The offseason of the San Jose Sharks will be as interesting as any in the NHL this summer. On the heels of a collapse that was monumental by even their own standards of playoff failure, wholesale changes to the franchise are hardly a surprise to anyone.
Even prior to the 2013-14 season there were questions about the direction of the club. With a group of superstar players on the wrong side of their peak, the metaphorical window was rapidly closing on the Bay Area’s hopes for a Stanley Cup title. Per usual, San Jose put together an impressive regular season, heading into the playoffs full of optimism.
A first round matchup with the rival Los Angeles Kings was a juicy matchup, but the Sharks took the drama out of the series by racing to an insurmountable 3-0 series lead. It was a forgone conclusion about when and not where the Sharks would get the series clinching fourth win of the series.
However, a proud and veteran Los Angeles franchise made sure that never happened, reeling off four straight wins. The Sharks were again sent home early, practically in shock over their impossible change of fortune.
How could a team with so much talent, with everything to play for simply fold up and die? General manager Doug Wilson had to have a contingency plan for the end of the season if things ended badly. The playoff collapse brought that plan in to play much earlier than imagined and started the whispers about the big changes to come for the black and teal.
Sharks owner Hasso Platner threw support behind Wilson and embattled coach Todd McLellan following the playoff elimination, which left the roster and personnel as the primary area of focus for the Sharks. Dan Boyle and Martin Havlat will not be back next season and the Brent Burns as a forward” experiment will come to an end. Burns will return to the blue line next year after a run as a power forward the past two seasons.
Since Doug Wilson values my opinion, I’ll go ahead and share my action plan for the San Jose Sharks.
1.Don’t stop with Boyle and Havlat-The Sharks need to move in a younger direction and that starts with building a team around their young stars Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski. Those two need to be the only untouchables on the San Jose roster as they reload by rebuilding. With the leadership intact behind the bench in the front office, it’s clear that the Sharks feel the leadership on the ice let the team down when it mattered most. That starts with the captain and veteran leaders. Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Antti Niemi all have significant value and can bring a nice return for the Sharks.
2. Niemi is not the answer in goal-This goes hand in hand with step number one, but Alex Stalock gave the Sharks something to think about for the 2014-15 season. He played well when called upon and could be the goaltender of the future. Ryan Miller could be a plausible mentor/stop gap if Stalock falters, but San Jose could platoon the two, giving each a shot at owning the number one spot.
3. Don’t be afraid to fire McLellan-The Sharks have hung on to their coach longer than most which speaks to their faith in his system and their belief that the team responds well to him. However, after such a monumental playoff collapse, McLellan has to feel some heat. While it isn’t necessarily fair to keep beating that dead horse, it speaks to the character of the team and possibly the motivation of the coaching staff to fail so enormously.
4. Don’t overpay for free agents-The market looks remarkably similar to last season with regards to the depth and caliber of players available. There are some quality players, but until the Sharks remove or restructure the larger contracts, they could cripple themselves under the cap and limit their options moving forward.
5. Pull the trigger-If the Sharks have been consistently guilty of one thing over the past five years, it has been a reluctance to make a splash. At this point in Wilson and McLellan’s charge, San Jose has literally backed itself into a corner and has to make big changes. They could try to sell everyone from their owner to the fans that this team is primed for another run, with only a piece or two needed. However, that ship has sailed and if the front office tries to dress this team up as something else, everyone wearing a tie will be out of a job next year.