San Jose Sharks
Sharks Locker Room: Beginning of End of Season Encouraging
It was a tough Trade Deadline for the San Jose Sharks, but they showed some mettle in a 4-2 loss to the New York Islanders.
They probably actually outplayed New York, especially in a first period where they jumped on a sleepy Isles squad, 17-1 shots.
But they couldn’t score, and the Islanders grabbed the lead with their second shot of the game and didn’t look back.
But for a Sharks squad that keeps taking hits, it was good to see this resiliency.
“Not like we were just gonna come out and roll over, we’re still an NHL hockey team, we played a good game, we had a lot of chances,” Macklin Celebrini said. “We play games like this, those shots will start going in, I think we’ll start getting a little bit more bounces.”
That said, it’s not easy to keep getting knocked down and getting up.
In December, GM Mike Grier traded No. 1 goalie Mackenzie Blackwood. In February, No. 1 center Mikael Granlund and No. 2 defenseman Cody Ceci. And over the last couple days, No. 1 defenseman Jake Walman, scoring winger Fabian Zetterlund, solid defensive center Nico Sturm, and alternate captain Luke Kunin.
Hopefully, this is the end of the Sharks having their roster undermined.
Can they keep tonight’s level of compete and engagement up?
“There’s jobs to be won here for the future of this organization,” head coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “If you don’t realize that, you’re in the wrong business. You got to get your head above the water here a little bit.”
That’s easier said than done, as we saw with a San Jose squad that looked like they were on a death march to close last season.
Most of those Sharks did not win NHL jobs.
Game One after the Trade Deadline, it was an encouraging start to the end of the season.
Ryan Warsofsky
Warsofsky, on Patrick Giles and Vincent Desharnais’s San Jose Sharks’ debuts:
They both asserted themselves pretty well. Obviously, big guys, I thought Pat did some good things out there. Obviously things he’s got to work on, as well as Vinny. But obviously, gives us some size and some length, which is nice.
Warsofsky, on the breakdown on Anders Lee’s game-winning goal:
Kostin is going to have to come through and get in on Lee. Obviously, he’s a big guy, but Kostin’s job is to go through on that. Our defense was there to help it. He’s a layer for that. Really shouldn’t be a goal we give up.
Warsofsky, on if Alexandar Georgiev has to be better:
Look, he had some big saves too. I’m sure there’s a couple goals he may want back. But looking at him quickly, those are some tough saves. The one he gets screened on, on the power play, the one, boom, boom, off the face off, the one’s off Mario’s stick. You really can’t fault him for those. He made some big saves. We still believe in him. Gives us a good chance to win a hockey game.
Macklin Celebrini
Celebrini, on the San Jose Sharks’ effort after a tough Trade Deadline:
Not like we were just gonna come out and roll over, we’re still an NHL hockey team, we played a good game, we had a lot of chances…We play games like this, those shots will start going in, I think we’ll start getting a little bit more bounces.
Barclay Goodrow
Goodrow, on adding Alex Wennberg, officially, to the leadership group:
He’s been around the league a long time. He’s played a lot of games. A great job for us this year. Even though he hasn’t been wearing an “A”, he’s been a great leader on our team the whole year. The “A” on his jersey is just kind of a formality.
Was the reffing kinda bad last night too? It felt that way at the rink, but you always need replays to be sure. I thought maybe they missed some, including the nightly boarding on Mack, and I didn’t like a couple of the calls against. The hooking that led to the Lee goal didn’t seem great.
Oh well, Schaefer or Misa and it’ll be worth it
It wasn’t great, but they missed a few blatant ones on the Sharks too so it evened out.
As long as it’s consistently bad…
I’m just happy to see the good effort continue. Hopefully Mack and Will continue to pile up the points and the rest of the season can be fun, if still filled with L’s.
Macklin over 60 and Will over 45 would be very cool. I think we can reasonably project Mack over a PPG next year and Will over 60
The biggest boos of the night were for a play the Isles d’man lost his stick and then stopped Graf, I think it was, coming into the zone. The bird brains apparently think playing good defense without a stick means it should be interference. But Graf or whoever it was should be able to beat a guy who has no stick.
