Even though the hockey season is officially over, there has been a lot of action and news this summer with both the NHL Draft and Free Agency deadline only a few days apart. The Edmonton Oilers selected Taylor Hall as the 1st overall draft pick. Ilya Kovalchuck, one of the best goal scorers was rumored to be joining the Los Angeles Kings (something I was not looking forward to) until he was offered a 17 year contract with his current team the New Jersey Devils. If that doesn't sound crazy enough, the NHL Deputy Commissioner stated today that the contract was rejected so they are back to square one. The Stanley Cup Champions have also had some major changes happen to their team, after finally winning the cup and ending a 49 year drought (the longest in the NHL) they had to let go of several of their top players including Andrew Ladd, Dustin Byfuglien, and Kris Versteeg. Worse yet, they have yet to sign their goalie Antti Niemi to a contract and with the salary cap, they might not be able to make a worthy offer that would keep Niemi in Chicago.And what of the Sharks? General Manager Doug Wilson kept busy as usual doing some solid work this summer. Most notably was their 8 draft picks including a 1st round pick which they used to acquire Charlie Coyle, the Rookie of the Year in the Eastern Junior Hockey League. While the newly drafted players won't be seen in Teal for a while, there are a few Sharks regulars that won't be returning to Teal next year either. I mentioned earlier that Sharks Captain Rob Blake announced his retirement, an unfortunate loss for the Sharks but a great move for Blake. I'm glad to see him leave the league after such a great season though he will be greatly missed in San Jose for his great shot, strong defensive play, winning experience, and most of all his leadership on and off the ice. Not only does this leave the Sharks without one of their best top 4 defensemen but also means that the Sharks will have their 3rd captain in 3 years.
Others that won't be returning to San Jose are Brad Staubitz who was traded to Minnesota, Manny Malhotra who went to Vancouver, and Evgeni Nabokov who will be returning to Russia to play hockey. Malhotra's loss will definitely be felt by the Sharks but unfortunately it was a matter of money and with Manny's great play last season, a lot of teams were looking to grab him. As for Nabokov, it was also a money issue in that the Sharks didn't have the cap space to keep him as well as the other players they needed to offer new contracts to.
To fill the role that Manny left behind, Doug Wilson re-signed Scott Nichol to a 1 year deal. While Nichol might not have scored as many goals as Malhotra, he definitely is up to the task to fulfill the other roles that Manny did. Not only is Nichol a great energy player who has a lot of grit, he is also an excellent faceoff guy. With Manny now in Vancouver, I expect to see a lot more ice time for Scott this next season and I can't wait to see them go head to head when the Sharks meet the Vancouver Canucks for their 4 game regular season matchups. Goalscorers Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski were also re-signed for 4 years, both Patty and Joe have never played for any other team except the Sharks, so it's great that they will be staying in Teal for at least 4 more years.
Some other noteworthy keepers are Niclas Wallin and Jay Leach. Not only do I totally disagree with Wilson's choice but I can't believe that he even gave Wallin a $775,000 raise! Wallin is 35, a slow skater, does not produce offensively even an ounce, and has yet to prove that he's worth the money. Not only is he not an aggressive defensemen but he doesn't even challenge opponents in his own zone, he lets them skate on by and take the shot. I do not understand Wilson's thinking at all. I will give Wilson credit for trying to get a strong defensemen in Hjalmarsson from Chicago. Unfortunately, Chicago made a counter offer so the Sharks lost out. I'm sure that Wilson is still hunting for another defensemen and maybe even another forward.
Other than the Wallin snafoo (and I'm not too thrilled about Leach either), Wilson has done a pretty good job in making a solid looking Sharks team - re-signing top forwards like Marleau and getting rid of some expensive players like Nabokov which only leaves a few holes in the Defensemen department. As for Nabokov's replacement, Wilson went after Silver Medalist, and MVP of the 2006 Olympic Hockey Tournament Antero Niittymaki, previously of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Number 30 also played in the 2010 Olympics representing his native Finland as well as playing in the World Champions and World Junior Champions. He was drafted by the Flyers in 1998 and played with their AHL affiliate the Phantoms were he won the Calder Cup (their version of the Stanley Cup) and Playoff MVP. While his numbers aren't stellar, Niittymaki is a solid and competitive goalie, he is even known to play with everything he has in scrimmage games. And while he doesn't have much NHL Playoff experience, he's proven that he can compete and win when push comes to shove. Considering that Tampa Bay is one of the worst teams in the league (and it's not because of Niittymaki), it will be interesting to see what his numbers look like when he has one of the best defensive teams put in front of him.
There is a lot more to discuss about the Sharks and the players that we might see next season in Teal. With the development camp already underway, I'm sure there will be some rookie additions to the Sharks lineup as well as a few more free agents coming to San Jose. The 2010-2011 season will be the 20th anniversary of the San Jose Sharks and I'm looking forward to a great and glorious season.
