Doug Wilson's Offseason (so far)

by fatbabies on Jul 5, 2011 10:18 AM PDT

One of the main complaints people have had in the past is that Doug Wilson waits too long to assemble his team. He almost never seems to make a deal or sign a free agent until either late in the summer or during the season (Dan Boyle trade excepted) In fact, he criticized himself for not having this team together until January.

That has not been the case this year. Doug Wilson has been one of the most active GMs in the league. Arguably only the Flyers have experienced more change this offseason than the Sharks. But how has Doug Wilson done? The individual trades have been dissected ad nauseum so I thought it might be nice to look at the big picture.

We all knew what the Sharks' weaknesses were:

The penalty kill was ranked 24th
We were coughing up 3rd period leads
Dan Boyle was playing a million (slight exaggeration) minutes a game

We knew what the Sharks had:

Scoring depth

Doug Wilson has always done a very good job in identifying and addressing needs, maybe not in the way we the fans would like, but he has usually done an admirable job. I would argue that his offseason body of work this year is the best work he has done since the Dan Boyle trade and possibly even going back to the Joe Thornton trade.

Let's look at what he's done:

He traded a young consistent 20 goal scorer with potential and a top prospect for a #2 defenseman with outstanding size and offensive numbers
He signed the top penalty killer away from the 4th ranked penalty kill
He signed a gritty #6-7 defenseman to give the young defensive prospects room to grow and make mistakes
He traded the largest contract on the team, which belonged to a not-meeting expectations sniper, for a defensively responsible, fast, top 6 winger

So what has changed this offseason?

Doug Wilson has added size, grit and scoring pop to the blue line through the additions of Brent Burns and Jim Vandermeer. This will also allow Justin Braun to get a shot a cracking the top six and reduce Dan Boyle's minutes. He has made the Sharks tougher to play against by adding size through Michal Handzus and replacing Setoguchi's speed with a just as fast, but more defensively responsible forward in Martin Havlat. If we look at just the trades (calculated on PPG numbers from 2009-10 and 2010-11), Doug Wilson has given up 4 points per season for a #2 defenseman and 2.5 million in cap space. Should he sign both Burns and our should have won the Calder wunderkid to significant extensions it would be a monumental achievement.

Most people feel that there is more to come, but even if there isn't, I believe this has been a hugely successful offseason that will allow us to compete for the Cup in the upcoming season.

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More pieces need to be added

Doug better not be done! He still needs to find a right handed shot for Thornton on his wing. He also needs a gritty grinder that can play on the PK. Another NHL vet blue liner would be nice.

But if Doug can’t sign Burns to a contract, and Burns walks away then its Bye Bye Doug

Go Big or Go Home

by ChangoT on Jul 5, 2011 11:55 AM PDT via mobile reply actions

it wouldn’t be bye bye doug if he can’t sign burns. he has gotten us to the conference finals in the last two consecutive years and our team is a top 4 team going into almost every season. unless we go the next two years not getting out of the first round or something, (knock on wood) he isn’t going anywhere cause he is a fantastic gm. doesn’t NEED to find a right handed shot for thornton, just needs someone who will go to the net and can score goals. look how successful the thornton-marleau-heatley line was the season before last? we have forwards that can step onto that line and succeed. with the extra money i do agree i would like to see them get someone like a Madden Or langenbrenner as well as bring back wellwood. I know he fizzled in the finals…but he created a lot of problems for opposing teams with that third line most of his time here. No reason to think that can’t still happen to an extent having him and mitchell together again. Handzus is no pavelski, but he isn’t a slouch either. Madden would be a good fit on the 4th line with McGinn and Djardens.

by dannyschmanny on Jul 5, 2011 12:03 PM PDT up reply actions

also there was a team that has changed and has been far busier than both SJ and Philly. Florida. Granted they basically had to start from scratch practically and spend hella money just to get to the cap floor haha, even still..they brought in some interesting players.

by dannyschmanny on Jul 5, 2011 12:05 PM PDT up reply actions

I agree about more changes...

The right-handed shot can just be Pavs. I think Havlat would do better w/ Cloweture anyway

We do need another gritty 3rd liner like Miettinen or Langenbrunner, and I would also re-sign Wellwood. Finally, I’m not sure Desjardins is ready for a full season, as I have said before, so signing Madden as a 4th line C to guide Desjardins would be good.

Re-signing Wellwood as well as signing a 4th-line C and a 3rd line winger would complete a fantastic, in my opinion, offseason by DW. Go Sharks!

Go Sharks!

by Dmitriy on Jul 5, 2011 12:20 PM PDT up reply actions

Bye bye Doug?

“Doug, you’re a great guy. You’re one of the best GM’s in the league, and you always put a good team on the ice. You also respect players, and seem to have the long term interests of this team at heart. As a result, you’re fired.”

"Logan Couture is a dirty, filthy man. Tell all your friends" - Mr. Plank
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by Bockerz on Jul 5, 2011 5:22 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

You didn't sign Brent Burns to a contract... So regardless of what you've done here, you're fired...

Even though, next year’s UFA class is outstanding….