I believe that was moments after Macklingot boarded with no call, too
It’s surprising that nobody mentioned anything about OstapChuck playing for Canada twice in the WJC. He played sparingly and didn’t do much but that is still a big deal.
He also played 4C in Ottawa roughly 9 minutes a game on average. His FO% is respectable at 49%. He’ll get more ice time in San Jose to work on his craft. I think people were so shocked that Zetterlund was traded that they only glanced at Ostapchuks box score stats and immediate drew conclusions at face value, not considering the variables. He’s 21 and still developing. I’m optimistic. Maybe he’s the future 3C and Bystedt is the future 4C or maybe the other way around. Either way, they’re both big guys and very capable for the bottom six. Sharks… Read more »
Size is important to GMMG and bigger players can take a bit longer to grow into their bigger frames. Maybe there’s some of that happening, too. Still, even GMMG hasn’t set the very high for him.
I know it was a long time ago but S. Thornton, Sundstrom, Ricci line was so money being able to throw out against the other teams top line or when you need to take momentum back and get some sustained zone time cycling down low to stop the bleeding. If Chucky could fill that Scott Thornton roll that would be ideal but Thornton had a nice nose for the net and could kick in 20.
Then they replace Sunny with Cheech and became a deadly offensive 3rd line that could shut teams down, play physical and score. Cheech had 30 goals on that line before jumbo turned him into a Rocket Richard winner.
Looking back on the trade deadline, I wish the Sharks had stayed pat. Its a lot of effort to get a team to play well together. The road trip was about as good as any Sharks team has looked for about 5 years. Big credit to Warsofsky and his staff for doing that because its a difficult building process. Big credit to the players for getting there. That a step I want to see from a rebuild. Being tough and competitive against good teams, beating up on a bad one. All on the road. It was the first tangible sign… Read more »
I think it’s pretty clear that securing the best lottery odds is priority one for management at this point. A final elite piece before the start of the build. If the standings looked different, I’d imagine they’d have considered standing pat. But you can’t get the talent surge without the picks, and the Sharks added a pair of firsts. That’s significant.
Yeah I think you’re right. If the team were looking at a pick between 8 and 10, maybe they keep it together and forego the 4ths to let the kids play together. But this team isn’t good enough right now and they need more pieces, some of which aren’t yet in the organization (RHD in particular) But imagine a world where this team has 3 lines with high end forwards, chock full of skill, speed and strength and who play 200 ft games. They have a checking line of heavy hitters who will wear down opponents and gain possession. We… Read more »
I mean, they’re locked into top 4 pick now and the best one could hope for is locked into top 3. And if they fall out of top 2, I think I’d like to see them trade that spot to the Pens for their two 1st rounders, which could land Mrtka and Fiddler, 2RHD. The shorter one is 6’4″. As for adding picks, they only got one 2027 1st (the timeline beginning at the road trip and the start of that cohesive play) and one 2nd at the deadline. Pretty sure they get that, maybe better, not much worse, if… Read more »
They’re not mathematically locked into a top four spot, and were starting to play much better hockey with 40 points left on the board. Falling out of the top four would be a very bad outcome after the season they’ve endured. Grier doesn’t seem to be taking any chances. I also wouldn’t do that trade, Hagens or Martone is worth more and one of those two defensemen could well be available at the Dallas pick. The Sharks also have two seconds they can use to move up and get one of those two guys, plus another high end forward that… Read more »
What happened to best player available?
Looked at a few mocks. One had Mrtka at 8 and Fiddler at 14. That’s pretty close to the spots the Sharks will select if they make that trade with the Pens.
Yes to BPA. But at those spots, seems they are the BPA or at lest very close to it. And if its close, use need/positional value as deciding criteria.
Trading down to draft for position of need is NOT BPA. Especially in a weak draft when you’re trading out of the only “good” part of it. Rather draft a redundant blue chip and trade them for need later from a position of strength.
Agreed. The results dictated how scorched earth he was going.
Massive difference between the top guys and everyone else. Let’s just hope we don’t get totally hosed, but finishing last guarantees no worse than 3rd, which sucks, but at least we can grab someone who will fill a major hole (assuming Martone is who they take if Misa and Schaefer are gone)
As far as Grier’s decision making around trades, there is no difference between the team being in line to pick at the top of the draft this year or around 8th or something. Grier didn’t change his mind on anything because of that. Most of the guys traded, that was always the plan. Walman and Zetterlund the exceptions, as he has said, but if he felt the returns were proper, as he did, he’s not going to hang onto them to be a little more competitive for the next six weeks. This is not in any way a case of… Read more »
If they kept Blackwood, Granny, Ceci until the trade deadline it may have been possible to be at the 8th pick.
