Very insightful and intriguing. I hope the Sharks are able to get something out of all of this waiting.

It’s very likely that we won’t much of anything until training camp starts. That makes for an anxious summer.

I might be a biased Sharks homer, but honestly, Chimera for Erhoff is a lowball offer. A forward with fewer points than the defenseman he’s being offered for? I know the onus is on us to make the changes since we are the disappointment, but let’s face it, if Erhoff played for the Bruins, and Chimera played for the Islanders, the media would be up in arms about this offer and how insulting it is.

I know we call him Errorhoff, but honestly, he’s an NHL caliber D-man, and can play in the top two pairings for lots of teams in the NHL that aren’t Detroit or Anaheim.

The Sharks offense may go absent in the post-season, but by and large, the D remains pretty good. And we were in the top 5 in GA for most of last season.

People are going to try and fleece us, yes, but hey, we made the playoffs last season. Anyone who didn’t has just as big an onus to change. You can try all the fleecing you want, I think I’m actually okay with Wilson sticking to his guys.

Yes, we will have to overtrade and take a net loss, but I hope Wilson does play a little hardball and minimize those losses.

The situation in Chicago is messy, but it still has some lessons to be learned in terms of overpayment. Also, see the Calgary Flames.

I’m with you on the worrying TCY. I just want this team to do well. And as much as their “heart” might be questioned, the wallet is their biggest opponent right now. We won’t have Pavs and Seto for under $2M for long, so we have to be thinking win now.

Great writeup, as always.

We can see the possible trade partners when you look for teams that have too many forwards signed and not enough defensemen – the opposite of our problem. I looked briefly for the link that someone post about two weeks ago for this stuff, but I didn’t find it. I know Chicago has too many forwards signed, but I don’t think we’ll be able to find any salary relief in the Windy City.

Can one of you search geniuses find that link again, please? It’d be nice if we there were a way to rec links like that and post them on the mainpage. You know, that, and the draft analysis for each team, the salary cap numbers…

I’m kinda tired of people continuously second-guessing DW’s work this summer when we’re not even a full month into the off-season (as far as player movements go). The cap situation was gonna be an issue, regardless of whether we won the Cup or didn’t make the playoffs, so complaining about being up against the wall is somewhat a moot point.

It seems like a lot of people who were so quick to defend Patrick Marleau and other big name pieces against moving them now go on daily rants about how we haven’t done this, that or something else. Making ‘big changes’ is open to interpretation, but if you consider that our 3rd line heading into last year (Grier- also one of our captains, Goc and Cheech) are gone or are pretty much guaranteed to go, along with other role players like Moen, Semenov, Plihal and Lemieux, as well as some organizational depth (Armstrong, Kaspar, Dakers, Morris) all are no longer with the organization – well, I’d say that’s a big shake up for both the San Jose Sharks and the entire organization. All of this done to the team with the best regular season record.

We aren’t gonna trade Thornton, we aren’t gonna trade Nabokov and, at this point, Marleau staying seems like all but a certainty unless some amazing deal comes out of left field. Trading Seto or Pavs won’t happen (unless, agains, some major trade comes outta nowhere), and paying Clowe 3.5m over 4 years at age 26 for a potential 30-30 guy is pretty darn fair, especially considering some of the other contracts being thrown around. Dan Boyle won’t be traded, we brought back Blake who had a great season, for 1.5m less then he earned last year. Vlasic won’t be traded, Murray is an option, but would be a mistake for reasons noted in Plank’s write up. People can go round-and-round about the Huskins deal, but come on 1.7m is hardly a make or break contract either way, and I truly believe he’ll turn out to be a shrewd signing. And both Greiss and Mitchell will be back once we get things restructured.

So that leaves Ehrhoff, Lukowich and, as mentioned, Cheechoo. Lukowich has slim to no real market value, so if we can somehow get his contract off our books it would be seen as a major success for DW (but certainly not an impossibility). Ehrhoff definitely has trade value, but the rejected Chimera deal shows that teams are low-balling DW and we have no reason to rush into moving him with the season still 2 and a half months away. Especially considering how many teams are desperate for offensive defencemen. I don’t know what the market value is for Cheechoo, but he’s gonna have to be moved sooner or later because it simply we need the space.

With all that said, people just need to ease off the gas pedal on continuously throwing DW under the bus because they aren’t having their own wishes achieved. I will be the first to admit that after last year’s disappointments I was clamoring for major changes (and, like I said, those HAVE happened in numbers alone). But really, what other names would you want moved besides the few mentioned already?

There’s lots of time left and Wilson is gonna make the best moves he can. At this point though, really the only immediate concern is a 3rd line winger and while many names have been signed already, other quality still floats out there.

I have to disagree somewhat – while it is known that the Sharks are right up against the cap and still needs to sign several players, there’s no specific player that needs to be moved. In my opinion, all the players the Sharks have signed are signed to good contracts (Murray and Huskins are debatable), and have something to bring to the table. While it will be a salary dump for the Sharks, the other team will be getting a decent player signed to a decent contract, who could potentially be even better with a change of scenery (ahemCheechooahem).

I’ve read stuff by Blue Jackets fans. They really, really, really want Ehrhoff, and they don’t think Chimera should get Ehrhoff on his own (which I think we all agree with). And I bet that offer from Howson was a low-ball, Thornton-esque offer just to see if Wilson was desperate enough to bite. Wilson knows Ehrhoff has value, and that he’s far more valuable staying in San Jose than to be traded for Chimera plus a little over $1.2M in cap space.

