…the identity of the Sharks’ third assistant coach is the biggest news of the day.  Day?  Hell, that’s the biggest news of the week.  Trent Yawney we heard about before- ok, that’s a guy I watched play, and watched coach in Chicago.  Then, Jay Woodcroft’s name was leaked.  I guess he was the ‘video coach’ in Detroit, a title I didn’t know existed.  Isn’t that was Paula Abdul used to do, before she became a crackhead and raging alcoholic?

And now (drum roll please) we have Todd Richards, coach of the Wilkes-Barre Penguins, the top Pens affiliate.  I’ve heard of a lot of Richards- Brad Richards, Michael Richards, Denise Richards, Ann Richards, Reed Richards, Richard Christy, but never Todd Richards.  Not to disparage the new guy.  There was a story in a recent Hockey News about how the NHL loves to recycle head coaches, and it appears Doug Wilson and Todd McLellan are actively bucking that trend.  The NHL is very much a follow-the-leader kind of league; it’s a bit jarring to go off the beaten path like this.

A discussion about that last statement will probably make up a good portion of this weeks podcast.  If you have anything else you’d like us to talk about, please send a question.

• Thanks for listening to the podcast– the number of listeners for the latest episode is going up quickly.  Only we could be dumb savvy enough to start a hockey podcast after the Stanley Cup finals are over.  I guess there are more hockey-starved fans than we thought.
• The full schedule is out today, so some quick thoughts on that.  Opening at home against the Ducks is awesome.  A home-and-home against Philly shortly after that is just odd.  I’m glad there’s no 8 or 9 game road trips this time on the east coast.  However, there’s a 5-game trip and a 4-game trip in February, which is almost as bad- the second trip is at Dallas, at Detroit, at Ottawa, and at Montreal.  Brutal.  The fact that we get Sid, AO, and the new intense rivalry with the Patrick Rissmiller-pumped Rangers at the Tank are all good things.
• Six games against division opponents makes more sense than eight, but I’d go with five.  That way you can play every team in the NHL home and away every year, and there would be a definite division series winner every year as well.
• The big blockbuster trade rumor with Meszaros and Gerber going to L.A., Kopitar going to Chicago, and Khabibulin and Barker/Seabrook going to Ottawa makes great sense for the Sens and Hawks.  But Kings get absolutely screwed.  Kopitar is the best young scorer in the Pacific division in my view- better than Perry, Getzlaf, and Michalek.  East coast writers may not know how good this guy is, but I do.  Getting a #3 or #4 D-man and a disappointing goalie in return is not nearly enough.  Now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense for Lombardi to make that deal.

Link here, feed here. The fact that it was a fairly slow week was spruced up by the fact that I almost broke the entire Dudes on Hockey site tonight. Some people are obsessive deleters (like they delete every email immediately after they read it) and I’m an obsessive updater. There was a new version of the blog software available, and I installed it, not realizing that it broke all the podcast stuff. Did I really need any of the new features? No. But it’s new and cool. Big mistake. If that last attempted fix didn’t work, I would have had to blow the whole thing away and start from scratch. Not good. So all you amateur web admins out there- 1) keep backups and b) make sure updates are absolutely necessary.

Oh yeah, and keep your questions coming.  There was actually one question we didn’t get to this week, but that was on purpose- we want to deal with it in detail next week, because it raises important questions about the Sharks.  How’s that for a teaser?

After the Ehrhoff and Goc signings, we are officially in the doldrums territory of the offseason.  Clowe is the only player left of any consequence unsigned, but reportedly there is a deal in progress.  Clearly this is the worst part of the year, hockey-wise.  Good thing we have the podcast for those hockey-starved fans out there- grier and I can talk hockey every damn day, believe me.

Speaking of the podcast, we’ll be a little later on the release this week.  Generally I try to post them early on Wednesday morning, but this time it’ll be posted Wednesday night, probably 8 or 9 Pacific time.  It’s especially the time of year where we need your questions to read on the air, because otherwise we could spend the whole time talking about the state of the Islanders.  I’m not kidding.