I’m not wholly convinced they could have gotten too much more by waiting. Maybe a 1,2 instead of 1,4 for Granlund and Ceci, but I think the Blackwood deal was probably still pretty close to max value
No I meant that their record would have been better and they wouldn’t be in the running for Schaefer and Misa.
Yeah, I totally misread your comment. Oops.
I do think that early season hot streak was a schedule quirk as much as anything. That loss in Tampa was the harbinger for what the team really was
There have been other parts of the schedule they could have taken advantage of too if they had those 3.
Blackwood is the only one of those who could make much of a difference. But it just so happened that COL got such terrible goaltending to start the year they needed to move quick and they were willing to pay to do it. Blackwood would not have fetched anything like that closer to the deadline to some team just looking to fortify the position. Grier needed to let that happen when it did.
no you Guys are misunderstanding me. Read the comment to kads.
Granny and Ceci would have definitely made a difference with good goaltending. Sheng has stressed their record since trading Blackwood.
I get what you’re saying, just that Granlund isn’t that much of a difference maker. He’s like a 2 win guy over a full season. The team is 20 points out of having the 8th worst record. If they were to approach that it would be almost all Blackwood if he were on the team. Ceci contributes nothing.
20 more points or close to it would require Blackwood standing on his head all year.
Gotcha. Still think they likely end up out of range for the top 4 guys though.
I can resepect your statement, however I don’t agree. That said, I am no more qualified than anybody here to say what is right or wrong, other than some guy the other day who claimed to be a WHL GM?
Yeah that guy was full of shit.
wtf? Of course it was worth it. Man you guys are nuts. Building a cup contender is the only goal. This is one of the best examples I’ve ever watched on how to rebuild a prospect pool. The players will survive playing a “game” for a month and half without a few of their friends most just met less than a year ago.
suck it up people! It’ll be worth it sooner than later.
Can’t say I’ve been telling others to suck it up. But I haven’t been bemoaning the length of this rebuild and am one of the few hoping this team has a really good shot at 1st overall again next season. Next season’s team shouldn’t strive to be meaningfully better than this year’s team. And given that GMMG moved on from their top goalie, top forward, top d-man, top face-off guy and top +/- guy, just getting back to the current level of play is going to take some work. At this point, the Sharks, at most, finish with the 2nd… Read more »
Yes they should, And Grier already said they intend to be in the playoff conversation next season. So clearly he has big plans with all this draft capital and cap space.
I think you need to look up historical data on off season trade values Vs deadline. From my experience, deadline deals always yield more because people are going all in for the playoffs. Way more spontaneous over pays while deals in the off season are more measured.
Selling at the deadline, buying in the offseason. It’s a tale as old as time.
Hopefully they don’t see this team as Granlund, Walman and Ceci away from the playoffs. It will need to be a major upgrade from what we had or we will get the same results. Nothing suggests that Grier didn’t already figure that out though. Maybe he thought that team was good enough to finish 8th from the bottom, but if playoff possibility is what they want, it needs to be much, much better
I don’t think he sees them as those 3 away. I think he’s going to add 3 or 4 players better than those 3 cumulatively. The 1b goalie will also make a difference. if I had to handicap it I would say a 1RD puck mover (could be a prospect ready to play in the NHL), a top 6 forward (likely a power forward type), a 1b goalie to help ease Askarovs season. That’s minimum. I could see them adding another defenseman too but it could be as simple as a defensive defender. Could be as complicated as doing that… Read more »
Sign me up for 4 difference makers. Let’s do this!
