On the podcast front, the streak has come to an end at 51 episodes due to illness and other life factors getting in the way of recording. We plan to be back behind the mic next Tuesday and have a major Sharks guest lined up in the coming weeks to talk offseason changes, so stay tuned.

With Game Seven coming up, the offseason is starting to kick-off. We had some spirited discussion about some roster moves on the last post – so let’s hit a few hot topics in the NHL and let ‘er rip.

UFA GOALIE GUSTAVSSON LINKED TO SAN JOSE

With so many areas to address in the offseason, why would the Sharks be looking to sign a high profile international goalie? Well – because this guy might be just too damn good to pass up, especially with Nabby’s recent playoff performance and his uncertain contract status beyond 2009-10. According to Burnside, because Gustavsson is subject to an entry-level deal, it’s not like he’s going to break the bank – which is a perfect situation for the San Jose Sharks. This isn’t going to be about cash for Gustavsson, it’s going to be about either immediate playing time for a lousy team like Colorado or getting into a great situation and waiting his turn, like San Jose. The Sharks have always been way ahead of the curve as far as evaluating goaltending, so if Tim Burke says Gustavsson is the real deal, San Jose should roll out the Douglas Murray Swedish welcome mat, blast the ABBA and offer him as much lutfisk as he can eat. My guess: He ends up in Toronto, where they can offer immediate playing time and he will be a hockey icon.

DOES HEATLEY KNOW THE WAY TO SAN JOSE?

Dany Heatley wants out and according to Andy Strickland at Hockeybuzz (who actually writes some truth from time to time) it looks like a Marleau for Heatley deal is being floated. How do we feel about this, Sharks fans? Heatley’s detractors call him out of shape, lazy and unwilling to do the dirty work. His defenders remind you this is a 40-50 goal scorer and one of the best snipers in the league. The thought of him on Thornton’s side makes me giggle like a schoolgirl – but the character questions are a true concern. If he really is an @#*hole with bad work ethic, McLellan and DW will not add him to the fold of a team that already has their desire to compete in question. My guess: He will not be wearing Teal in the Fall.

LAPERRIERE GOING TO SHARK INFESTED UFA WATERS

The Avalanche continue their classy ways, downgrading a loyal veteran’s contract offer to a one year deal worth less than the 1.1M he made last year – so Laperriere is gonna walk, and who can blame him. With reports that Chris Neil is looking for a four-five year deal (no thanks), I think the Sharks will be unwilling to make that kind of commitment and close in on Ian La-pesky-iere. My guess: I think Laperriere will be a San Jose Shark, signing a two year deal worth between 1.5-1.8M per season.

So suck it up and watch the last hockey game of the year. Go Penguins, for selfish reasons – and the trades and future speculation are right around the corner.

Watch game 6 tonight, should be a doozy.  Still makes me a little grumpy that I can watch hockey, but no Sharks.  Just to let you know, we’ll be doing the podcast a little later than usual this week, not exactly sure when we will release, but it won’t be tomorrow morning as per normal.  Sorry about the delay, but it can’t be helped.

UPDATE:  Podcast is cancelled this week.  Between scheduling problems earlier in the week and now me being sick as a dog, we’ll have to talk next week.

We’ve got a great new podcast with San Jose Mercury News columnist Mark Purdy this week. He shares some great locker room stories about San Jose Sharks players past and present, and of course we speculate on the offseason moves. Very insightful and fun interview. Check it out.

I’m a teacher by trade. I know, shocking that I don’t my living writing semi-witty barbs about oversized Russian defensemen. So, starting this week I am spending my mornings with my new coffee maker (Hamilton Beach Brewstation rocks my world), the Mercury News sports page and my hockey girlfriend, Deb Placey. Deb is the new host of NHL Live, the all-hockey talk festival broadcast live on the NHL Network and Satellite radio. She has replaced the rock of the program, Don LaGreca, who had to leave due to commitments to ESPN Radio (DAMN YOU ESPN!). Those of you who are regular readers know that NHL Live is how Mike and I met E.J. Hradek, who is an occasional co-host on NHL Live. Deb and E.J. are interesting together – but the assortment of other co-hosts teamed with my little Debbie spells televison boredom. Billy Jaffe can be good, but he rambles about cooking and grilling – who are you, #$%&’ing Paula Deen? Jim Dowd – boring. Rob Simpson – thinks he’s funny. Sam Rosen – god awful. I hope that the NHL Network can figure out a new arrangement going into next season. I’m pulling for a permanent team of Deb and E.J (who also has scheduling problems thanks to ESPN) – but if they can’t recapture the chemistry that E.J and LaGreca had, this show could be on thin ice.

Ah – who am I kidding. I’ll watch anyways.

