DOH 326 – Sharks Should Make the Playoffs, Now What?
February 21st, 2016, 7:56 pm
The Sharks, due to their recent good play and the demise of Vancouver and Arizona, should make the playoffs. What should they do now, with the deadline approaching?
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Interesting stuff, as always Dudes. I get the sense this year’s deadline could be much more active than recent years, which have kind of been duds. The more you talked about Hartnell as a Torres-like impact player, the more I bought into the idea. They could use his energy and offense. Don’t quite understand why you oppose picking up a mediocre goalie to lighten the load on Jones. He can’t play every game. I love the Marleau-for-Yandle idea, but can’t imagine the Rangers would do it since they gave up so much for Yandle in Duclair who is a star. Keep ’em coming Dudes! And go Sharks!!!
I like that the Sharks added a D-man, which they needed. And I like that they added a depth forward.
But DW overpaid. Two 2nd-round picks for Polak and a depth forward with a career -31, both pending UFA’s? Too much.
The Polak singing raises several questions. First, is this a rental player? If so, the cost was outrageous. If not, and Polak signs with the Sharks, what does that say about Mueller? Has DW lost confidence in him? Will he become trade bait?
I mean come on, is a 3rd pairing, oft-injured D-man worth a pair of 2nd-round picks? Maybe you do this deal if you’re the Ducks or the Caps and you you want to push all your chips in this year. But that is not the Sharks at all. DW is overvaluing his roster.
I would speculate that this deal signals Marleau will not be on the roster by the start of next season. Because now the Sharks are without 4 of their first 12 picks in the ’16-’18 drafts. DW must be assuming he can get a pick or multiple picks for Marleau this summer.
I know the dudes weren’t in favor of Polak, and yes it’s an overpay, but the good news is the Sharks now have 6 NHL-caliber defensemen for he first time in as long as I can remember. The 3rd pair should play serious minutes and shave Burns’ TOI keeping him fresher and reducing his late game mistakes. If they play Polak < 12 min a game, or fail to resign him, then the trade does indeed look very bad as two 2nd rounders for a 3rd pairing defensive rental. But if Polak plays solid minutes and signs for say 3 years on a deal like Dillon's, then I see the upside. James has a good point about Marleau = draft picks. Though I doubt he can bring back a 1st rounder, especially with a NTC.
I like the player, I don’t like the cost. And I don’t like leveraging the future, but to be fair to DW too and this is why I added earlier that it’s actually a really tough call, is that what happens if the Sharks continue their good play but then flame out in the first or second round, AND THEN it’s clear that depth or goal-tending was an issue in the loss? Then suddenly the criticism is that DW didn’t do anything.
I think the only perfect scenario would have been if DW had done what Mike and Doug were saying. But I also read into DW’s quotes today and it sounds like he’s done till deadline. But maybe I’m wrong. If you’re going all in then do it. Cause I have ZERO confidence in Stalock at this point and I think either Tokarski or Condon from Montreal would be awesome additions for right now and the future. I would have much rather seen one of those 2nds go to MTL for one of those guys. And THEN pick up another depth 5/6 guy.
Everyone needs to calm down a bit. Imagine the Sharks are in a tight series and one of their top 5 defensemen gets injured. Suddenly, your 3rd pairing is DeMelo and Tennyson. Yikes. Everyone would blame Wilson, saying he didn’t do his job and pick up another defenseman when he had the chance. Should he have have gone for a cheaper option? Maybe. But like Doug said, I’d rather the Sharks pick up someone they actually want to sign, and I’m assuming they want to sign Polak. I say, evaluate this trade after the playoffs and when we know whether Polak will stay with the Sharks. Too early to tell. Plus, as mentioned here, Marleau could probably get back one of the seconds, and if Mueller is on the block – a good possibility if if Polak signs and Roy in the system – I bet he could as well. So maybe DW figures he’s got these picks accounted for down the line.
Sorry Max, I completely disagree. There is basically zero chance the Sharks resign Polak. He’ll sign somewhere for a top-4 D slot and make more than the Sharks can pay. He’s a rental with a current low cap hit about to hit it big as a UFA. Does anyone really believe that all the Sharks are missing to win a Cup is a 3rd pairing D? Spending a pair of 2nd round picks for a 3rd pairing player for 2-3 months is insane.
Max, I think you’re missing the part where I’m sort of agreeing with you. Calm down? I think you’re the one all worked up.
Right now it’s hard to not look at this price that DW paid as anything but an overpayment… However, he does have to do something, that much I completely agree with.
Something new to add… The Sharks play 16 games in March. They absolutely need someone other than Jones to play, I dunno 3-9 games?? He will get burned out if not.
I don’t think the Sharks resign Polak, but the Sharks have basically lost the past two series against the Kings because of depth (Torres’s suspension, and Vlasic’s injury). DeMelo has proven he is capable, and having a capable #7 on the roster with a Dcorps that includes two guys playing close to 25 min a night and an injury prone Martin is a necessity.
I have also come around on Spaling. If him, Tierney, and Karlsson are on the 4th line, that is a 4th line that can score 30-35 goals in a season (and thus perhaps 2-3 in a playoff series). The bottom 6 has been absolute zeros in the playoffs in the past. Now, someone can get hurt and Zubrius is your #13 forward, and not Mike Brown (or Goodrow, who I don’t think is ready to contribute).
All that said, it is an overpayment. But the Sharks already have their next core in place and picks aren’t the only way to get young players (see Donskoi and Karlsson). I wasn’t a big fan of the trade because I think this precludes something bigger, but I have come to not hate it.
