J0e Th0rnton

Wild in 7. I love Suter and Parise and I think the kids have done amazing this year in Colorado, but will falter a bit come playoff time. They looked so tired the last game with the sharks

I hate the Habs. Play that hot handed Latvian goaltender if Bishop is out!@

Not sure who takes this one

Bruins in 6

Hawks in 4 or 5

Hate both of them and I hope they have a 7 game dirty series in which both teams get smashed up

Sharks in 6. SMASH!

Pens in 5

Nash has always been a lazy guy who relies on his talent. I have seen what the guy can do when motivated. He can be amazing and take over games. But his motivation rarely kicks in. I used to think it was playng for the Jackets, then i saw he is just not a hard worker. You see it in any job you work. The guy who works the hardest often gets better results

20 shots blocked in 60 games? That is pretty dreadful for a defenseman.

Figured since I did not get many responces on the "Name a prospect from your team" thread, I might throw out a different curve. How about prospects or young players from other teams in the league you would love to trade for(Or throw an offer sheet at)? You can even throw a trade proposal in if you like, but make it realistic. No intra division trading of big name players between rivals, and no giving up a simple pick for a great prospect, etc(Although a Pick for a project prospect is likely). Realistic offer sheets only as well. Like I said, it can fill an existing need, or a future need. Example, Dan Boyle's contract is up for the Sharks, and Demers IMO, is not going to fill his shoes. Demers might hold the number 1 Role for a half year, until they realize they NEED to groom someone else. I just do not see Demers ever reaching better than a #3 defenseman. He might hit better point totals if we do not have Boyle next year simply due to icetime attrition, but he is not going to be a #2 defenseman like Boyle. Just does not have the instincts. For my Prospect I would love to see in Teal, I have been eyeing Ryan Ellis in the Nashville system. The kid has great offensive instincts. The problem is, on a team like Nashville, you do not get to show them often unless you are Weber. With the addition of Seth Jones, who looks like he could be another Weber in a few years, it is going to drastically cut down on PP time and offensive time for Ellis, and that is where he just shines. I think on a team like the Sharks, Would Nashville give him up? Maybe. Would they match an offer sheet for him? Depends. Nashville is a very cheap team. But Doug Wilson threw a 3.5 million offer sheet at Hjarmalsson that Chicago matched a few years back. Matching it prevented them from resigning Niemi lol. Nashville has the cap space to easily match a San jose Offer sheet of 3.5 million(I doubt Ellis will get more), but will they when they have such a need for a star forward this offseason and have Weber/Jones eating up the PP time where Ellis shines? Watching Trotz trying to make Ellis something he is not is agonizing sometimes. The good news for Ellis is that Trotz is likely not getting a new contract. The bad news is Poile is still the GM, and no good free agent wants to play for Nashville anyways. What a clusterF$^% Poile has been. Suter walked for nothing, and Weber signed an offer sheer to get out, only to have it matched. If Doug Wilson did anything this offseason that would make me super Happy, it would be to throw an offer sheet at Ellis. I see a style in that kid that would fit right in on the Sharks. Sharks have 12.5 million in capspace. 5 Million more if they .....*are you listening Wilson?......BUY OUT HAVLAT'S LAST SEASON. That will give us a few more million to work with. Maybe you could use some of that money to sign a half decent winger not named useless Kennedy. In fact, there are a few decent wingers on the Market this season who might like to play for a Contender in Socal. Wingels and Demers need extensions(And are likely going to get 2.5 - 3 million each) and we need a backup goalie, and a decision needs to be made on if you want Boyle back another year. Boyle stated he loves the team and would take a discount like Thornton did, but who knows. I hope you offer him 4.5 million for 1 year and he takes it. If he wants more, it is too much at this stage in the game.

Havlat would fit right in over there

Not terribly surprising. What was the rationale to signing Jason Garrison to a 6 year, 27 million dollar contract again? I understand giving that kind of money to Vlasic, who is an outstanding defensive defenseman, but this one perplexed me as Garrison is merely "good". They definitely need to do something about the lack of a goalie. Which is hilarious given they were trying to get rid of a good goalie not long ago. Now they have none. Who is going to get the GM job?

That's the thing. In juniors he was very good defensively and offensively. Size, skating, good shooter, excellent passer and strong two way play with great hockey sense. Hockey's future had him listed at an 8.5 probability, which is a step below a Datsyuk/Thornton caliber ceiling, but above a Richards type. But his rating also us a C, which means he could drop 2 spots to 3rd line player, 5th/6th defenseman, etc Right now, that looks like the case All I think is his chances

I guess I was expecting him to have a Mike Richards ceiling and show it by now(So were most scouts), but what I am seeing happening is Devin Setoguchi

Generally, by the 3rd year of the entry level contract, a player with the expectations to be a star 1st liner has better than a 40+ point season, unless their development is curtailed by being constantly used below the 2nd line. That is all I am getting at. I do not see Schenn ever becoming a star 1st liner. 2nd line center is his ceiling in my eyes now. That's the thing. Schenn was projected to be better than he is showing. Mike Richards level is exactly what is expected of him, but it is just not happening. By his 3rd year, Richards was scoring over a PPG and was 5th for the selke. Giroux improved visibly between years. Yes, between his first and second year, we saw visible improvement in PPG and icetime. But this year compared to last? Nothing, nor is his defensive game what was advertized. Richards and Giroux showed great improvements year by year during their entry level.

