J0e Th0rnton

ill concede that, Staal is a bit better defensively, but not by much. It was 2012 they finished close in votes for the Selke trophy(Staal finished 8th with 67 points, Pavelski 11th with 44 points). Staal has previous finishes that were higher than that, but lately, pavelski has closed the gap. Offensively, They are close too. Pavelski does finish with 10-15 more points on average, but that is mostly because of PP time. He is just used in more situations. The age definitely makes a difference, but that is why Staal is signed until 2023, While pavelski is only signed until 2018

Domi is a jerk. I have no doubts about that. However in this case, I think the player on the recieving end deserved what he got as karma for all the star players he intentionally tried to take out over the years(And yes, Ulf was looking to take them out). A lot of players, coaches and analysts felt so too. Domi definitely got his cheap shots in as well, and I never agreed with them other than this one. Not sure about the fighting fans thing. The only time I remember that was when a drunk fan got sprayed with a bit of water. And then he did something stupid, trying to jump over the glass into the penalty box, actually breaking the glass down and then trying to get shots in at Domi. In this case, if Domi threw a few shots at the rabid drunk fan who was obviously trying to atack him, I would find it perfectly acceptable. The funny thing is, I do not remember a single one of Ulf's teammates rushing to his defense either. I did not watch the gam when it happened, but a friend called me and I watched highlights of it all night

It would be an amazing deal to get them for 5 million, but we will see, depending on if the cap goes up again, and if we can unload Havlat. Realistically, I think Jumbo Joe gets 6 million again, and Marleau gets a bit less. Dan Boyle will be the guy taking a bigger paycut because he is 37 and visibly slowing down.

Rofl. I did not realize until now just how many centers the Sharks have. I think 10 centers must be the NHL record. Granted that is why we are such a good faceoff team. We cheat on faceoffs and if one guys gets thrown out, the next guy cheats on faceoffs and the refs rarely stop and throw the second guy out. Thornton, Marleau, Pavelski, Couture, Kennedy, Burish, Sheppard, Wingels, Desjardins and Hertl are all natural centers.

Oh how I wish everyone on the Sharks had his energy and work ethic and physicality at all times. That being said, I do not think he will ever be a top 6 forward or break 40 points. His hockey IQ is just not great and his hands do not match his skating. His ceiling to me, if he ever hit it, would be a third line forward Excellent physical and energy line player though and he cycles the puck very well. Granted if he is given icetime and PP time, he might just pull a Darcy Tucker and have 1 great year.

I don't think so. Wilson, Thornton and Marleau all seem to think they will retire sharks. The cap i keep hearing different things about. Some say it will stay the same, and others insist it will likely wok its way up to 70 million next season. Even if it stays the same, Havlat is being bought out at the first opportunity(Nobody is happy with him) or we may trade him for future considerations if anyone wants him. Boyle is 36-37 and his contract is up. he will likely never get that kind of money again, and can be resigned at a lower price. Thornton and Marleau are both 33-34 and Thornton has always proven willing to take a discount and short terms. I think 6 million is the new cap for our forwards to be honest. Thornton and Marleau both want a cup, not money. Thornton has said as much in an interview. Pavelski is already more than a 40 point player. He is a regular 25-30 goal, 60 point player and seems to produce no matter who he plays with at ES(but has best results with the top line of Pavelski/Thornton/Marleau. That line is deadly). He plays in all situations and is a pointman on our PP. But he is also our top Pker. The past 2 seasons he has been a 2nd/3rd line center and occasionally jumps to the wing for Jumbo Joe and Marleau. This past season he played with Wingels and Torres. Well, he tends to hop all over every line occasionally. The coach makes everyone practice together so he can throw mishmass lines out. The season before last we saw a lot of Clowe/Pavelski/Wellwood/Mitchell/Setoguchi. Couture is much the same. They juggle his linemates a lot, but he always comes through looking great. not the best skating in Couture, but his hockey IQ is amazing and makes up for it. I suspect before long, we will hear that Jumbo is extended, and likely, Marleau as well. But not for more than 6 million a season.

Definitely. I am incredibly biased obviously since Neely was my favorite player growing up and Ulf effectively ruined him and his career. I just hate Ulf for being the supreme hit and hide player. Since I started watching hockey, I have never seen a dirtier player. Edit: How many other players have 2453 penalty minutes with as few fights as Ulf? I am pretty sure he is like top 30 all time for Penalty minutes and that every guy above him was a noted fighter who had more penalties for fighting than other infractions

Not sure if I would have Wellwood there. By all accounts, he has the talent to be much more than he is. granted, I did not mind him on a lower line role with the Sharks, but i also was not clammoring to keep him. A year ago I would have said Suter, but now everyone knows how good he is. I used to think Bergeron was underrated, but a lot of people are hip to the guy now. Damn great player he is.

