Brad Winchester Headed To Sharks Camp on a Pro Tryout

by Mr. Plank on Sep 12, 2011 9:32 PM PDT in Sharks News

According to a tweet from TSN's Bob McKenzie, Brad Winchester will be headed to Sharks camp on a pro tryout. The 30 year old left winger has played in 323 NHL games throughout his career, with the majority of those coming with the St. Louis Blues. Last season he was acquired by the Anaheim Ducks at the trade deadline for a third round pick, where he played in a checking line role.

The 6'5, 228 pound winger should bring size and grit to a Sharks bottom line that is looking to be tougher to play against going into the season. Although Winchester is primarily considered an enforcer, racking up well over a PIM per game average over the last three seasons, he does possess some scoring pop as well. In 2008-2009 he potted 13 goals with the Blues, and in 2010-2011, Winchester scored 10 goals in stints with the Blues and Ducks.

According to an interview with Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson a few moments ago here in Penticton, Winchester is expected to come in and compete for a bottom line role with many prospects. Asked whether or not Winchester will compete primarily with Sharks prospect Frazer McLaren for the enforcer role, Wilson explained he sees both Winchester and McLaren as more dynamic players.

"There are some spots that will be up for competition in camp, whether it be with our own young players or a guy like Brad who has had a lot of experience in this League," Wilson said. "We don't see him as fitting in one specific role [enforcer]. I don't think he's a one-dimensional player, and I don't think Frazer is either. I think both Brad and Frazer will be looking at many roles available for us on the third and fourth line."

Wilson also doesn't see the bottom six serving a solely defensive role next season, explaining that they will be expected to be scoring threats despite the fact Pavelski will not be centering the third line next year and Kyle Wellwood was not retained.

"I think that we have a lot of different ingredients to pick and choose from, things that Todd can work with depending on who we're playing against and how our team is playing at that moment in time," Wilson said. "You look at the skill sets of Jamie McGinn, John McCarthy, Tommy Wingels, Benn Ferriero, Brandon Mashinter, Frazer McLaren and Andrew Desjardins, all of them can play different types of games. Obviously penalty killing is important, but we expect some scoring from those third and fourth lines."

Sharks training camp begins this Friday, where players will take part in team meetings and physicals. The first day of official practice will be on Saturday.

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Check out the Plankdude, rocking the timely DW interview.

I think this is a good move. Can’t hurt to have an unsigned guy put some pressure on the kids.

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by Auth0r on Sep 12, 2011 9:34 PM PDT reply actions

Interesting

This could payoff big. Murray-Desjardins-Winchester?

Shall I call you 'Logan', Weapon X?

by Juicy_Couture_39 on Sep 12, 2011 9:42 PM PDT reply actions

I do not understand this logic

Winchester takes up a slot same as Wellwood would have. If we need to develop the youngsters then let’s do it and not give Winchester a contract.

by warning on Sep 12, 2011 9:45 PM PDT up reply actions

He’s on a PTO, so no contract yet. He’s gonna have to beat all the kids if he wants a job.

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by Auth0r on Sep 12, 2011 9:50 PM PDT up reply actions

I like this

It adds a little bit more pressure for the riders of the Worcester Express to excel in camp for a spot on opening night; AND it does not cost a dime.

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by wtfbro? on Sep 13, 2011 12:09 AM PDT up reply actions

Does anyone know

the chances of him maybe signing a two way contract?

by raphelo on Sep 13, 2011 11:08 AM PDT up reply actions

The thing is, with us so close to the contract limit, he’s not going to get signed unless he beats the kids out. He probably would sign a two-way, but that doesn’t help with the contract situation and if he’s going to be in Worcester behind the kids, we don’t really need him more than we need the ability to take on contracts.

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by Auth0r on Sep 13, 2011 12:33 PM PDT up reply actions

Logic?

DW obviously has something very specific in mind for Wellwood’s slot, or else he would have either re-signed Wellwood or filled the hole already. What makes you think he’s going to just give it to Winchester?

Shall I call you 'Logan', Weapon X?

by Juicy_Couture_39 on Sep 12, 2011 10:07 PM PDT up reply actions

I'm waiting to see how he

works everything out. Some people want more Veteran depth, others want a solid playmaker, more scoring depth. The team could use it all but the kids are gonna get their chance which I think is just as important. Waiting and watching the jig saw puzzle come together is always fun.

by raphelo on Sep 13, 2011 11:17 AM PDT up reply actions

I see him more as a fourth line guy.. A big enforcer that can drop the gloves and notch a few dirty goals.. I’d like to see how defensively responsible he is first though

by kiwi93 on Sep 12, 2011 10:07 PM PDT via iPhone app reply actions 1 recs

Holy crap Plank did you actually speak with DW?!??

Omg what was it like being near him? How was his tan??

by Khaaz on Sep 12, 2011 11:40 PM PDT reply actions

lol really though it’s awesome that you’re actually up there. Good stuff Plankdude!

by Khaaz on Sep 12, 2011 11:41 PM PDT up reply actions

I like this move

For a couple of reasons…

Competition for roster spots is always good and any 4th liner who can pot 10 goals is good in my book!

The bottom 6 can use some experience, they’re pretty young w/o a lot of NHL games(minus Handzus). I’d also much rather have Murray and Winchester (assuming he earns a spot) as the 12th / 13th forwards being scracted on a semi-regular basis than having one of the Worcester “kids” in that role.

by milanahalek on Sep 13, 2011 8:24 AM PDT reply actions

A 4th liner who can score 10 goals is good, but did he score 10 goals and 13 goals while in a 4th line role?

My point is, chances are he’ll see less ice time with the Sharks than he did with other teams and thus we can’t realistically expect him to put up the same kind of numbers.

