San Jose Sharks MailBag

This past season has had its ups and downs for the San Jose Sharks and their loyal fanbase which has had plenty of questions for the team moving forward. Is a rebuild upcoming? Do they try and stay competitive? Maybe just retool will with pieces they have. It’s anybody's guess with Doug Wilson at the helm. Wilson has proven to be one of the best Gm’s in the NHL and should be trusted to lead this franchise through the best way possible to capture its first Stanley Cup. Over on my instagram account, @sjsharks_hockey I asked my followers to submit mailbag questions they had about the Sharks going forward here. I will answer them here in this article below. Question 1: ​@dolson_31 ​“Do you see the Sharks moving Hertl?” I have heard rumours about Buffalo having some interest in Hertl as they look for a second line center behind Jack Eichel. There was also speculation that the Sabres may move their first round pick if it wasn’t in the top 3/5. The pick did fall out of the top 5 but it’s unclear what the status is on that after the Sabres cleaned house with their management staff. My sense is that Hertl is not traded this offseason as he has really broken out into that elite 1st line center. Hertl represented the Sharks in the 2020 NHL All-Star game this past season. Hertl has 2 more seasons (after this one) left on his current deal worth $5,625,00 AAV where he is surely to get a nice pay raise on his next deal. Now if the Sharks are not going to be in contention for a while it would make sense to move Hertl, a young star centreman and get a bunch of high end assets back to help with the rebuild. You could also look the other way and see Hertl as a great piece to build around as he is a fan favourite too. I just can’t see him being moved right now. Question 2: ​@bthwriters ​“Should the Sharks keep Jones?” Jones has definitely seen a decline in his play and in terms of his contract, the Sharks may not have any other choice but to keep Jones and play him sparingly. Jones has 4 more seasons on his deal with an AAV worth $5,750,000 and a modified no trade clause. The Sharks brought in all time great Shark and now current goalie coach, Evgeni Nabokov to work with Jones to try and get him to return to form. Now with a lot of people wanting Jones out and gone for good. I wouldn’t rule out a comeback quite yet. I believe that Jones could have a bounce back season with all the work put in with Nabby and if the team in front of them also steps up their play it could go a long way to putting Jones back on top. So I think they should hang onto him and give him one more chance to right the ship. Question 3: ​@nolannyar ​“Who would you like to see the Sharks take with Tampa’s pick?” The Sharks are expected to pick around the 25ish range, depending on how Tampa Bay fairs in the playoffs. The Sharks have always been a good team at drafting late and picking up steals and they have the chance to do that again this year. After losing their own pick, in the top 3, to Ottawa, the Sharks flipped Barclay Goodrow at the deadline for Tampa’s first round pick in the 2020 draft. This is a great, deep draft so there is the potential that a really good player could fall to the Sharks. I would like to see the Sharks pick up a guy like Noel Gunler or Jan Mysak but they may go earlier than where the Sharks pick. Other guys expected to go in the later rounds who I would like to see the Sharks pick up include: John-Jason Peterka, Brendan Brisson, Justin Barron, Marat Khusnutdinov. Also slept on players I really like include Connor McClennon and Antonio Stranges. Question 4: ​@fallennhlmemer ​“If the Sharks can’t get Labanc cheap, what should we trade him for?” My belief is the Sharks will try and sign him but yes if the salary cap does not allow his wants to fit in with Wilson’s plan then we could see the young RFA moved. Now Labanc is a solid top 6 right winger with a crazy good shot and offensive abilities but sometimes gets lost in other zones, still he would be a great young piece for any team to have. The most obvious answer to this question is a goalie. Getting a young starting caliber goalie would be ideal. There was speculation about Labanc to the Rangers for goalie Alex Georgiev as that would benefit both teams. I think Labanc could fetch a mid-low first round pick or a few in the 2nd/3rd round variety or a decent prospect if that is the way Wilson wants to go. Question 5: ​@dolson_31 ​“Thoughts on the Sharks prospect pool?” Compared to other teams prospects pool in the league, the Sharks normally rank near the bottom of the list. Now with that being said, i feel that the Sharks prospects are heavily underrated and the Sharks have a fair amount of good prospects that nobody knows about. The only real superstar potential player they have in their pool is defenceman Ryan Merkley. Merkley is an extremely talented offensive defenceman and has an unreal ceiling and has lit up the OHL his whole career. The rest of the players fall into more of the depth piece range which is still crucial for teams to compete nowadays with some players having some top 6 upside. Forwads like Sasha Chmelevski, John Leonard, Ivan Chekhovich, Joachim Blichfeld ranging to defencman like Ryan Merkley and Artemi Knyazev and even goalies Josef Korenar and newly signed Alexei Melnichuk are overlooked since they don’t have “superstar potential” but should be given the recognition they deserve. Question 6: ​@bthwriters “​ Who should the sharks go after in Free Agency” Well for starters, with Doug Wilson, anything can happen. He’s been known to always be in on or swinging deals for big pieces so the big free agents should not be ruled out. Having that said, I can’t see the Sharks bringing in any big name guys. With the salary cap staying flat at $81.5 million the Sharks don’t have too much to work with during the summer after taking care of their own guys. There’s been speculation as to Holtby working in San Jose and I’m not sold on it. Holtby is going to want a big long term deal and for starters the Sharks can’t really afford to be paying a guy big into his late 30’s. Secondly Holtby had worse stats than Jones this year on a way better team in Washington. Now Holtby is capable of bouncing back but I don't think the Sharks can afford that risk on that contract for it to turn sour as it could just turn into another Martin Jones situation right now, which everyone hates. I see the Sharks going out and acquiring some depth wing pieces to fix up that weak forward depth from the past season. The results of what happens with Labanc will largely determine if Wilson gets a top 6 winger or just grabs some depth pieces.