@fanaticV3.0@JR Ewing Efff That. Samuelsson deserved worse. A guy who intentionally tried to blow peoples knees out(And often did). A guy who intentionally high sticked people in the eyes. Cross check people in the neck as hard as he can. Spear people in the nuts. Butt ending people in the face. He was always intentionally trying to knock people out of the game. Everytime you played him, you knew you had to keep an eye out for the cheap shots. This is a guy who players agreed almost unanimously as most hated in the NHL for YEARS. He wore ridiculous sized hard armor for pads to maximize damage done by hits(His Nickname Robocop was not an affectionate one). He refused to answer the bell after the cheap shots. In Todays NHL, Ulf would have been banned long ago. How often does a sucker punch like that invite praise from so many other NHLers? There was a reason for that.

Well, Pavelski puts up a good deal of points considering he does most of it at ES, and more recently has been doing it on the third line checking opposing teams with little help. He also is the teams go to PK guy Looking at the Market and recent signings. Filppula is making 5 million. He has one 23 goal, 66 point season under his belt. Same age as Pavelski, but overall, usually a 40 point guy tops. He does not kill Penalties often. Clarkson is making 5.25 million a year, and is a one time 30 goals scorer with a career high 46 points who does not kill penalties. Jordan Staal makes 6 million for the next 10 years. His defensive play is roughly the same, but his offensive value is a wee bit less. He is the best comparison. For all the extra things Pavs brings to the table, he could have tested the Market and possibly gotten more. This made me laugh "Phew. Was worried I'd be on the hook for dinners this year. Big Money Pavelski will be taking care of them now" Jason Demers responds "that's what you think couture hahaha"

Hmmm. Not that I am happy with our defense, but it is not that bad. haha. I am assuming he is just going for reactions with this. Vlasic and Stuart are very solid defensive defenders. Boyle is still great offensively, although aging fast. Demers shows flashes of a prime Dan Boyle and Braun is not that bad. Hannan is old, but plays better than murray did as a #6 guy. Irwin....yeah, he makes me nervous when he is on the ice. Tennyson looked decent in his call up.

Overall, you will not see many shark fans complaining. Most think it is a wee bit too much but not really given the market, and overall, we are very happy. Couture and Pavs would fetch a fair price on the open market for their two way skills given what guys like Filipula, Clowe and Clarkson are getting(Both are better than any of them) Core players locked up for 5-6 years. If the cap goes up next year, we have a bit more breathing room. if not, well, we have around 15 million for Thornton/Marleau/Boyle. Boyle being 37 can expect a paycut. We might be able to swing it. Thornton an Marleau up till now have agreed to short term 3-4 year contract extentions every few years in a land where everyone was asking for very long term deals. Both have expressed desire to win a cup there. Pavs original extention was only 4 million a year when he could have asked for more on the market. He is being rewarded now. I hope and hope that the next thing I hear is Thornton and Marleau get extentions at a hometown discount.

Thank you. My thoughts exactly.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=679090&navid=nhl:topheads That's great news to me as i love Little Joe. We currently have a cap hit of 4 mill for Pavs, and a 2 mill jump is not too bad. Coutures cap hit is currently around 2.9 million, jumping up 3 mill more. that's 5 million more than current to extend our 2 great young centers. We GOTTA find a way to buy out Havlat now. Grrr on him being ineligible for buyout(Please god let this change). Boyle 's contract comes off the books next season too and Demers is RFA. Havlat's contract makes up the difference in their extentions and he is borderline useless and made of glass. 6 million for our two younger centers with Thornton and Marleau still not signed is a sign that things will be changing next season. We can't keep both unless they agree to smaller contracts. The Salary cap is reported to stay this way for the next 2 years. they both currently have cap its of 6.9 and 7 million. Would they agree to dropping to equal? Joe T would as he has in the past and said "I am already rich, I just want us to be able to put the pieces together for a cup". Not sure about Marleau, who took more than expected to resign last time.

I am going to have this discussion in the Sharks section lol.

In fairness, he also got more goals just because the Penguins allow players a bit more offensive freedom than the stars and gave Neal a bit more PP time, but for the most part, I agree.

