Hockey History
Sharks’ Biggest Problem Isn’t the Contracts
Foresight is an ability that I’m sure most GMs in hockey would love to have. But since we live in the real world, general managers and all humans alike must take their chances and call their shots using the tools they have at their disposal.
And since GM’s don’t have that ability to foresee how a contract or player may turn out, we don’t have the right to judge those moves based purely on hindsight.
So in this week’s episode of the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, we decided to tackle the problem of objectively assessing the San Jose Sharks’ downfall – we discuss the contracts and perhaps an even larger factor.
As always, we start off with our recent news updates involving trade rumors surrounding Tomas Hertl, Alexander Barabanov, and perhaps surprisingly, Jake Middleton (3:40).
We then begin our talk about the San Jose Sharks’ current record and give a general overview of the season so far (23:50).
Then we objectively ask the question: How much blame does Doug Wilson deserve? (28:30)
We start off by discussing the main point of concern with most fans, the contracts. And who better to start with than Brent Burns, the first big contract (31:17)?
We move on to Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Martin Jones’s contracts (38:24), Evander Kane (48:13), Logan Couture (53:45), and of course, Erik Karlsson (1:01:06).
Sheng, by the way, remains a staunch supporter of the Vlasic contract.
We then break down the logic behind the San Jose Sharks moving on from Joe Pavelski (1:12:14). We also dig up a quote from Doug Wilson back in 2018 that might help to explain the Sharks’ thought process behind re-signing their veterans to massive contracts (1:19:00).
Sheng then offers the main reason for the team’s recent collapse – the Sharks’ lackluster drafting from 2013-16 (1:22:15).
We dive deep to help paint the picture as to how good teams back then like Boston and St. Louis have stayed on top as opposed to the Sharks or the Blackhawks (1:27:38).
We close the discussion with the question everyone is asking: Should Doug Wilson be fired? (1:47:45) This is a question asked in full respect of his health – we hope Doug gets better fast and soon – and is answered, once again, as objectively as possible.
We also elaborate on what Doug and the Sharks can do now and what it would take to get the San Jose Sharks back into playoff contention (1:55:42).
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