SAN JOSE – Sharks common supervisor Mike Grier joked final week that a part of the explanation he traded Adin Hill when he did was to save lots of coach David Quinn the headache of getting three NHL goalies at coaching camp.
“I did that after,” replied a smiling Quinn, who had Henrik Lundqvist, Igor Shesterkin, and Alexandar Georgiev on his New York Rangers crew in 2019-2020.
Hill’s departure to the Vegas Golden Knights on Aug. 29 answered not less than one query the Sharks would have had at camp, which begins Wednesday in San Jose. However there stay a handful of others because the Sharks start a brand new period below Grier with a training employees led by Quinn.
“The system and the mentality,” Quinn mentioned when requested what he’ll emphasize early in coaching camp. “You'll be able to’t have an efficient system except you might have the precise mentality. That’s one thing we’ll stress from the minute we begin coaching camp.”
Quinn and the Sharks don’t have a day to waste to attempt to implement that system. Their first preseason recreation is Sunday, they usually go away for Europe on Oct. 1 for normal season video games towards the Nashville Predators on Oct. 7 and eight.
Listed here are 5 Sharks questions main into this season’s coaching camp.
1. Is there life after Brent Burns?: What is going to the Sharks appear like after buying and selling Brent Burns to the Carolina Hurricanes on July 13? Robust to say since he was in San Jose for 11 seasons and didn’t miss a recreation in 9 years.
The looming query is how the Sharks plan to play with out Burns. It begins with Erik Karlsson, who had 35 factors in 50 video games final season, taking over an even bigger position and hoping he stays comparatively wholesome. That’ll make up a number of the offensive void left behind by Burns.
Changing all the manufacturing Burns supplied might be a troublesome process for this group of defensemen, however Mario Ferraro may chip in just a few extra factors, and Markus Nutivaara may need that functionality as properly.
How will Burns’ minutes – over 26 per recreation final season – be dispersed? Ferraro averaged 23 minutes per recreation final season and might in all probability tackle a bit extra. Let’s not neglect, too, that Burns was San Jose’s main penalty-killing defenseman final season. Maybe a few of that point will be eaten up by newcomer Matt Benning and/or longtime Shark Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
2. What is going to the highest two protection pairs appear like?: The Sharks’ high three defensemen determine to be Karlsson, Ferraro, and Jaycob Megna, who Quinn liked when he had him as a part of Staff USA on the IIHF World Championship within the spring. However who emerges as Sharks’ fourth defensemen for the season-opener is to be decided.
Vlasic has been a third-pair defenseman for a lot of the final two seasons however will get a contemporary begin below a brand new employees, and positively feels he’s able to taking part in extra minutes. Nutivaara averaged over 17 minutes per recreation 4 years in the past in Columbus however performed only one recreation final season as a consequence of damage.
How a lot can the Sharks get out of Radim Simek or Benning? Does a youthful defenseman like Nick Cicek, Ryan Merkley, or Santeri Hatakka stake a declare? Can Scott Harrington earn a contract?
3. What's Kevin Labanc’s position?: Given the quantity of forwards the Sharks added within the offseason, the potential emergence of William Eklund as a top-six winger, and Grier’s acknowledged need for a extra in-your-face kind of crew, the place will Kevin Labanc slot in?
Labanc is within the third 12 months of an $18.9 million contract and will be an offensive dynamo at instances. He’s actually looking forward to a contemporary begin after a shoulder damage final December value him his season. Nonetheless, his ice time and manufacturing dropped precipitously final season due to a typically wavering dedication to a two-way recreation.
Labanc, 26, doesn’t seem to be a match for the blue-collar fourth line, which may have Matt Nieto, Nico Sturm, and Steven Lorentz, with Jonah Gadjovich and Evgeny Svechnikov as extras.
Simply based mostly on numbers, cracking the highest 9 may very well be powerful, too, as Oskar Lindblom and Luke Kunin joined a gaggle that tasks to have Timo Meier, Tomas Hertl, Alexander Barabanov, Logan Couture, Noah Gregor, and Nick Bonino, and probably Eklund and/or Thomas Bordeleau.
Labanc was the topic of commerce rumors within the offseason and will doubtlessly be on the transfer if he can’t set up a job with the brand new Sharks regime.
4. Will a No. 1 goalie emerge?: This could be a query that gained’t be answered till the tip of November.
There’s a good likelihood Kaapo Kahkonen and James Reimer every begin a recreation towards Nashville when the 2 groups play Oct. 7 and eight in Prague. San Jose then return residence to play back-to-back video games on Oct. 14 and 15 towards Carolina and Chicago the place Kahkonen break up the begins.
Then from Oct. 18 to Nov. 30, the Sharks play 22 instances, with three back-to-backs, probably that means loads of work for each Kahkonen and Reimer.
5. Which gamers on entry-level contracts make the crew?: Other than Eklund and Bordeleau, Scott Reedy may have the perfect likelihood to make the Sharks out of coaching camp. Reedy, at 6-foot-2 and 205 kilos, completed the season with 4 objectives and an help in his final six video games and might play both heart or wing.
The Sharks will want scoring depth and Reedy may very well be somebody who makes the journey to Europe with some objectives within the preseason.
It may very well be a battle, although, for a younger defenseman to crack the roster if the highest seven of Karlsson, Ferraro, Megna, Vlasic, Benning, Nutivaara, and Simek keep wholesome.