Granlund and Walman for first round picks were absolutely worth it. Players like Kunin were on expiring contracts, so the trade deadline was it as far as getting anything for them. Teams tool up with veterans for the playoffs. With the exception of maybe Zetterlund, the returns definitely would not have been the same in the off-season. The accumulated picks, besides the potential for prospects, also represent trade capital. If you want Grier to get young, high-end players like Askarov, then he has to do what it takes to accumulate trade assets. For example, Noah Dobson will be a RFA… Read more »
I keep seeing the sentiment that (paraphrased), “Hopefully, this is the end of moving big pieces out.” Looking at the roster, who’s left of any value that’s over 23 years old? Toffoli – NMC Wennberg – partial NMC, but probably gone at the deadline next year Ferraro – On the move at the deadline next year? Lilegren – I can’t figure out if anyone wants to pick him up… Everyone else on the roster most likely has very low, if any, market value: Giles, Goodrow, Grundstrom Dellandrea, Kovalenko, Kostin (injury prone), Gregor, MEV (NMC), Rutta, Desharnais, Georgiev, Romanov The point… Read more »
They could sign guys to 1 year deals like Kinin was.
Liljegren is a warm body. He might get dealt next year, but if it’s for a 1st like some have suggested something has gone extremely well for him and we’d be kinda bummed to see him go. He’s not very good.
I think the idea with Liljegren and Ferraro is they are 25 and 26, an age where D-men sometimes figure it out. Jake Middleton is an example of a guy we all sure would love on this roster, right?
And there are hints that both are starting to play better. It’s worth be patient for another year, we will see if anything comes of it
Yup. GMMG did a good job bringing in tradable chips, but the big pieces were Burns, Hertl and Timo along with close to $50million in cap space over the last few years. EK65 looked like a big chip, but his cap hit undermined it. Kudos to GMMG for getting credible pieces in Blackwood, Granlund and Walman, then turning other team’s trash into treasure– aka high picks (two 1st, two 2nds). But you’re correct, the team is out of valuable veteran players while cap space has dropped considerably in value with the cap projections. Its all coming back to the draft.… Read more »
Cap space will still be valuable, just probably not like last year where the Sharks are getting picks to take guys. There might be plenty of free talent because there are teams that will need every cent of their new money as it is.
And they will be one of the few teams with oodles of cash to bid up the right players. It’ll be ok
Can’t think of a better situation for a franchise to hire a real big time bench boss🤔 all the young talent and a blank check.
I’m certain that the coach to take us where we want to go has been there before, most likely an ex player.
FFS shut up about the coach. You don’t know shit about coaching. If their start the day after TDL didn’t tell you they have a good coach then you wouldn’t be able to tell a good coach from a bag of chips.
fwiw, if I was in Warsofsky’s shoes, I’d be pretty upset at the trade deadline moves. Busted his hump to get this team playing well — best its looked in years — and the GM says “f that” and kicks all that work to the curb. Warsofsky obviously can’t let that get under his skin. But seeing something that got built up against tough odds and seeing it get wrecked can’t be any fun. The graphic they show at the start of every game with the coach’s career record on it. He proved he’s way better than that graphic. But… Read more »
Warsofsky knows the plan, lol.
Then you would be clueless and he is not. You don’t think he knows the plan? Sure he’d love to keep good pros but he understands that this is how he’s going to get to coach a powerhouse like Cooper and Bednar got to. He’s not dumb. He know where the franchise is and what it’ll take to get them where they want to go.
Honest question, If we decided to go with a clean slate do you think Warso would get another HC job in the NHL this summer?
You’re wasting your energy though. Warso won’t need another job, he has this one. They aren’t going to fire him. There is no point raging about it. Now if the team goes and and gets the pieces we as fans who know everything think we need and we rate Grier’s offseason an A+, and the on-ice product doesn’t improve, then you can get your hopes up. Otherwise I just ask what you don’t like about Warso. Is the team not putting in effort? Are there some scheme changes you would dial up? Do you think the talent is better than… Read more »
It’s just the constant missed assignments in the D zone and in front of the net. And the prolonged loosing streaks giving up 4+ goals. And if you make it a point to keep track of when the puck makes it below the goal line with support it’s undeniable evidence that the shift will create more zone time and better chances. And if you track entries where the puck doesn’t make it below the goal line the chances of it going the other way with odd numbers go way way up. And also track the one and done Opps when… Read more »
I guess it’s just a matter of whether you chalk this up to coaching or just “guys who can’t do the thing.” I’m in the latter bucket. I’m not trying to coach up the Luke Kunins of the world by telling them to watch Macklin and do more of that. Some guys just aren’t capable. And one main incapability that the team clearly has is getting guys out of the front of the net. Nobody has the size to do it. Desharnais is the first guy this season who will give guys even a minor reason not to park it… Read more »
He’s said before he thinks they just need to hit more and play tougher defense and they would have been a playoff team. It’s ridiculous.
