With the Sharks top six forwards all coming back next season (Devin Setoguchi signed a one year contract), the only question left is how Wilson and McLellan plan on filling out the last two lines. I mentioned before that the three things on my wish list for the Sharks this year was a solid new goalie, a top four defenseman, and another strong forward. Looks like now all I will be wishing for is that defenseman with the Sharks close to reaching a deal with right winger Jamal Mayers from Calgary. So close in fact that both NHL.com and SJSharks.com already list him with San Jose even though the deal has yet to officially close. While Mayers isn't the 10-15 plus goalscorer that I was expecting, what he doesn't bring in scoring he brings in toughness. A physical defensive forward looks to help replace some of the grit lost with Malhotra. But the Sharks don't have to look at the free agency pool to find quality players to help round out the Sharks 2010-2011 team. With their affiliate in Worcester, the AHL team has been able to prepare their players to play in the big league. Jamie McGinn and Jason Demers are two notable past Worcester Sharks who have made it onto the San Jose bench. In 08-09 McGinn was one of the many "revolving door" players being sent back and forth from Worcester to San Jose and back again when need be. Worcester is in Massachusetts, literally on the other side of the country and over 3,000 miles away. I can't believe how well McGinn and the others played when you knew they spent the whole day on a plane and didn't even get the chance to practice with the team before the game began. Last season McGinn stayed permanently in San Jose, playing in 59 games and scoring 10 goals. That's pretty impressive considering his fourth line played less that 5 minutes a game.
Defenseman Jason Demers just got a shiny new two year contract with the Sharks after his breakout rookie year last season. He played in 51 games, scored 4 goals, and more impressively assisted on 17 goals. Those numbers tied him in fourth among rookie defensemen for points, ranked him fourth in scoring among Sharks blueliners, and got him the PlayStation Rookie of the Year award. Considering he only played in 51 games, I can't wait to see what he can do with another 31+ games.
Then there's Logan Couture (pictured above) who scored 5 goals in 25 games during his rookie year. He was one of seven soon to be sophomores chosen by NHL.com to have a breakout year next season (you can find the article by clicking the picture above). Pretty high praise for Couture and I'm expecting him to prove them right. While he isn't as fast as forwards like Marleau, he has a great precision that could make him into a pure goalscorer.
If McGinn, Demers, and Couture think that they will automatically get some more ice time next season, they have another thing coming with so many other Worcester Sharks ready to prove themselves at training camp later this August. Some have already been seen in San Jose like Benn Ferriero, Ryan Vesce, and Derek Joslin. Others like Dwight Helminen, T. J. Trevelyan, and Nick Petrecki will be trying to make it up to San Jose for the first time. The Sharks definitely have a lot of up and coming talent both within their current team and from the guys in Worcester. With player run training camps and practices already going on down at Sharks Ice, the competition to earn one of the coveted spots on San Jose's bench will be fierce and fun to watch.
Even with the addition of Antero Niittymaki, there is no guarantee that he will be the starting goalie come October 8th. Last season's back-up goalie Thomas Greiss was already back from vacation and on the ice at the end of July. He knows there is an opportunity to play more this coming season (he only played 16 games in 09-10) and he is bound and determined to prove that he can do it. You also have the goalies from Worcester and the other Sharks affiliates. Tyson Sexsmith (pictured above) and Alex Stalock have already had serious looks from the Sharks staff and will probably turn some heads again. There is even some talk about Thomas Heemskerk and Harri Sateri joining in the fight even though they still play in Europe.So while I still don't have that top four defenseman I wanted, the Sharks are looking pretty sound up to this point. With some great prospects, this year's training camp looks to be very exciting as the countdown to the start of the 2010-2011 gets underway.