Text: We just landed Polak.
Me: Nice! For who – Nieto and a 5th?
Text: Two second-rounders.
Me: WTF DW!!!
L-O-L. Two second-rounders for a 3rd pairing D and a borderline NHL forward?!? Merry X-Mas Leafs fans! I remember Spalding from his Preds days. I’d say he’s a little better than Brown, but worse than every other player on the Sharks current roster. What on Earth did Ben Smith do – TP PDB’s house? In other news, same ol’ DW. Overvalues his roster, throws away picks, and we end up with a bare cupboard. Yeah, signing Polak would ease some of the sting, but if that was your aim, wait until he’s a UFA this summer and keep the high draft picks!!! I remember when we used to laugh at GM’s who pulled these kinds of desperate moves. Now the joke’s on us. “Fi-re Wil-son.” Clap-clap clap-clap-clap …
The one thing everyone agrees on is that this is an overpayment…
The problem is that with the cupboard already bare, the one thing the sharks couldn’t do at this deadline was overpay.
I can’t help thinking this is a selfish longshot by DW as he believes the window really is closing and doesn’t actually care how much longer the rebuild will take as his tenure will be deemed a failure if he doesn’t at least make The Finals with this core.
The crash when it happens is not going to be pleasant – let’s just hope a 3rd pairing D and a 4th liner can give us success this year, as the chips are all in, so it all comes down to this.
(written just before trade deadline… so there may be more to the plan that I’m missing…)
The Sharks were not a threat o win the Cup last week. Adding Pollak and Spaling doesn’t change that. The trade is especially confusing considering the Sharks are short on prospects and without a 1st and 3rd this year.
I am in the “too early to judge the trade” camp. But through two games – admittedly both losses – Pollak has has seemingly reduced Burns’ ice time a bit. Burns’ TOI has averaged 26:31. In the 2 games with Pollak, Burns’ TOI was down a minute from that to 25:26.
After giving it to DW, gotta give credit when due: the Reimer deal is great. Not only did he get a solid backup for just a 4th, but he also shed cap space by sending unneeded players the other way. Did DW get some kind of discount because of the Pollak deal?
I now prefer to look at the 2 Leafs trades as 1 big deal. Sharks get: rentals Pollak, Reimer, Spaling + rid of the salaries for Smith, Stalock, Torres. Leafs get: a pair of 2nds, a 4th.
Looks much more even now. Though if the Sharks go out in the first round, and those rentals make no impact between now and then, we’ll be wishing we had those 3 picks back. Spaling is probably on basically a tryout to be signed by the Sharks next year. I could see that happening if he surprises and plays better than his stats seem to indicate. Pollak and Reimer, way too pricey. Excited for the game tonight!!!
Stalock tweets optimistically about his “new chapter” with the Leafs, hours later is put on waivers. Ouch.
Would be interested to know if Mike has a better understanding of the salary cap implications. Do the Leafs pay Stalock’s salary the rest of the year if no one claims him? We’re clear of his cap hit, right?
Maybe James is more right than he knows and the two deals were related. Otherwise, why would you do the Sharks such a monetary favor? I’d think they could easily do a Reimer-for-a-4th deal on another team without needing to pay for Smith and Stalock. Reimer has good numbers.
Agree with everyone here, Wilson wrongly believes his roster can beat both the Ducks and the Kings, so he overpaid for a rental he can’t afford. We needed a 5th or 6th D-man, but if the cost for Polak was a pair of 2nds I would have passed and gone for Weber. Weber plays 15 min a night, +3 on a bad team, hits and blocks shots, and all it cost the Caps was a 3rd in 2017. Oh, and the Sabres are retaining half his salary. He’s not as good as Polak, but you keep your high picks, which the Sharks already have too few of, and he’s better the DeMelo, Tennyson, or Mueller. Weber is 28 and affordable, so you can resign him if you like him in your locker room. He would have been like a younger version of the Hannan deal Doug mentioned on the podcast.
Can’t wait to hear the dudes flip-flop on Polak. They were against signing him, now they need to come up with reasons to not only favor the player but the overpayment. Dudes, you are unapologetic homers and we love you for it.
Only justification I can see is that Brent Burns is now playing closer to 22 minutes instead of 26-28 a night. He also is not playing much on the PK anymore, and I can see PDB trusting Polak more late in close games, where Burns has been beat a few times.
Still, an overpayment for sure, though I have come full circle on Spaling (even before his 2 goals) and think he is a decent bottom 6 player (basically a Karlsson-clone). The Reimer trade just about makes up for it though, especially if he gets 7-8 games in the final 20. Backup goaltending is pretty much the only thing separating the Sharks from the Kings and Ducks. if the Kings had Stalock and the Sharks had Enroth, the Sharks would be leading the Pacific by 4 points instead of trailing it.
Agreed. Burns looked really fresh in the 3rd against the Habs and tonight against the Canucks. He’s playing fewer minutes and it’s paying off.
I think these trades were fair. we might have over paid a little, but there looking at the right now. they needed a D man and goalie, and they got it. maybe not the BEST, but we got somthing that fit what the team needed. a tuff repsonsible D man and a good goalie. only time will tell how it will turn out. Spalling has already doubled his goals for the year in 4 games, so maybe he fits too.
These guys comming from the leafs are happy to be playing for a playoff team. if they want to stay they can compete if they want to go for money, they can play for a team that will lose. thats how it works.
I thought the trades were meant to bolster depth. Yet tonight, we we have Haley in the lineup. For the record, Polak -3 so far as a Shark. So confused.