*** San Jose Sharks 2014 Off-Season Thread ***

Originally posted by OnTheClock:
Thornton, Marleau, and Boyle I believe have one final year left, and that's it. The first two in particular have been great over a long time for the Sharks. I think with the influx of new talent -- we've got some big-time prospects coming up -- we can be like the Kings and make some big runs continuing on in the future.

Players in particular to keep watching are forwards Matt Nieto, Thomas Hertl, and Freddie Hamilton, and defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser, Matt Tennyson, and Sena Acolatse. These six have reportedly been opening eyes very wide as far as players who either will be on the roster next season, or sometime shortly after.

Abeltshauser has insane size and great skating, but the only question is if he is as talented as his numbers indicate, or did he simply benefit from other great prospects around him. I think it's somewhere in the middle, but closer to the fact that he's just a very talented player.

Nieto reportedly looked like he was a man among boys in his AHL action, apparently being one of the players that no one seemingly could catch because of his speed.

Hertl dominated his competition and reportedly made teams look helpless everywhere. It was said that the only resistance really put up against him at all was in the World Juniors, where he still did very well. Hertl has drawn comparisons to Couture when referring to his expected rise to stardom as he looks close to joining the NHL.

Speaking of Hertl we just signed him to a contract, pretty sure he will be on the team next year. First 1st rounder we have signed since Couture.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:
Thornton, Marleau, and Boyle I believe have one final year left, and that's it. The first two in particular have been great over a long time for the Sharks. I think with the influx of new talent -- we've got some big-time prospects coming up -- we can be like the Kings and make some big runs continuing on in the future.

Players in particular to keep watching are forwards Matt Nieto, Thomas Hertl, and Freddie Hamilton, and defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser, Matt Tennyson, and Sena Acolatse. These six have reportedly been opening eyes very wide as far as players who either will be on the roster next season, or sometime shortly after.

Abeltshauser has insane size and great skating, but the only question is if he is as talented as his numbers indicate, or did he simply benefit from other great prospects around him. I think it's somewhere in the middle, but closer to the fact that he's just a very talented player.

Nieto reportedly looked like he was a man among boys in his AHL action, apparently being one of the players that no one seemingly could catch because of his speed.

Hertl dominated his competition and reportedly made teams look helpless everywhere. It was said that the only resistance really put up against him at all was in the World Juniors, where he still did very well. Hertl has drawn comparisons to Couture when referring to his expected rise to stardom as he looks close to joining the NHL.

what about Nick Petrecki? he was a first rounder right?

Originally posted by Garcia:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Thornton, Marleau, and Boyle I believe have one final year left, and that's it. The first two in particular have been great over a long time for the Sharks. I think with the influx of new talent -- we've got some big-time prospects coming up -- we can be like the Kings and make some big runs continuing on in the future.

Players in particular to keep watching are forwards Matt Nieto, Thomas Hertl, and Freddie Hamilton, and defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser, Matt Tennyson, and Sena Acolatse. These six have reportedly been opening eyes very wide as far as players who either will be on the roster next season, or sometime shortly after.

Abeltshauser has insane size and great skating, but the only question is if he is as talented as his numbers indicate, or did he simply benefit from other great prospects around him. I think it's somewhere in the middle, but closer to the fact that he's just a very talented player.

Nieto reportedly looked like he was a man among boys in his AHL action, apparently being one of the players that no one seemingly could catch because of his speed.

Hertl dominated his competition and reportedly made teams look helpless everywhere. It was said that the only resistance really put up against him at all was in the World Juniors, where he still did very well. Hertl has drawn comparisons to Couture when referring to his expected rise to stardom as he looks close to joining the NHL.

Speaking of Hertl we just signed him to a contract, pretty sure he will be on the team next year. First 1st rounder we have signed since Couture.

And there you go. I'm very, very excited to see what he can do at our level. And honestly as disappointed as I am that we fell short this season, I think we have a great shot next year if our young guys can come in and contribute and the guys who are young and already here show growth and improvement.

Originally posted by Frisco69ers:

what about Nick Petrecki? he was a first rounder right?

He was noted as one of the most improved players this year and was said to really blossom. Reportedly he has been a late bloomer. I think next year may be his last chance to make an impact with us though. He may be used as trade bait if some of our other prospects come in and can do more early on.