In semi-Sharks related news, formers Sharks player Tony Granato finally got the axe after flapping in the breeze while the Avs courted Patrick Roy. Granato got shafted like Eminem at the MTV Movie Awards. (My Poop-En-Sack. Ich bin Bruno!) – what a joke. The Avs did a total makeover of their coaching staff and front office because their team sucks and they have no help coming on the horizon – their AHL team, Lake Erie, was one of the worst teams in the AHL this year. How the Colorado franchise treated Tony Granato was completely classless. First of all, the fact that they brought him back behind the bench was stupid in the first place. Then to openly court Roy in front of his face after he had to coach one of the worst rosters in the NHL without a reliable goalie is also totally weak.

So, I have a proposal, Sharks fans. If current Assistant Coach Todd Richards ends up in Minnesota, which it sounds like the gig is between him, Craig MacTavish and Peter Laviolette, then I think Doug Wilson and McLellan should seriously consider bring Granato home to San Jose, allowing him to recapture some dignity, and giving him an Assistant Coaching gig or if they prefer to bring Ricci to the bench, give him Ricci’s old job. Tony Granato doesn’t deserve this. He’s a great hockey guy who has been made to look like a patsy by a loser franchise. The Sharks can do the right and pick up a guy when he’s down. Don’t be shocked if Tony Granato is part of the organization in 2009-10.

This time around, Mike and Doug bother Mark Purdy, columnist for the San Jose Mercury News.  That discussion leads into Question Number Five the Sharks have to answer- which players should be actively shopped on the trade market?

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On this weeks podcast, Mike and I identify the areas we think the San Jose Sharks need to address this offseason. These are roster weaknesses that can either be filled from within the organization, by trade, or by signing a free agent (but we know how unlikely it is for San Jose to land a premium one of those). Here is our shopping list.

Number Two Defensemen (Doug and Mike)
Legitimate Checking Line A#*hole (Doug and Mike)
Back-up goalie (Doug and Mike)
Top six forward (Doug)

Not exactly the kind of stuff you can pick up at Trader Joe’s, although some current players might be working there next year – “Hey Plihal, we’re all out of Two-Buck Chuck.”

I think we spent enough time explaining and beginning to explore the first three items on the list, but what about a new Top Six forward. This isn’t exactly something the Sharks are lacking in terms of what they have on their current roster – you could make a case that the Sharks have eight “top six” guys to choose from: Thornton, Marleau, Seto, Pavs, Clowe, Michalek, Cheechoo and toss in Jamie McGinn. What I want management to do this summer is identify who the Top Six forwards are and then trade the odd-man out. Watching Cheechoo attempt to do 3rd line duty again next year will be unacceptable for the progress of the franchise. He isn’t a 3rd line guy, can’t play solid defense, doesn’t have great speed, doesn’t kill penalties well. Make a decision and move forward – but I would even advocate that there will be a few attainable UFA’s that can do the job if the Sharks need to part with Michalek, Cheechoo or both to get the #2 D-man we desperately need. I’ll name some names when we get to that step – feel free to toss a few around now.

Mike and I did dive into a wish-list of 3rd line guys we’d like Doug Wilson to chase on the market. Chris Neil and Ian Laperierre are both very attainable names, guys who are mid-level UFA’s that won’t command more than 2-2.5M in salary and would likely consider a West-Coast move – heck Laperierre played for eight seasons in LA, so he knows the California life. Downside to him is his age at 35, but his speed and ability to be King-A#*hole makes him a very attractive guy at a two year deal. Chris Neil will likely be looking for a three year deal, and at 30 years old, this guy could be the Holmstrom type that McLellan is begging for – he scored eight PP goals in 2005-06 for Ottawa and can fight anyone, including Milan Lucic. One of these guys needs to be a Sharks next year. Gotta happen. The trade market for this type of player I think will be pretty slim – although if Carolina decides they can’t afford to resign RFA Tuomo Ruutu, the Sharks should consider making that phone call – but signing Ruutu will cost about 3-3.5M. That’s another topic for another day.

Mike and Doug tackle the next two questions the Sharks need to answer: What do the Sharks need (and can they fill that need from within) and which UFAs and RFA should be retained?

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First up, we have a new podcast, addressing the next two questions the Sharks need to think about.

I’m finally getting around to my take on the issues raised in Doug’s last post.  I’m just going to talk about where we differ, because we really do agree on most of it.  Although I do agree with his Step Two that we shouldn’t just trade away all the good players like Joe, Patty, and Nabby, I also think there needs to be a major change, that of leadership.

I’ve written many times in the past defending Marleau as captain, saying that quiet leaders have been successful on other teams.  I still believe that.  I just don’t believe anymore that it’s the right thing for this Sharks team.  The experiment has played out, and the results are in.  Maybe Yzerman or Lidstrom or Modano or whoever was able to lead his team to the promised land without kicking ass and taking names, but we now know that model isn’t working here.  The leadership structure has to be modified, and Marleau should no longer wear the C.

