The Less Obvious Aspects of the Burns Acquisition

I'm sure the comment board of the main post has some wonderful and insightful analysis.  I'm just not going to read all 400+ of them so if I repeat anything you said, forgive me.  I just had a few thoughts about what this trade means for our team as a whole including obvious upsides and more subtle downsides.  I'm sure most people have already got a grasp on the more obvious aspects of the trade like the fact that we finally have a #2 D-Man and we just lost a fan favorite, but this fanpost will address the other questions: who took the bigger risk? what does losing Charlie Coyle mean? What does this trade do to our lineup? Are there any red flags about Burns? Let's get started:

Other than losing a fan favorite in Setoguchi, the most obvious downside in my opinion is that we have lost the future potential of Charlie Coyle.  Power forwards take a while to develop but there is no doubt that the kid showed some potential in the past few years with his performance on the Junior USA squad along with his numbers from other teams.  Will he be great?  We still do not know, but I can see him being Ryane Clowe in about 6 years.  If it weren't for the fact that we have Freddie Hamilton, I would be much more upset at this trade.  

Some would say that the biggest downside of the trade is the risk we are taking knowing that Burns could just pull a Brian Campbell (BOOOO! jk...sort of)  and leave when the season is over.  But I honestly think Minnesota is taking the far greater risk.  We are sacrificing a lot of POTENTIAL but the Wild are sacrificing a lot of CERTAINTY.  Burns is a 26 year old All-Star.  The kind of player you can build a team around.  Setoguchi has struggled with consistency but has a lot of upside, Coyle is a developing power forward who is a few years away from the NHL, and who knows what you're gonna get from the 28th overall pick.  When thinking about losing Setoguchi, Milan Michalek comes to mind.  Another player with a lot of upside who struggled with consistency despite showing an ability to post 50+ points.  As you all know, that trade didn't go so well for the Senators.  From a risk perspective, San Jose comes out on top.

If San Jose keeps Ian White, our defense would be one of the most dangerous corps in the NHL.  But I don't think we will do to an obvious downside that has emerged: lack of secondary scoring ie. no supporting cast.  With the departure of Setoguchi, I think Heatley will return to the top line.  That leaves a hole on the second line, but that's not the problem because Pavelski would most likely fill that slot.  The problem emerges from the third line down.  In terms of roster players under contract, our bottom six currently stands at: Torrey Mitchell...yeah i'm done.  Crazy isn't it?  With the news that Mayers and Nichol are goners, I would figure that Eager, Desjardins, Ferrerio, McGinn, and possibly Wellwood will be made offers with the hopes of keeping at least the first 4 of the 5 I just mentioned.  But with the exception of Wellwood, none of those players are third line players.  We now have a giant hole in our bottom six that must be addressed from a scoring standpoint AND a penalty killing standpoint.  Not resigning Ian White, will leave us $3-4 million to help fill out the bottom lines.

Make no mistake that the Sharks DID indeed get better today with the Brent Burns acquisition.  But believe me when I say that there are still many moves left to be made.  Some needs have been met, while the status of others remains the same.  Acquiring Burns as an indication that White is gone due to financial reasons unless he is willing to come back cheap (he won't, nor should he be).  The Sharks will need to go outside of their organization to fill the holes created on our third line, but our top 6 will still be dope.

I really wish i knew more about Burns.  I don't want to jinx him, but here is the only red flag about Burns in my book (i'm not worried about his +/-):  In the past 3 seasons, he has missed 58 games.  That's almost 20 games per season or about 25% of each season. Durability a concern? Only time will tell.

Welcome to San Jose Mr. Burns, we'll miss you Seto.  Best of luck to you in your still promising young career that will hopefully continue to blossom in Minnesota (when you're not playing us).

Go Sharks