Just a few quick hits to touch on the pros and cons of the Ehrhoff deal today. Feel free to add your own at the end. 3.1M is a lot of scratch, but I would rather have Das Hoff than several of the UFA options that were available this offseason.

CONS
It will please you Shark fans to know that we’re not crazy, Ehrhoff was 6th in the NHL amongst defensemen in missed shots with 86. Who misses the net more than Das Hoff? Phaneuf, Wideman, Mike Green, Gonchar and Lidstrom. Nice company to be in…except when you notice that all those boys scored double digit goals last year and Ehrhoff scored one. DOH! That mean Ehrhoff took a total of 183 shots last season, missed the net completely on 86 of them and put one past Patrick Lalime…I think Mike could score on Patrick Lalime…Big Time CON.

PROS
Ehrhoff was 2nd on the team in ice time per game last season with 21:43, only behind “Oprah” Campbell. That speaks for something towards his value, right? He is only 26 years old and has become a much more physical player over the years. Check this surprising stat out.

2006-07 82 games 39 hits 50 blocked shots in 18:34 per game
2007-08 77 games 92 hits 108 blocked shots in 21:43 per game

Has he improved his game and worked to become a more physical, repsonsible stay at home d-man? Yes. Big improvement. PRO.

While I’m still surprised at the price and that DW wasn’t able to get him for under 3M in total cap hit, keeping Ehrhoff was a necessary move toward maintaining that balance of veterans and youth. I am hoping that he will continue to transform his game from go-for-broke, shoot like a Helen Keller at a gun range blueliner to more of a Craig Rivet character player. We shall see which version McLellan will be intersted in.

Check out the latest podcast to hear how we both were totally wrong about Ehrhoff and…it appear Marcel Goc – thanks to the heads up from SoCalSharksGirl, looks like Goc signed for 750k.

We already managed to sound like idiots on the latest podcast.    We dismissed the 3-year, $9.3M deal for Ehrhoff as just a rumor, and a little high, and then we see this morning that it’s final.  Ehrhoff will earn $2.75M this year, then $3.1M and $3.4M in the successive years.  I don’t think it’s outlandish in terms of the market- defensemen seem to be making a lot this year, but it would have been nice to see Christian sign for a bit cheaper.

The Sharks are now estimated to have a cap hit of $54.5M, only $2M under the cap.  That’s without Clowe and Goc signed.  Even if the Sharks give those guys a bit under market rate, they’ll be up against the cap, with roster spots yet to fill.  We have to assume there will be another salary-cap casualty in the near future.  The question is, who?  Will the Sharks do what most of us expect and jettison McLaren?  Or will Wilson have to go bolder and put Cheech or Michalek on the block?

Our next podcast comes out tomorrow, and this is your last chance to contribute.  Unlike last week, there’s a hell of a lot to talk about.  Certainly the main topics will be the three big deals of the past week, but there could be more.  If you want your question/insult/run-on sentence to be read during the podcast, just email questions@dudesonhockey.com.  I’m sure there are some angles of these deals that we haven’t thought of, so enlighten us, blow our minds.

You can find the first two episodes here and here.  Or subscribe to the feed, which makes it easy.

What a great time for Sharks fans. We asked for change, and we got it. This team is going to have a different look next year, with a former Norris trophy winner and perhaps a future one on the blueline.

Let’s not underestimate the addition of Brad Lukowich. There’s something to be said about familiarity, and trading for a star in Boyle and bring along his defensive partner from when the Lightning won the Cup was a smart play on DW’s part. Why not? They are a proven commodity together, so why break up something that already works. Lukowich is nothing flashy, but he does play physical. He does like to think of himself as an old school defensemen, dishing out hits and blocking shots.

Here’s a clip of a big hit on Prucha in 2007

Look familiar? Like Kyle McLaren used to play. In 53 games, Lukowich led the Bolts with 153 hits and was 3rd with 108 blocked shots. IN 53 GAMES. This would have tied him for the lead in blocked shot on the Sharks and he would have led San Jose in hits. IN 53 GAMES. This is why not only will Rivet be gone, but the rumors of McLaren to Ottawa are likely true. More on that in a sec.