And Cheechoo does actually have value around the league, more than just a salary dump. The possibility of getting a 30 goal scorer – let alone a 50 goal scorer – for a $3M cap hit is enticing to teams. I do think Cheech can garner a pair of second rounders, or maybe a second rounder/prospect and a conditional pick based on how many goals he scores. I admit, he’s the player I could see not getting an equal value in a trade, but that $3M in cap space is worth it when we already have the top-6 set in stone.

In fact, I could see Cheechoo and Lukowich being packaged together as a relatively cheap potential 30 goal scorer (who will probably hit at least 20 if he is on a team’s first or second line) and a defensive-minded defenseman with Cup rings. They have a combined $4.56M cap hit, which is around the amount paid to just a 30 goal scorer. Teams should go for this.

Anyways, all of those aforementioned players can also be traded for some cheap third/fourth liners, instead of just cap space (i.e. picks and prospects). We all knew at the beginning of this whole thing that free agents hate the Sharks, and that most of the changes will come through trade. And because Wilson waited through the whole free agent frenzy, there are all these teams that might need a guy like Cheechoo or Ehrhoff, but wasn’t able to dish out the big bucks for him, or they might need a cheap 5/6 defenseman – and that’s where DW comes in. He has those assets, already signed to fair deals and have a good amount of experience in both the regular season and the playoffs. Teams will want them, and they will pay for them.

My eyes. They burn. Go Flyers!

Pretty ridiculous

Personally, I think Wilson is being kind of a wimp (or, coward if you like stronger words). Talent isn’t the problem on this team. It’s character. We have here a team full of the same personality, and as shown time and time again, that is a bigger problem then lack of talent in the playoffs.

Now, these are are all nice guys that we all like. If one is traded, we won’t be happy. There will be much complaining and hand wringing. I couldn’t even begin to say who should go. But I’m not the GM. I don’t need to make those decisions. Wilson is the GM, HE needs to make those decisions and instead he’s hiding behind fringe moves and calling that “change.”

Other teams have had to make those hard choices and cut fan favorites/community-pillars with loads of on-ice talent. Tampa Bay trading Brad Richards immediately comes to mind. No one liked that move, but it had to happen. Just like it has to happen here. “Big changes” involve big players, and letting Grier go and bringing in Nichol ain’t it. Ain’t even close to it.

Wilson’s lack of the ‘big’ trade can most likely be attributed to other teams bidding low because they know our cap situation. While our cap issues won’t change, the market for game changers will rise as most free agents who fit in that category have signed. Jonathan Cheechoo and Christian Ehrhoff are two players we have with large contracts and could be considered game changers. However, getting equal value for a Cheechoo or Ehrhoff seems unlikely because other GMs know we HAVE to make a move.

With that said, would you guys rather sell low on Cheechoo, Ehrhoff or both?

I agree with TCY that Cheech still has 30 goal potential, but his massive decline and lack of opportunities with the Sharks with their current roster means Cheech doesn’t have a ton of value (considering his contract) to San Jose. If he remains, he’ll be a 3rd-liner again with limited PP opportunities while potentially being partnered with Mitchell and McGinn- neither of whom is the kind of playmaker that Cheech needs to play at the top of his game.

Ehrhoff had a fantastic 1st half, but saw a major decline in the 2nd half and his defensive lapses have been well-documented. Eventually we saw him relegated to the ‘3rd’ d-pairing with Murray (behind Boyle & Luko/Semenov and Vlasic & Blake), although still being a power play point for a fairamount of time. I doubt we’ll ever see a regular pairing of Boyle and Ehrhoff, and I don’t see a reason to expect Vlasic and Blake will be broken up. So again, Ehrhoff will probably be a 3rd pairing d-man 5 on 5 while receiving some pp time.

We’re looking at a 3rd-line winger and a 4/5 offensive d-man with pp abilities. Both are 3m cap hits next year.

Also, I’m wondering what people think would consider a ‘reasonable’ return for either or both of them?

So much great analysis here, but I’m getting a little concerned for y’all. Sharks are fine. They’ll be a top contender even if it turns out they lose Cheechoo or Erhoff, but it seems like the wrong time to make those deals, so no use sweating it out now. Let DW keep tweaking the lower roster, and make the big cap move whenever the deal is right.

273 days until the playoffs. Heck, we don’t even need to seriously track which beers are luckiest for several months yet.

We just need to hope that these players will be so upset about their past failures that they will more determined to understand the importance of the season, but the grave importance of the playoffs..They have to have heard more than once about people questioning their hearts, passion and lack of urgency in their play..Hopefully they have enough pride to understand that you have to step up the intensity as each round of playoffs go, starting with the first one..

Its just so hard to forget game four of the Anaheim series..Its really hard to trust this team..

I would love to come back here next summer and eat major crow because the Sharks stepped it up and at least got to the conference finals and played with real heart and intensity..

Well thought out analysis and information..

Great piece TCY.

After a few too many drinks (I didn’t read the entire thread so excuse me if someone mentioned it already), I got to thinking…

Something big has to be brewing. It’s the only thing that makes sense- DW isn’t the kind of guy to paint himself into a corner. If he was going to make a small move and send Cheechoo to the Isles he would have done it already to free up room, I think. Maybe he’s lost his mind, but if all of us loonies over here have been talking about this since mothatrucking March, you have to figure he’s aware of the situation. At least I would hope so.

Who knows- it could be the booze talking. But something tells me DW is going after something bigger than I hoped for/expected. It’s the only thing that makes sense.