Well, the season has already started. So this isn't technically a preview. But with the 2011-2012 season already upon us, we sit down to today to round out our annual preview series and cover the most difficult position in all of hockey to truly understand-- goaltending. Antti Niemi, Antero Niittymaki, and Thomas Greiss are covered today.

Every installment in the series can be found here. Enjoy.

Antti Niemi

Expected Role: Starting Goaltender, Lousy Poker Player

After being signed by the Sharks late in the summer of 2010, Niemi came into San Jose with a lot of questions surrounding his game. The first question was whether or not he was as good of a goaltender as he displayed during the 2010 Western Conference Finals-- Niemi was brilliant in that series, but finished the postseason with a relatively average .910 SV% with the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. The second question was whether he was a product of a stellar Hawks blueline, which was able to clean up the rebounds Niemi was prone to kick out into the middle of the ice.

Niemi did a lot to answer those questions in the second half of last season, starting 34 consecutive games down the stretch for the Sharks and putting in a performance that earned him the Sharks Foundation Player of The Year Award and a nod as Fear The Fin's illustrious second half Team MVP. Consider this-- after the Sharks broke out of their six game losing streak in mid-January, Niemi posted a .928 SV% and went 26-5-4. To say he was the catalyst for the team's turnaround is almost disingenuous, as Niemi was hands down the best player on the ice on many nights.

The postseason was a different story unfortunately, as Niemi struggled against the Los Angeles Kings in the first round. He performed much better against the Red Wings, nearly stealing game six in Detroit where he made 42 stops in a breathtaking performance, but struggled again against Vancouver. Sample size is clearly an issue here, as well as the fact that the Sharks play in front of him was mercurial throughout the postseason, but a .896 SV% and a 3.22 GAA in April and May was clearly not what San Jose expected out of him when they gave him a four year contract extension worth $15.2 MM in early March.

Essentially, Niemi is a goaltender who has been fairly inconsistent throughout his career-- looking at his 2010-2011 season as a whole, you had early season struggles, followed up by a period of utter dominance, followed up with more struggles. Since coming to the Sharks Niemi has vastly improved his glove hand and ability to control rebounds, a testament to his work with the Sharks goaltending staff during the year-- continuing to work on those things will be paramount this season for the Finnish netminder as he attempts to recreate the magic he displayed during the second half.

The biggest question for Niemi heading into the 2011-2012 season is whether he can stay consistent throughout the season. Playing in front of a vastly improved blueline will definitely help, as will his work with the Sharks goaltending coaches. The jury is still out on Niemi as an elite NHL goaltender, but as his second half last year will attest to, Niemi has the ability to ratchet up his play under pressure and provide excellent netminding for extended periods of time. Expect him to log a lot of minutes this year in between the pipes, as Sharks Coach Todd McLellan has consistently stated he feels Niemi is at his best when he is receiving a lot of ice time.

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With the 2011-2012 season set to begin on October 8th, Fear The Fin will be partying with Miss Cleo and previewing the Sharks roster in the weeks leading up to opening night. Today we continue with what is expected to be the Sharks first/second pairing: Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

Every installment in the series can be found here. Enjoy.

Brent Burns

Expected Role: Offensive defenseman, Power Play, Minutes Eater

For three years Fear The Fin has beaten the drum on acquiring a legitimate top pairing defenseman that can play in all situations and help complement Dan Boyle. It has been the achilles heel of this team for so long now that expecting things to change in a positive way always felt like wishful thinking and a fascination with the unattainable. It felt like going to the horse races all hopped up on taffy and pop, putting your entire paycheck on Mane Event, and watching as Robin Hoove come out of nowhere in the final leg to get the win. Every. Single. Season.

Brent Burns has changed all that.

An excellent skater, Burns is a premier offensive defenseman in a League where these types of players are at a premium. He scored 17 goals last season for the Wild, tied for the team lead in power play goals with eight, posted 25:02 in ice time, and played a large amount shorthanded (2:42) as well as on the man advantage (3:04). He's a big minutes player who can begin to ease the workload off of Dan Boyle's shoulders, something that is a net positive for San Jose considering Boyle's minutes have begun to take a toll on his play during the last two seasons.

Where Burns will benefit the team the most is on the power play where his eight power play goals tied for the team lead last year in Minnesota. He has an excellent slap shot that he gets on net with frightening consistency (170 shots in 10-11) and will enter the year as arguably San Jose's most potent weapon from the point. He can move the puck up the ice well with a good first pass, has skating ability that is rivaled only by Dan Boyle, and is aggressive when pinching in the offensive zone.

Not all is rosy when it comes to Burns however. Although his offensive game is one that should cause a few circuit breakers to explode in HP Pavilion throughout the course of the year, Burns is a mixed bag defensively. He was a -15 in 2009-2010 and a -10 in 2010-2011, finishing second to last and last respectively amongst all Wild blueliners. Part of that can be attributed to his situational play-- he was second on the team in terms of quality of competition last year and had the fourth toughest zone starts (beginning 57.4% of his faceoffs in his own end)-- but part of that is also due to the risky game he is known to play.

With 80 giveaways last season (the nearest defenseman, Marek Zidlicky, had 33) as well as a propensity for taking penalties (1.1 per 60 minutes of ice time, which would have been the worst on San Jose this year), there should be some reasonable trepidation here when the puck is in San Jose's end. Which isn't to say that Burns is a liability on the ice-- after all, you don't lead your team in TOI if you are. However, it is fair to state that Burns will produce moments of frustration for his team when he encounters the inevitable poor decision in his own zone. The hope is that the steadiness and defensive responsibility of Vlasic will help guide Burns and the Sharks through these moments of darkness in a way only Pickles can.