If that means that Marleau has to be traded, I guess I’m ok with that.  I’d like to think, like Dallas, that transition could be made with only moderate hurt feelings, and the team could still go forward.  But I don’t think anybody but the management and players of the Sharks can predict that accurately (and maybe not even them).  This might be one of those times where the lack of oppressive media scrutiny can help the situation.  Sure, the fans and local media will make hay of the C being “stripped” off Marleau’s jersey, and there will be some difficult and awkward questions.  But it won’t even be in the same ballpark as any of the Canadian or major east coast franchises.

Make no mistake, this will be a risky move.  It could risk alienating popular players, and perhaps even break the locker room into opposing factions.  But what we have now isn’t working.  There’s no denying it.  It’s certainly possible that giving Boyle or somebody else the C wouldn’t fix it, and we’ll see an invisible second and third line again next year, or a brand new way of wilting in the postseason.  But somehow I doubt it.  While each player is ultimately responsible for his output, and we should never forget that, to use a more business analogy, if you change the product leads, you can’t help but see changes to the product.

On our recent podcast, we get into our seven step offseason plan for the San Jose Sharks in what might be the most important offseason in franchise history.

Step One: Define the Budget. I believe the Sharks will be spending in the 53-54M range, operating about 3M under the cap – which is a change from this year being right up against it. I think the Sharks will cut salary, disposing of two current roster players in the 3-4M range to allow for the resigning of their own RFA’s, UFA’s and adding a few new faces. More specifics later on who goes…

Step Two: Change at the Top. As I’ve said before, and after stewing about this for a few weeks now, I don’t hold Marleau and Thornton accountable for the playoff failure. They did their part and the supporting cast didn’t hold up their end of the bargain. Dan Boyle? He bares no real blame here, he was the Sharks best player, no doubt. That leaves Nabby as the only player at the top who could find themselves on the block. So, does trading our starting goalie since 2000 who has 492 NHL starts for the Sharks make sense? What could we get in return?

Here’s a recap of five major trades involving starting goalies in the NHL. Check out the return value.

2008: Montreal trades Huet to Washington for a 2nd round pick.

2007: San Jose trades Toskala to Toronto for a 1st, 2nd and 4th round pick.
Nashville trades Vokoun to Florida for a 1st and two 2nd round picks.
Buffalo trades Biron to Philadelphia for a 2nd round pick.

2006: Florida trades Luongo to Vancouver for Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen and Alex Auld.

Looking at these five trades, I would place Nabby’s trade value on par with Vokoun’s. Their career numbers are similar but the thing working against Nabby’s value would be the one year left on his contract. So, I’m guessing the likely return for Nabby would be a 1st round pick. Is that enough? If he’s traded (and that is a GIANT IF because Nabby would have to approve any deal since he has a no-trade clause) who the hell is going to play in net for a team that has the Stanley Cup finals as their goal?

Khabibulin? Manny Fernandez? Martin Biron? Dwayne Roloson? Ray Emery? Arturs Irbe?

See what I’m getting at? There is no one on the market that is an upgrade over a motivated Nabokov going into a contract year. The Sharks have three red-hot goalie prospects waiting in the wings to take over in 2010: Greiss just had a solid year as the full time starter in Worcester, carrying what is an otherwise mediocre AHL team to the 2nd round of the playoffs with his solid play in net. Alex Stalock was a First-Team All American this year and took his Minnesota Duluth team to the NCAA West Regionals. His .981% save percentage in the tournament speaks of his big game ability. Tyson Sexsmith won 39 games for the Vancouver Giants in the WHL junior league and played great hockey before his team lost in the Western Conf. Finals to the eventual champion Kelowna Rockets. The Sharks have invested roughly 2M in these three players combined.

One of these three guys is the future in net for the Sharks (my early money is on Stalock, just a hunch) but none of them are ready to be a full time NHL goalie. For now, dumping Nabby for the sake of making a change doesn’t make much sense to me.

One more year of Nabby. Enjoy him while he lasts – then with him and Marleau both UFA’s – if the team doesn’t achieve the goal of appearing in the Cup finals – we’ll see the dramatic changes at the top.

Even though there’s not much Sharks to talk about, we are still here, and still podcasting.  We are asking big questions this week in the podcast, and we need your help.  We’ve answered the first two in this episode, but there are more to come.  If you have answers, or quibbles with ours, make sure to email us, and we’ll address all comers on the next show.

After breaking down the State of the Sharks, Mike and Doug start the first of several episodes where the Sharks big questions are asked and answered.  Like the Sharks organization, the dudes want to ask the right questions in the right order, and they start this week with the two biggest- 1) how much do we spend, and 2) what do you do with the big stars.  Several more questions will follow in later episodes.

A CORRECTION TO SOMETHING DOUG SAID ON THE PODCAST. ALEX STALOCK WAS DRAFTED BY THE SHARKS IN THE 4TH ROUND IN 2005.

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