be competitive in. I think it’s not too far fetched to expect Doug Wilson to be a major player on July 1st for impact 3rd line players like Maxim Talbot, Pascal Dupuis, Marty Reasoner, Scottie Upshall, Eric Belanger, Vernon Fiddler, or John Madden. Form a legit 3rd line that can take our top players to the next level, battle and do the dirty work while chipping in some key goals.

It’s a high price to pay but this could be a big first step for the Sharks 2011-12 run for the Stanley Cup. I’m riding the high. We got a #1 d-man for a 40 point forward, a really good college forward and an unknown prospect.

Have a beer on me. Brent Burns is a Shark kids.

The draft isn’t until tomorrow, but plenty of stuff has happened in the NHL this week.  Mayers, Nichol, and Yawney will not return, but Seto will, at 3 years, $9M.  The dudes dissect that deal, and the two monster trades the Flyers made today.

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The first of several TLDR (too long, didn’t read) posts this summer concerns a key aspect of this Sharks team- the third line.  Generally on most teams, the third line is a defensively minded trio that should shut down the opponents’ best players, maybe contribute 20-25 points per player, and have the trust of the coaching staff to kick in some PK time.  However, some teams go another way, a road less traveled, yet more treacherous.  These teams like to continue to pour on the pressure in the offensive zone, field three scoring lines, and dare their opponents to keep up.

So where did the Sharks reside in this spectrum?  Mostly on the offensive side- Pavelski/Mitchell/Wellwood had some great scoring punch (102 points in the regular season, 22 in the playoffs, mostly due to Pavelski’s 66 and 10, respectively), but Pavs was the 2nd most used shorthanded forward, with Mitchell 6th.  And as many Sharks fans have noted, they did not serve a ‘shutdown’ role, T-Mac likes to match power with power.

This is pretty similar to Detroit’s style (sound familiar?).  Detroit’s third line this year was largely Hudler, Filppula, and Modano/spare parts, tallying around 100 points if we include Modano’s 15 points contribution in the 40 games he didn’t play.  Detroit went even more offensive with these guys- none of them played significant PK time.

Or we could look at Vancouver, as Tom mentioned in a comment in the last post, with Malhotra/Hansen/Torres (not always Torres, but probably close enough).  All agitators or defensively-minded, all tough to play against, all can play the kill.  Tom also accused us of flip-flopping a bit, since we seemed to endorse more of the Vancouver style third line instead of the Detroit model in the last podcast.  Admittedly, this would be a sea change for the Sharks.

My opinion is based on what a wise man once said to Woodward and Bernstein- “follow the money.”  I furtively wish that the Sharks could go and gather as many great players as they possibly can, pay them Yankees money, go win the Stanley Cup, and I’ll live out my days watching the championship DVDs over and over again.

Unfortunately, reality intercedes.  Two inconvenient truths:

1. The Sharks defense is not amongst the best in the West.  In fact, it might be considered merely average.
2. The Sharks do not have a lot of money to spare on said defense.

For me, it comes down to a question of salary mix.  Detroit is spending good money on their third line, around $7.5M, for the privilege of third line scoring punch.  And why can they afford it?  Because they are only spending around $24M on their top 6 forwards.  Vancouver had a good shutdown third line, for which they only spent an economical $4.5 or so.  And why?  Because they spent a ton on their D, about $24M.

In contrast, the Sharks spent only $18M on their defense last year, but they spent $24 on their top three forwards- Jumbo, Heater, and Patty.  Then another $7M and change on the second line, which was unquestionably a great deal.  Only the Kings and Caps spent more than the Sharks on forwards last year, and it was close- the Kings spent less than $100k more, the Caps spent about a million more.

So my opinion has to be based on this reality- the Sharks are extremely forward heavy in terms of salary distribution, and I believe a #2/#3 defenseman is their highest acquisition priority.  This means something has to give, and that must be the third line.  I don’t believe it’s wise for the Sharks to have a $4M third line center, even if he puts of 66 points.  You keep him, but he should be playing the second line.  Maybe that means Seto is the odd man out.  Or maybe it’s Pavs.  Or maybe it’s one of the big 3.  It would be incredibly difficult to make that call, and I don’t envy Doug Wilson’s position here.

The bad news is, I believe if the Sharks defense remains middle-of-the-pack, which it probably will be, even with Ian White, it will be the same old playoff slog next year.  The Kings are improving.  The Blackhawks will probably be better next year.  Vancouver might re-sign some or all of their free agents.  Now that Feaster is the GM, Calgary might do something worthwhile.  My new position is resources must be shifted.  They must be shifted to defense, and the third line should again serve a more traditional role.

Did I flip-flop?  Like a fish out of water on ketamine.  But as the proverb says, a wise man changes his mind, a fool never will.

The Dudes recap the Stanley Cup finals and congratulate the Boston Bruins.  But this week’s main task is to examine the current state of the Sharks’ defense and goaltending, and try to guess what will happen during the summer.  Of course Mike and Doug have to bid a fond farewell to Niclas Wallin, who decided to play in Sweden next year.

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Do you know the way to San Jose?

• Member of 2002, 2006 and 2010 USA Olympic Team.
• Former captain of two different NHL franchises in Buffalo and New York.
• Calder Trophy winner. Hobey Baker winner. Stanley Cup winner. Multiple trips to Conference Finals in both conferences.
• Played 70+ games for 11 straight NHL seasons until last year.
• Chronic knee condition and surgery limited him to 24 games in 2010-11 and Torterella’s dog house.

Chris Drury is an interesting story to follow this offseason. Will he retire and sail into the sunset to live off his big 32.5M payday from the Rangers or will he continue to rehab the knee and give it another go. He would be 35 going into next season and IF he could recapture even part of what made him one of the best defensive forwards and faceoff guys for several years in the NHL, wouldn’t some NHL teams be interested? We know Doug Wilson has given guys a chance in the past. He has brought in established NHL veterans and given them another shot with Jeff Friesen, Claude Lemieux, Jeremy Roenick. Their last chance before retirement and one more shot to win the big one.

The Sharks have been linked to Drury in the past via trade and his free agency in 2007. I could see Doug Wilson making a phone call and an offer of the same deal Roenick signed in 2007. One year and $500,000 to prove you’ve still got it. Drury has been known as one of the most competitive guys in the NHL. Unless his knee is beyond repair, you gotta think he’d consider it.

Based on Doug Wilson’s track record and Chris Drury’s competitive spirit, it’s not too far fetched. I’m not saying I’m advocating for it, I’m just saying…it could happen.

In the start of an offseason series, Mike and Doug break down the status of all the Sharks’ forwards, and identify which are the keepers, which ones may be brought back, and which ones may be let go.

Also, this is a call to those wonderful readers and listeners that won the fantasy leagues- drop us a line so we can schedule your appearance on the podcast.

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The Dudes begin to tackle the many offseason questions that surround the Sharks- the coach, the D, the third and fourth lines.  Of course, hockey is still being played, so those topics are addressed as well.

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