Tuesday, July 8, 2014

OH DEAR GOD, IT GETS WORSE........

In the last two weeks the San Jose Sharks have surprised us all and seemingly made a bad situation even worse. I'm now convinced that the ownership group that had once been hands off are now knee deep in changing the Sharks organization.

Before we delve into the more controversial topics it's time to do some housekeeping. June 30th marked the day NHL teams were to hand out qualifying offers to Restricted Free Agents (or RFA for short) on their respective clubs. A qualifying offer is simply an offer for a new deal that is at least 100% of their original contract value if they made over 1 million dollars in a single season. If they made less than 1 million but more than 6 hundred thousand dollars the percentage value of the next offer must be 105% of the original, and if they made less than the 6 hundred thousand threshold the percentage moves to 110%. If the team chooses not to offer a new contract the player becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent (or UFA for short) who is able to sign with another team, if the team offers a contract but the player deems it to be "unfair value" he is then able to have an outside arbiter re-evaluate the deal that the team can accept or walk away from the player (making him an unrestricted free agent).

During the unrestricted free agent signing period the San Jose Sharks resigned goalie Alex Stalock and forward Mike Brown both to two year extensions. After this season's performance on the ice it's fair to say Alex has cemented himself as the future goaltender of the Sharks, since Nemi is still on the team its possible that Alex could remain the backup this year and succeed him in the following year. The Mike Brown extension on the other hand is a little more controversial in regards to value vs. pay, in flashes he proved to be a catalyst on the 4th line, however at times the skill level of the opposition really outmatched him.      

So with that little explanation, here is the list per @SanJoseSharks of RFA's not to be offered a new contract. Most of these players not offered contracts had their fair share of opportunities in the Shark's organization, to note Nick Petrecki had been given ample time to mature into a top d-man he was billed to be. Unfortunately, Marek Viedensky was not able to stick in the system his natural offensive ability at times was great, however his defense was suspect and he was prone to offensive slumps.   


Name Pos. Acquired 14' GP 14' G 14' A 14' PTS
Sena Acolatse D 2010 FA 41 5 12 17
Adam Comrie D 2008 3rd Rd 56 3 16 19
Nick Petrecki D 2007 1st Rd 35 1 2 3
Brodie Reid RW 2011 FA 55 11 14 25
Sebastian Stalberg RW 2012 FA 50 9 13 22
Marek Viedensky C 2009 7th Rd 54 6 17 23

The players that were tendered new offers will not surprise anyone, all were product members of the Shark's organization and have a place in the organization.


Name Pos. Pro Level Acquired 14' GP 14' G 14' A 14' PTS
Jason Demers D NHL 2008 7th Rd 75 5 29 34
Taylor Doherty D AHL 2009 2nd Rd 69 4 11 15
Matt Tennyson D AHL 2012 FA 54 7 14 21
James Sheppard C\LW NHL Trade (Min) 67 4 16 20
Tommy Wingels C\LW\RW NHL 2008 6th Rd 77 16 22 38


Name Pos. Pro Level Acquired 14' GP 14' GAA 14' SV%
Harri Sateri G AHL 2008 4th Rd 45 2.95 0.894

The only interesting twist to any of these signings is that Harri Sateri is set to go to the KHL and continue his development there. Per the rules of the CBA the Sharks must tender an offer to retain Sateri's rights and if he returns to the NHL the Sharks have his exclusive rights (however no money is guaranteed and or given with the QO)

During the opening of the free agent window July 1st, the Sharks looked like a team that was not going to make any massive movements and or commitments to free agents. A few rumors had ex-penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen to the Sharks on a massive contract, and while I believe Shark's management reached out to negotiate ultimately his price was just too high for the Sharks to take on. With everything seemingly at a stand still, GM Doug Wilson made a move sending defensemen Brad Stuart to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for 2 draft picks, a 2016 2nd rounder and 6th rounder. After that he signed a former Edmonton Oiler defensive prospect Taylor Fedun to a one year contract.

Here is where things go off the rails so to speak, Doug Wilson then decides to sign bruising forward\defenseman John Scott to a one year 7 hundred thousand dollar contract. Let that sink in, HE SIGNED F**KING JOHN SCOTT! The guy is totally devoid of any skill, his puck possession stats and his regular stats show he is a negative on the ice and is there only to bash people's skulls in. What is mind boggling though is that we have a fighter on our team we just resigned Mike Brown, so now we have 2 roster spots being taken up by guys who should not be playing full time in the league. I just don't get how you're supposed to hand over a team to the young kids when you have these guys taking up valuable ice time.

Finally on an even brighter note (sarcasm at its finest), the Sharks management in all of it's infinite wisdom has decided we need Ice Girls. Now as a red blooded American male seeing scantly clad girls in sports uniforms is definitely intriguing, however it's 2014 and many cheerleading squads across sports are questioning their relevance (not to mention their pay) to the games they cheer for. Look at baseball for example, the Giant's nor A's have any sort of cheer squad and or scantly clad work crews the fan experience at both venues is great. The Sharks have cemented themselves as a classy organization, and not having ice girls set them in a league of class on par with Detroit or Montreal who keep their environments family friendly. I have one message Sharks KEEP IT CLASSY AND FAMILY FUN! 

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