We're going to have to make some decisions, because the following players are free agents this year (prospects/AHL included):

Forwards:
Raffi Torres
T.J. Galiardi
James Sheppard
Scott Gomez
Tim Kennedy
Andrew Desjardins
Marek Viedensky (prospect)
Matt Pelech (AHL)
Bracken Kearns (AHL)

Defensemen:
Jason Demers
Scott Hannan
Nick Petrecki

Goalies:
Stalock
Greiss

That's a lot of guys who played pretty significant roles or were pivotal pieces for us. As of now, as far as potential replacements, the young guys with TC shots to make the team would be:

Forwards: Tomas Hertl, Freddie Hamilton, Matt Nieto, Daniil Tarasov, and Sebastian Stalberg.

Defense: Matt Tennyson, Sena Acolatse, Konrad Abeltshauser, Dylan Demelo, and Taylor Doherty.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:
We're going to have to make some decisions, because the following players are free agents this year (prospects/AHL included):

Forwards:
Raffi Torres
T.J. Galiardi
James Sheppard
Scott Gomez
Tim Kennedy
Andrew Desjardins
Marek Viedensky (prospect)
Matt Pelech (AHL)
Bracken Kearns (AHL)

Defensemen:
Jason Demers
Scott Hannan
Nick Petrecki

Goalies:
Stalock
Greiss

That's a lot of guys who played pretty significant roles or were pivotal pieces for us. As of now, as far as potential replacements, the young guys with TC shots to make the team would be:

Forwards: Thomas Hertl, Freddie Hamilton, Matt Nieto, Daniil Tarasov, and Sebastian Stalberg.

Defense: Matt Tennyson, Sena Acolatse, Konrad Abeltshauser, Dylan Demelo, and Taylor Doherty.

I want Scott Gomez. He may not have produced for you guys in the regular season, but he was solid in the post season and always is. Depending on what the market demands for him, he would fit in real nice on our bench.

Originally posted by Garcia:

From what I know and have read on Hamitlon, Hertl, and Nieto -- all three are projected as top 6 forwards for the Sharks in the future. I think they all easily replace Sheppard, Kennedy, and Desjardins -- maybe not Gomez because of the experience, that's hard to replace. We'll see if Gomez comes back for one more year. Burish is worthless in any capacity outside of the PK, but I don't think he's going anywhere. Wonder what our lines might look like next season...

Galiardi-Thornton-Burns
Marleau-Couture-Havlat
Torres-Pavelski-Hertl ?
Hamilton-Gomez-Burish ?
Nieto as a mid-season call-up?

Irwin-Boyle
Vlasic-Braun
Stuart-Tennyson?
Veteran-Petrecki/Doherty/Acolatse/Abeltshauser?

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by Garcia:

From what I know and have read on Hamitlon, Hertl, and Nieto -- all three are projected as top 6 forwards for the Sharks in the future. I think they all easily replace Sheppard, Kennedy, and Desjardins -- maybe not Gomez because of the experience, that's hard to replace. We'll see if Gomez comes back for one more year. Burish is worthless in any capacity outside of the PK, but I don't think he's going anywhere. Wonder what our lines might look like next season...

lol, traded for a rental next year lol

Originally posted by ads_2006:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by Garcia:

From what I know and have read on Hamitlon, Hertl, and Nieto -- all three are projected as top 6 forwards for the Sharks in the future. I think they all easily replace Sheppard, Kennedy, and Desjardins -- maybe not Gomez because of the experience, that's hard to replace. We'll see if Gomez comes back for one more year. Burish is worthless in any capacity outside of the PK, but I don't think he's going anywhere. Wonder what our lines might look like next season...

lol, traded for a rental next year lol

Took me a second for that to click -- Man.. I sure hope not. We need these guys to replace and IMPROVE spots on our lines so we can continue to make yearly runs.

Couture needs to center the 1st line,

Originally posted by Garcia:

Couture needs to center the 1st line,

I think a lot of times the 1st and 2nd lines are sort of interchangable. But I like the Galiardi-Thornton-Burns first line.

Greiss is terrible, i hope they find someone else to back Niemi

Originally posted by Frisco69ers:

Greiss is terrible, i hope they find someone else to back Niemi

Dunno if I'd call him terrible, but he's very average. I don't know how I feel about our prospects at goalie right now. Stalock is the only one with NHL action really. I wouldn't mind giving him a shot, but he didn't have the best year in Worcester. Although he had a tremendous year not that long ago in the AHL before his injury.

You think Burns is a forward going........... forward?

Originally posted by Garcia:

You think Burns is a forward going........... forward?

The guys on our defense has progressed well enough to allow burns to be a forward for all of next year.

However, I'd like to see him back on Defense with those other forwards in our system get playing time.