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by PNK on Sep 13, 2011 9:31 AM PDT up reply actions

Another thing to notice

is that despite scoring 10 goals and 16 points last year with the Ducks and Blues, he was also a combined -18.

by PNK on Sep 13, 2011 9:33 AM PDT up reply actions

As bad as

~~18 looks I don’t think the Sharks are necessarily worried about that. Half the player they got this year Burns -10, Havlat -10, Van -15 weren’t great last year in +/~~.

I like this move because if he makes it, it’ll add veteran depth to a young bottom 6 outside of Handzus. And even if he only scored 10 or more goals on the 3rd line, how many players for sure do we have right now besides Zus and maybe Mitchell (bottom 6) that can be counted on for 10 goals regardless of what line they’re on?

I see it as a good thing if he gets to join. As much as I want the kids to play more (which I think the team is trying to show that they will regardless), depeding on who steps up or not. The Shaks are still missing a few things in my book and this would be one of them.

by raphelo on Sep 13, 2011 11:04 AM PDT up reply actions

Wtf, alright got it.

- 18 looks I don’t think the Sharks are necessarily worried about that. Half the player they got this year Burns -10, Havlat -10, Van -15 weren’t great last year in +/ -.

by raphelo on Sep 13, 2011 11:05 AM PDT up reply actions

I dunno

-18 for a lower line player who isn’t seeing a whole lot of TOI in addition to 16 points, none of which were probably on the powerplay seems indicative of something. Maybe it’s not his fault, but that just seems high for a player like this.

by PNK on Sep 13, 2011 3:17 PM PDT up reply actions

I think I'm

with you now PNK. If he trys to come into the team pushing for the enforcer role instead of showing that he can score on the 4th line, I don’t want him. Winchester can’t fight for shit, he’s absolutely horrible at it, Horrible! If that’s the role he’s gonna go for, why add a player who can’t fight and is just gonna rack up penalty minutes while making the team look bad. If he joins the team I hope they tell him it’s under the condition he doesn’t fight and just concentrates on scoring points.

by raphelo on Sep 14, 2011 1:03 AM PDT up reply actions

In fact...

The year Winchester scored 13 goals, five were on the PP (and three of his eight assists were as well).

The year he scored 10 goals (last year), three were on the PP.

I don’t know what the hell was wrong with the Blues’ PP (lots of injuries last year, I guess), but I think it’s safe to say we can’t expect that from Winchester on the Sharks. And that tempers my enthusiasm for him quite a bit.

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by Timorous Me on Sep 14, 2011 5:19 PM PDT up reply actions

Notice I didn’t say WILL score 10 goals…he’s put up 10 last year and 13 in 08/09. He played around 9-10 minutes a night.

Nichol last year was a -3, McGinn a -6 and that was on a team with a pretty good GD.

I’m not saying he’s going to score 10 goals and be the Sharks saviour…he’s a good guy to have come in for a try out and a good guy to have on the team should he beat out everyone else for a roster spot.

by milanahalek on Sep 13, 2011 10:21 AM PDT up reply actions

I'm not implying that you said any of that

I’m just pointing out that these are things we need to be looking at and considering.

His true test will come from the tryout in which the organization will make the decisions, but from a fans perspective I think these are valid concerns.

by PNK on Sep 13, 2011 3:19 PM PDT up reply actions

Great move

we either get a veteran 4th line grinder/enforcer, or a youngling steps up and takes it from him.

I also have Winchester as one of my 4th line grinders on NHL 11, so you know he is good :P

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by JakeBot on Sep 13, 2011 9:00 AM PDT reply actions

Holy shit, I keep forgetting Plank's like, actually a journalist or whatever.

Anywho. I don’t think Winchester makes the team, but I do think he pushes the kids to be better in camp, solely for the ego boost of beating out a vet. In my eyes, Ferriero is an upgrade on Wellwood… The offence will about the same, but he’s much more physical. He’ll continue to get better. One of Mitchell/Desjardins will centre the fourth line, in all likelyhood. There’s basically three spots up for grabs on the roster, unless someone really breaks out (the more I think about it though, I realize who elite the Sharks’ top two lines are) and unseats some of the bottom-line mainstays.

Here’s how I think the lines will look…

Couture / Thornton / Havlat
Marleau / Pavelski / Clowe
? / Handzus / Ferriero
Mitchell /Desjardins/ ?

Third line spot goes to McGinn, Wingels or possibly Mitchell. Fourth line frequently mixes up on the wings, but I expect that line’s centre to be fairly constant.

Fun Fact: Pretty sure Desjardins is French for “the gardens”.

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by Evil Stanchion on Sep 13, 2011 1:48 PM PDT reply actions

I don’t particularly like the Ferreiro/Wellwood comparison because they play very different styles.

However, that being true doesn’t mean he can’t be an improvement.

by PNK on Sep 13, 2011 3:20 PM PDT up reply actions

Close

“des jardins” means “of / from the gardens” or “some gardens”, depending on the context.

“the gardens” would be “les jardins”.

by BillytheSid on Sep 13, 2011 5:22 PM PDT up reply actions

If only Roenick

would come out of retirement and show up for a tryout.

Who are Roenick type players that we can maybe get and put on the 4th line?

by raphelo on Sep 13, 2011 5:25 PM PDT reply actions

But he's gutless.

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by Evil Stanchion on Sep 13, 2011 6:50 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Some Interesting info...

@andystrickland
Andy Strickland
Good luck to good guy Brad Winchester in San Jose…turned down a one-way and several 2-way offers before accepting #Sharks tryout.

@andystrickland
Andy Strickland
Risky for Winchester but there are a few 4th line spots open in San Jose.. #Sharks could prolly use a 6’5 230 pounder on their bottom six

by milanahalek on Sep 13, 2011 6:46 PM PDT reply actions