Drew: 'Oh no.. That is certainly the meaty part alright, but it's not the thigh..."
Randy: "No... that bone is NOT connected to the thigh bone..."

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by SeanCrosby87 on Jul 5, 2011 8:12 PM PDT up reply actions

It’s always outstanding now. By July 1, 2012, it’ll suck.

Unless Burns absolutely hates it in SJ or wants a 13 year deal, he’ll be re-signed, IMO.

by Kazoonole on Jul 6, 2011 6:19 PM PDT up reply actions

You missed something in your Havlat-Setoguchi comparison.

Havlat scores around the same or better then Heatley, and Setoguchi’s scoring is effectively replaced by what we’ll get with Burns. We didn’t lose ANY goal-scoring this season; we only got a LOT better at D and PK.

Doug Wilson is a genius.

The artist formerly know as *"Sharks_Fan_In_Toronto"*

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by Evil Stanchion on Jul 5, 2011 8:54 PM PDT reply actions

Havlat scores around the same or better then Heatley

This is a lie. Heatley is an elite scorer. Havlat has never been to that level. Ever.

"If you can accept losing, you can't win." ~Vince Lombardi
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by ZeroIndulgence on Jul 5, 2011 8:58 PM PDT up reply actions

Heatley scored 26 goals last year, Havlat scored 22.

Plus Havlat knows how to play defense and pass.

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by Evil Stanchion on Jul 5, 2011 9:31 PM PDT up reply actions

One season

is what they call a small sample size.

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by idunno723 on Jul 5, 2011 10:05 PM PDT up reply actions

I did one year of psychology at York.

Small sample size is the evidence for most of the prof’s thesis projects, I swear to god. >_>; So if they’re allowed to making absurd, sweeping statements based on anecdotal evidence, so can I. :D

The artist formerly know as *"Sharks_Fan_In_Toronto"*

by Evil Stanchion on Jul 5, 2011 10:15 PM PDT up reply actions

In economics or statistics

You would be destroyed for using small sample sizes. It’s true that trends in small sample sizes can often be repeated through larger sample sizes but small sample sizes don’t allow us attain high levels of confidence. It would be like saying Kent Huskins is a better player than Joe Thornton because on like January 16th he had 1 assist and Thornton was held without a point, but in a larger sample size we see that that trend does not hold up.

Using a one year sample, Heatley still outscores Havlat with an injury riddled season. And if we want to expand the sample to the last 5 years (which we can do because the data is available to us), Havlat isn’t even close.

I agree that Havlat is a more complete player and will do wonderful things in San Jose. But I would not agree that his offensive production is on par with Heatley’s

"Everybody had a part in this. As you can see, our fans love this. And we love them. And bring on the next team." -Joe Thornton

by waive kent huskins on Jul 5, 2011 10:46 PM PDT up reply actions

Here's where I actually stand:

I think that Havlat’s 20-30 goals range along with his playmaking ability will result in no disparity of goals in the coming season. Goals will be the same, but defensive awareness will be enhanced. I just love taking a stab at that shit university and their overpaid hacks. :P

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by Evil Stanchion on Jul 5, 2011 10:54 PM PDT up reply actions

hahaha. I think that’s fair. I think it is entirely possible that Havlat on the Sharks could outperform Heatley on the Wild.

"Everybody had a part in this. As you can see, our fans love this. And we love them. And bring on the next team." -Joe Thornton

by waive kent huskins on Jul 5, 2011 11:15 PM PDT up reply actions

Heatley trade scares me...

If we dont add 2 players out of this that make up the loss, I feel that all we gain is cap space, really… Havlat isn’t some magical 2 way player really. He’s maybe better defensively than Heatley, but that’s like saying Calgary’s closer to winning the cup next year than Colorado is. They’re both extremely unlikely to win the cup, so what’s the point of arguing it.

i was never a fan of his contract, definitely… and I feel in a year or two he might have grown out of such a contract and had a downturn in productivity (which by then, we couldn’t dump his massive contract at all)

this situation is a higher risk-high reward type deal, and I’m not sure how I feel about it quite yet with such a thin UFA market…

Drew: 'Oh no.. That is certainly the meaty part alright, but it's not the thigh..."
Randy: "No... that bone is NOT connected to the thigh bone..."

www.fearthefin.com - Where masochism is defined.

I rushed the Furd's farm in 2009

www.californiagoldenblogs.com - Where Cal grads prove they learned something.

by SeanCrosby87 on Jul 5, 2011 11:05 PM PDT reply actions

What I want to know is what's going on with Wellwood

It’s already a week after UFAs were allowed to sign and we haven’t heard anything with regards to him. He seems to be liked by many Sharks fans, he had a decent regular season (with some issues in the postseason, but so did everyone else on his line it seemed), and he created issues from the outside with other teams on the third line.

Yet I find it hard to believe he isn’t at least being courted by other teams. Even Ben Eager was signed by Edmonton. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to go back to Russia or Europe, so unless he’s got a “gentleman’s agreement” between him and Wilson, I find it hard to believe that he hasn’t signed with someone yet.

by RedOscar on Jul 7, 2011 10:40 AM PDT reply actions