Depends on the franchise. He’s a new head coach so it was always going to be with a rebuilding team. You’re ignorant to the fact that he’s been a great head coach everywhere he’s been and that he’s gotten great effort and commitment out of this roster while successfully developing young players. Dude you quite simply have no clue how to identify good coaching. Quinn? That’s what it looks like when the coach loses the players and has no structure. This team has structure and effort. They’re simply outgunned every night talent wise and the goaltending has been horrific most… Read more »
Probably not head coach, but I think he would find an assistant job pretty quickly…then another head coaching job a few years down the line.
He seems to have a good reputation around the league but would probably benefited from being an assistant on a contender.
Warso is younger than you are, and has won a championship at every level of professional North American hockey that he’s coached so far. You couldn’t hold his fuckin jock.
guy that’s a strange rebuttal lol . we started the season like 0-10 with a decent roster and a whole camp to get primed and pumped, and our goal differential is shocking. It’s strictly business.
No dum dum. They started with no Celly for 10 games and Smith playing 2C. That’s not the Smith we see now, that’s brand new to the NHL Smith who looked like a toddler against Rottweilers. They didn’t have Lily yet to, right? The first 10-20 games with a roster that was about 50% new was also learning a new system and learning to play with each other. Most pundits had the sharks finishing bottom 2 with their “decent roster” at the beginning of the season. So your point is wrong and dumb. Joseph means you lack even the minimum… Read more »
Also, the 0-9 was losses to the Jets, Stars, Kings, Avalanche and Vegas (with Blues, Blackhawks and Ducks x2)… So that feels like schedule. During The Renaissance, the good wins against the Kings, Devils (stolen by Blackwood, 44S) and Caps were sprinkled in with wins against the Kraken x 2, the Red Wings when they were awful under Lalonde, Blackhawks, Blue Jackets (stolen by Vanny with 49S in 50 shots), etc… Askarov stole one at the tank from Tampa after New Years. But really, this season has been about keeping some games close and playing hard against more talented teams… Read more »
100%. You don’t toss a coach that can accomplish those 2 things. You get him some better players the next season.
100%
Just a difference in philosophy I guess. I believe in getting pucks deep and punishing Dmen and taking away time and space with a ferocious forecheck like Tampa bay and Florida and Washington and St. Louis and Vegas have done. Warso believes in a puck possession system and cherry picking like Colorado.
Which players on the the roster at any time this year were capable of executing a ferocious forecheck? Take your time to think about it, I’ll wait.
literally anyone can be F1 and go into that corner, finish the check and be disruptive, literally anyone can be F2 and close off the wall and come in for support, literally anyone can be f3 and have his head on a swivel to either find open space or take away the other D man. That’s the beauty of it, any 3 Forwards can work together and create a structured forecheck….ferociously, as in full out effort, we don’t implement a structured forecheck!!!!!!! It is Warsos system to carry the puck in!!!!! wtf!!!!! That’s my whole point fellas. Jesus lord in… Read more »
Dude. You just typed a bunch of words that proved my point. You don’t know shit about coaching real players. You’re been on your Xbox for way too long.
It’s not a difference in philosophy, it’s a difference in qualification. Warso is qualified to have a philosophy. You’re not. I’m not either. I don’t agree with every single thing Warso does, I just assume he knows a lot more than I do because, well, he knows a lot more than I do. That’s just generally how expertise works.
You’re selling yourself short. Not sure how long you’ve watched the NHL but it’s pretty obvious when a coach has no direction and he’s lost the room. That’s what makes Ricky’s incessant bitching so dumb.
I don’t think Liljegren will have a ton of value. I’ve followed him Toronto, too. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up in the SHL in a few years. It’s not that he has no skill, but he doesn’t have enough offense but doesn’t really play “heavy” either. Guys like that have a hard time finding a job in the NHL once GMs decide you won’t develop more in either dimension.
Agreed. He’s likely nothing more than a placeholder.