As for Boyle, the numbers show he is a more complete defensemen than Campbell, more likely to dish out a hit and block a shot. It appears Boyle would not be overmatched in a series against Calgary, unlike Campbell who needed a bodyguard out there.

Brian Campbell 83 games (2007-08) 62 points 61 hits 96 blocked shots
Dan Boyle 82 games (2006-07) 63 points 103 hits 118 blocked shots

So, if McLaren is traded for a draft pick, then the Sharks are down to 48.9M. Do you think that it’s possible Doug Wilson has a deal in place with Owen Nolan, asked him to wait for him to clear the room, and the ink will be put on paper sometime next week? Dreger said an unnamed team had an offer out for Nolan, two years/5M. This would be the final missing piece of the puzzle for me. Nolan showed last year that he can still play extemely physical, he can kill penalties, he can score a clutch goal and he can be an extreme pain in the ass. But…is there enough room under the cap to sign Nolan and keep Clowe and Ehrhoff? It depends on how willing the Sharks will be to get up to the cap number.

We’ll see how things play out. Obviously Doug Wilson is full of surprises, and so far Sharks ownership has lived up to their end of the bargain and incresed payroll and backed up their words to bring a Cup contender to the Bay Area.

I know I sound like a giddy schoolgirl, but one of my wishes has come true. TSN is reporting that Dan Boyle has waived his no-trade clause, and agreed to a trade to the Sharks. The Sharks get Boyle and Brad Lukowich, a #6 defenseman, in exchange for Matt Carle, a unnamed prospect (rumored to be Ty Wishart), a 1st round pick, and a 4th round pick.

So let’s evaluate this trade, and this offseason. The Sharks spend about $10M (Boyle’s 6.67 + Lukowich’s 1.5 + Blake’s 5 – Carle’s 3.5) get two better defensemen than the one they lost, and a guy for the third pairing. Boyle’s the #1 guy on most teams in the league, and I think an upgrade over Brian Campbell. We get him for less money than we would have paid Campbell, and for less term. We lose (allegedly) Wishart, a 1st rounder, but he’s been supplanted by Nick Petrecki as our best defensive prospect. Carle is in limbo- will he turn into a Dan Boyle type player? Or a guy we saw last year- stuggling to compete defensively, with rare entries on the scoreboard? That’s now the Bolts’ headache.

Can you imagine Blake and Boyle at the point on the power play, coached by Todd McLellan? The mind boggles.

Two quick issues going forward:

1. The Sharks have given up another #1 draft choice. After this year with nothing until the third round, you don’t want to see the Sharks be thin on the board two years running.
2. They now have about a dozen defenseman on the roster. Perhaps #1 could be addressed by an additional trade, like McLaren. Or we could let Ehrhoff sign an offer sheet elsewhere, hope somebody overpays him, and take the compensatory draft picks.

I found a lot of pun headlines about Boyle, but they’ve only used the boring heat-up-the-water meaning. Why not go out on a limb, and use something like “Sharks Lance the Boyle” or something like that? Now that’s innovative and disgusting all at the same time.

God Bless America.

In a surprise move, the Sharks have signed Rob Blake to a one year, 5M deal.

Wow….I’m surprised. According to the SJ Merc, this has no effect on the Sharks confirmed pursuit of Dan Boyle. With Blake, the Sharks are at 50M and still need to sign Clowe and deal with Ehrhoff and Goc. Does anyone else find this strange that all three are flappin’ in the breeze? Could they be used as trade bait? Hard to know…

According to Darren Dreger on TSN, Tampa Bay prefers to do business with San Jose and they might have a deal in place, pending Boyle’s approval. I think Tampa Bay needs defense and we have plenty to offer, but the money needs to make sense. McLaren and Carle equal 5.9M in salary and the Sharks take on Boyle at 6.7M. So this would put the Sharks at 50.8M with Ehrhoff, Clowe and Goc still on the outside looking in…you would have to think that there would be another move to follow.

Rob Blake is 39, but was still effective on a really bad team last year. I don’t hate this signing as much as it appears that other Sharks fans seem to on some message boards I’ve been reading. I think this is Part One is a roster overhaul that will involve another new face on D and a new forward. Let’s hope Boyle is Part Two.