Wasn't it proven she made that up after he cancelled all her credit cards?

This is apples and oranges in comparison and a lot of your numbers are wrong. You have to take into consideration what they are expected to become at draft time, how soon they are given NHL experience. How much play time they get with tough minutes(Against other teams top lines and checking lines 5 on 5, and PP and PK time), as opposed to sheltered minutes(If they were given 8-12 minutes a game against the other teams bottom lines, as opposed to 13-20 minutes per game in more situations. Schenn, on draft day, was considered a surefire pick to become a star 1st liner pretty quickly. He has all kinds of the tools scouts love, or so they said at draft time(Skating, size and physicality, Above average scorer and playmaker, sneaky wrist shot, defensively strong). Most guys like that are given a quick route to the NHL. He has 3 years of NHL experience under his belt now, and is currently tied for 131st in scoring. Pavelski first, was a very late 7th round draft pick, never expected to be much more than a 3rd/4th line player and not even given NHL playing time until he was age 22, and it was merely as a 3rd line checking center only playing half the season(And he scored on pace for 50 points) . He definitely jumped way ahead of expectations. Much like Ryane Clowe did. By his 3rd year in the NHL, Pavelski was 20th for the Selke trophy and scoring 25 goals and 59 points as a 2nd line center. 20th best defensive forward in the NHL of hundreds of forwards is not bad for a guy drafted 7th round. Thornton is more comparable to Schenn in situation expectations. Draft expectations were higher for Thornton, but he was thrown to the wolves by Boston as an 18 year old for 50+ games and did not do well. Boston was in a bit of a bind though since all they had at Center was Allison. By age 21, Thornton had a 37 goal, 71 point season under his belt during the dead puck era and at age 22, he missed a lot of games, but scored 68 points in 66 games, which works out to around 84 points over a full season. Marleau is definitely a different situation. By age 21, yeah, he had a 25 goal, 52 point year......which lead the team in scoring. Very different time to play for finesse players that dead puck clutch and grab era. Especially if you had a trap coach like Sutter. Marleau certainly did much better once he was able to use his finesse instead of being obstructed 100% of the time. Couture? Drafted 9th overall. Expected to go 20th overall because he was a questionmark due to his below average skating. But at Age 21, he was already better than Schenn is now. You wrote the wrong year for points BTW. At age 22, Couture had 31 goals and 65 points, which tied him for 32nd in scoring. http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/c/coutulo01.html Brent Burns. Was a defenseman and at age 22 had 15 goals and 43 points, which put him at 14th in scoring among defensemen and he was 12th in Norris trophy voting. Being the 12th best defenseman in the league at age 22 is, well, pretty darn good. Why doesn't the coach give Schenn any PK time?

As a Sharks fan, I was a bit put off by his reputation defensively when we got him. I expected him and Lukowich(Also came in the trade) to be really bad from what Lightning fans told me. I was surprised as hell that he was solid defensively right out the gate for the sharks. Maybe the team defensive philosophy style on the sharks just fit his game way better, but I can honestly say he was always solid so far, with a mistake here and there.

Not terribly surprising given this is the first season he has played more than 54 games. His points per game pace is no better than it was last season and he had not earned more icetime by improving. For a guy depicted as a sure thing first line talent in the draft, I expect more from him in development at age 22 going on 23 than a 41 to 45 point season. Especially since he gets Powerplay time and no PK time. Generally, forwards are having their best years around age 22 to 28.

I have only watched around 6 Flyer games this year, but they were spread out along the season. Things I noticed. B Schenn does not seem to show any improvement or progression. Even in doing the little simple things. I could be wrong given I only watched 6 games, but he seems like meh to me. Guy I noticed positively who I never heard of before. Matt Read. I was watching a game this season and had to ask everyone in chat who he was. The guy has some nice skating and shifty moves. The kind of moves that reminded me of Dan Boyle 3 years ago.

Admittedly, the Sharks seem to find diamonds later in the drafts(Pavelski), , or they take guys like Couture 9th who were not expected to go before 20th and it pans out. Hertl was not very highly regarded either and analysts were surprised we went for him so early(Thank you Euro Scouting) and was well ahead of Mackinnon for the calder this season before his injury(Brown will pay!!!!!). Anyways, I figured this would be a nice way to get to know some prospects from other teams. I kinda track prospect development and watch videos. I knew Pavelski was going to be a great player and I knew Couture was going to be a great player. Couture's below average skating terrified me at first, but then I realized he is soooo good at positioning and reading the play and thinks defensive minded. In any case, Mirco Mueller, who was just drafted, looks great. Needs to put on around 20 pounds of muscle to fill his frame, but he is young lol. The kid reminds me of a young Vlasic with better skating. His positioning, poise and mobility make me hope he works himself into around a #3 defenseman in the NHL, Maybe #2 if he can improve offensively. Likely will not see him called up to NHL level for 2-3 years while he develops(And eats about a hundred steaks and protean shakes), unless there is an emergency.

I just realized I am not going to see a Sharks vs Wings series ever again unless it is in the finals. Well, we are up on the lifetime series 3 to 2

How are they overrated? I am pretty sure I was seeing them as Has beens . Ovechkin's awful +/- is popping out When i think overated, I think of guys who seem to be playing Ok or have good numbers, but people blow them up to be better than they are. Malkin this season for one.