Pavelski is definitely important to our future, but as a Sharks fan, I have to wonder how you take Marleau over Thornton. They are the same age, and Marleau's production declines drastically when facing top checkers. Thornton is not on that much of a decline and always draws the opposing teams top checkers. His numbers have dropped because he has adopted the team philosophy and is playing a more complete game, but he is still the most dangerous shark on the ice. The season before last he was still tied for 3rd in Assists and 12th overall in points(The difference between 12th in points and 5th was 6 points), and last season everything was tight. The difference between his 12th in assists and 7th was 1 point. Marleau, while he has good wheels and a decent shot, just cannot carry a line like Joe can, nor can he tilt the ice in the direction of the opposing team. Thornton, no matter who is on his line, can make it dangerous. Always has. I am not big on +/-, but In this past playoff, Thornton was +5 when all other forwards were anywhere from 0 to -6 for a reason. The season before that when the Sharks got mopped by the blues, Thornton was the one forward you could not blame. The season before that, he was the best forward on any team up to the point they were eliminated by the Nucks. That and, unlike Marleau, Thornton actually took a discount. In no universe should Marleau be making the same money. at the time, everyone was all worried that the Market for a player like Joe was in the 8 million + range and that we were going to have to lose other key players who had contracts coming up(The Clowe's, Pavelski's, Vlasic's, etc), but he took the 7 million. most sharks fans were angry Marleau wanted the same money.

Thornton is still a great player and the ice tilts when he is on it into the offensive zone. Drawing the best defensive coverage. I have always felt Marleau is riding his coattails. I could stand losing Marleau. Thornton and the Sedins would not be on the same line Thornton can produce no matter who is on his line, and he often does. Losing Boyle is more problematic since we will need a new Offensive Dman if Demers has not developped more

The Sedin twins create quite a pickle for people who want to sign them. They go as a pair, or not at all according to the grapevine. You need 13+ million just to have a shot at 2 players....

Little Joe gets about a third of his points on the PP, usually less. He is a great player who works hard and is our top PK guy. Excellent in shootouts incidentally. I hate the thought of losing him.

Doug Wilson recently did a radio interview which hinted at a Torres/Pavelski/Havlat third line. I cannot say for sure if they will try to keep Hertl at center, or move him to wing(Assuming he has a good camp). He apparently plays all 3 forward positions very well. They love to spread the scoring out and I do not like the idea of kennedy on the first line soooo. Kennedy-Thornton-Burns (Interested to see how well Burns scores) Marleau-Couture-Havlat/Hertl? Kennedy-Pavelski-Torres Desjardsins - Sheppard - Wingels Burish? Burns is the guy who has me wondering. he was playing as a power forward, with a very unorthodox style and great skating as always. He scored 9 goals and 11 assists in 23 games at forward(17pts at ES). Not bad considering he is not used to the position.

Definitely. I missed Torres and since it came down to 1 goals in game 7, I think we could have pulled it off

Hmmm. With burns playing wing permanently now and Boyle looking older every year, i would be lying if I did not say i defense worried me. Patrecki is a bust prospect good sir I was high on him for years and watched his developpment, or lack thereof. Konrad Abeltshauser I saw play all year for the Moose. I liked what i saw but it seems others do not agree with me

Which joe? Jumbo Joe T or Little Joe P? Jumbo Depends on the year. Maybe around a bit less than half. Joe's strength tends to be his ES play keeping the ice titled the other way, but he is not as much of a PP threat anymore since he rarely shoots. Granted this past half season, half of his points came from the PP. But the season before that, Only 23 of his 77 points were PP points. The year before that, 33 of his 70 points were power play. The year before that, 29 of his 89 points were PP. If it is Little Joe you mean, Then no, not usually.

From the Sharks perspective. This year is certainly the last chance for this Corps. The following are UFA Thornton has always resigned at a discount. In the days when second rate players like Drury and Gomez were rawing 7 million dollar contracts, and top talent like Ovechkin, Crosby and Malkin were drawing closer to 9 million, Thornton was still in Hart Discussions and in the top 10 in scoring. And he signed an extension for less than Gomez to stay with the team. A lot of Shark fans were surprised at how low he signed for because talk was we could not keep him and Marleau. But he told the media he signed so low so that they could keep other members of the team and put together a winner. Hope SJ keeps him for his loyalty, and that he resigns for around 6 million a year. his contracts have always been short, 3 year affairs. He never cared for length of contracts like others did. But he does want no movement clauses and i suspect he still has a few more top seasons left in him. Patrick Marleau: Not quite the same scenario. He signed for more than I thought he was worth in his last contract, and he is a, well, point leach. He has skills, but overall he is not the game breaker Joe is. If he stays, it better be at a bigger discount. Plays wing or Center Joe Pavelski: Yikes. He is up already. If 20-50 nets you 4 Million+ a year, what do you give to a 30/60 who plays with nobody on the 3rd line and is exceptional defensively? Definitely up for a raise. And with Couture deservingly extended...... Dan Boyle: Stick a fork in him. He is done. Just kidding However, his mobility is definitely not what it used to be and his age is showing more and more every season. He will not be getting that kind of contract again. He is average defensively and was one of the best offensively, but that time has passed.