The San Jose Sharks have had some rough years recently. What is GM Mike Grier’s plan? They have several blue-chip prospects, primarily William Eklund. Where do these players fit in this year? What’s on the horizon for veterans like Logan Couture and company? — @theashcity
The Sharks are rebuilding, and Grier has made no secret of that. So they traded Karlsson to the Penguins. That’s why they traded forward Timo Meier to the New Jersey Devils in February. This is why they traded defenseman Brent Burns to the Hurricanes before last season. They will try to stay competitive this season, relying on forwards Couture and Tomas Hertl to lead them, but make no mistake, this is a complete rebuild. Couture has four years left on his contract. Hertl has seven years left on his. They will be part of this reconstruction. The Sharks would probably prefer to move on from Marc-Edouard Vlasic, but he has three years left on his contract, making it difficult to part ways on defense. But the Sharks could also be two or three years away from being a playoff contender. They don’t rush it.
Eklund and Thomas Bordeleau each have a great opportunity this season to become a full-time, impactful NHL forward. Eklund is the No. 7 picks in the 2021 NHL Draft; Bordeleau was a second-round pick (No. 38) in the 2020 NHL Draft. Smith will be out of sight but not out of mind. The forward, the No. 4 pick in the 2023 draft, will enter his freshman season at Boston College. He may be two or three years away from being a player in San Jose, but he’s a big part of the rebuild, just like Eklund and Bordealeau. The Sharks hope defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin, a first-round pick (No. 20) in the 2020 draft acquired from the Devils in the Meier trade, and forwards Filip Bystedt (first round, No. 27, 2022 NHL Draft) and Si Ozzy Wiesblatt (first round, No. 31, 2020 draft) will also be a big part of their future. Mukhamadullin, Bystedt and Wiesblatt are not yet ready for the NHL. The same can be said for forward Quentin Musty, a first-round selection (No. 26) in the 2023 draft. San Jose also has four picks in the first two rounds of the 2024 NHL Draft: two in the first and two in the second, though both of those picks are conditional.
Can the Maple Leafs keep Max Domi for more than a year or keep his father out of the picture? He changed teams every year. What do you think? — @podoc15
Not sure why you need to bring his dad, Tie Domi, into the conversation here. The truth is that many players signed one-year contracts this offseason mostly because of the NHL salary cap constraints felt by all 32 teams in the League, but also because some players bet themselves that the a one-year deal can be parlayed into a multiyear. contract starting next season, when the salary cap could rise to between $4 million and $5 million. Domi got a one-year, $3 million contract from the Maple Leafs. It’s a fair contract for a versatile forward who had 56 points (20 goals, 36 assists) in 80 games for the Chicago Blackhawks and Dallas Stars last season. He went to Chicago on a one-year contract last offseason and it’s easy to predict that the rebuilding Blackhawks will turn him into a contender before the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline. That’s what happened. The Maple Leafs are contenders now, so unless things go sideways for them and/or Domi, I don’t expect them to trade him before the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline on March 8. That doesn’t mean they will sign him. again. That’s part of Domi. He is one of 10 Toronto players who will each become unrestricted free agents after this season, including forwards William Nylander, Tyler Bertuzzi, Sam Lafferty and Dylan Gambrell. The Maple Leafs are playing for this season. Domi’s future with them beyond that is not in the picture yet, but if he stands up this season, it will.
Do you think the Devils will go with two rookie defensemen to start the season or will they get a veteran? — @BMinotti9500
They could go with two rookies, Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec, but that’s a choice they’ll make based on merit, not because it’s a need. The New Jersey Devils don’t need to get a veteran defenseman. They have five (Dougie Hamilton, Jonas Siegenthaler, John Marino, Colin Miller and Brendan Smith) and Kevin Bahl, who played 42 games last season. The more likely scenario, unless Nemec plays in the top six, is New Jersey with Hughes on the NHL roster and Nemec in the AHL to start the season. If Nemec plays on the final roster, the Devils will still carry eight defensemen, 13 forwards and two goalies. Their salary cap situation will allow them to carry a 23 man roster into the season. Some teams may have to stop at 22 players, 21 or, in some cases, 20. Hughes is as close to a lock as a rookie defenseman can be in the NHL, which is to say that he’s a lock to be in their top six injury prevention. The Devils acquired Miller from the Stars on July 1 essentially as insurance, buying them time for Nemec to develop into an NHL defenseman. If he’s not ready, they still have blue line depth at the NHL level.