The biggest question for Burns during the 11-12 season is twofold-- he's dealt with concussion issues in the past, so staying healthy is a big priority. The second is whether or not he can progress into a two-way defenseman that many expected him to be after a breakout season in 2007-2008. Playing alongside Vlasic and having a reduced role compared to the heavy lifting he had to do in Minnesota should help immensely in this area, and set up a situation where Burns is placed in the best environment for him to continue to grow.

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With the 2011-2012 season set to begin on October 8th, Fear The Fin will be sippin'libations with Nostradamus and previewing the Sharks roster in the weeks leading up to opening night. Today we continue with what is expected to be the Sharks fourth line: Brad Winchester, Andrew Desjardins, and Andrew Murray. We also discuss Jamie McGinn, who looks bound for the healthy scratch role.

Every installment in the series can be found here. Enjoy.

Brad Winchester

Expected Role:Physical Forechecker, Enforcer

If there's one weakness on this San Jose Sharks team, it's bottom six wing strength. Of all problems, that's a good one to have, because it's easier to fix than say, being one elite defenseman short. Phew.

However, the Sharks entered camp with a select few players with experience to fill the wings on the lower lines. Frazer McLaren was hurt, Brandon Mashinter was too raw and Benn Ferriero was too small. That's why Brad Winchester got a call from Doug Wilson on the eve of Sharks camp.

Winchester has played for a few teams, most recently the Anaheim Ducks and the St. Louis Blues, where he enjoyed some mild success. However, he went unsigned through the offseason and took a tryout with San Jose to show that he was deserving of an NHL spot.

Winchester made an early impression on Sharks coaching and management, and eventually earned himself a one year deal worth $725,000. That's a cheap price to pay for a player who gives you grit, strength and a smidge of scoring pop. He did score 10 goals last year. Problem is, you're also getting a player who was -18 last year and who had one of the worst CORSI numbers on his team (4th worst).

Moral of the story was that Winchester was brought in to trot out against teams who have a more physical focus. He'll fight for you, he'll level a big hit, and he'll fill in on the lower lines if he has to. Against more skilled teams, look for Jamie McGinn to get a look.

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With the 2011-2012 season set to begin on October 8th, Fear The Fin will be partying with Miss Cleo and previewing the Sharks roster in the weeks leading up to opening night. Today we continue with what is expected to be the Sharks third line: Michal Handzus, Torrey Mitchell, and Tommy Wingels.

Every installment in the series can be found here. Enjoy.

Michal Handzus

Expected Role: Defensive Center, Penalty Kill

During his stay in Los Angeles Michal Handzus became renowned for his ability to kill penalties and provide sturdy defensive responsibility to the center position. His role in San Jose won't change in that regard, as Handzus will be expected to spearhead the Sharks previously woeful penalty kill alongside fellow third liner Torrey Mitchell.

Although Handzus is slower than Jonas Hill after getting hit in the neck with an elephant tranquilizer, what he lacks in skating ability he more than makes up for in positional play. Even though they play two entirely different positions, a decent comparable for Sharks fans unaware of Handzus' game is Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Both are players who rarely see themselves in the wrong area of the ice in the defensive end of the ice but make life a living hell for opposing forwards on a nightly basis. Playing the center position Handzus will definitely get more looks and be a more visible presence on the ice than Vlasic of course, but the basic idea is sound-- when you don't notice Handzus, it probably means he's doing a lot of the right things out there. And that applies to his advanced stats as well.

Over the last four seasons with Los Angeles Handzus has been given all of the tough situations on the team-- amongst Kings forwards he ranked in the top four in terms of quality of competition three out of the last four years, has been in the top two for defensive zone starts, led the team in shorthanded ice time per game, and been in the upper half of SH GAON/60 every year as well. Although these difficult assigments are something Handzus is clearly familiar with, San Jose's top six forward group is likely to play these tougher assignments. That might be for the best, because although Handzus played the toughs at 5v5, he also got fairly beat up as well-- his relative CORSI was amongst the worst on the team, and his GAON/60 at 5v5 saw him take some lumps as well.

With a third line role next season in San Jose however, expect Handzus to be more than capable of taking on a reduced role in regards to tough situations and playing well because of it. A ten goal thirty point season should be in the cards offensively, with his biggest contribution coming defensively, specifically on the penalty kill.

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With the 2011-2012 season set to begin on October 8th, Fear The Fin will be partying with Miss Cleo and previewing the Sharks roster in the weeks leading up to opening night. Today we continue with what is expected to be the Sharks first/second paring: Dan Boyle and Douglas Murray.

Every installment in the series can be found here. Enjoy.

Dan Boyle

Expected Role: Number One Defenseman, Power Play

To truly understand how much Boyle has meant to this franchise over the course of his last three seasons in teal, one only has to look at his stellar point totals (50+ points three years running) and gargantuan ice time totals. After two years where Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle finished in the top five amongst all NHL defenseman in ice time per game (2nd in 10-11, 4th in 09-10), Boyle's 35 year old legs may be getting a bit of a reprieve next season with the addition of Brent Burns and Colin White to the Sharks backend. Boyle has never been one to complain about how heavily he's been leaned on to backstop the San Jose blueline of course, but these decreased ice time numbers should help improve his effectiveness at both even strength and the power play.

Boyle's smooth skating and ability to quarterback the power play are the two biggest skills he brings to the team, and those numbers are bared out in his underlying numbers. Last season he was far and away the most productive Sharks blueliner with the man advantage, putting up 4.29 points per 60 minutes and coming in with a 5v4 plus/minus of 8.57 per 60 minutes-- those numbers dwarfed anything the rest of the backend could put together, proving that his abilities on the power play are second to one, whether it be in San Jose or across the entire NHL. An ability to carry the puck out of his own end and enter the offensive zone with ease definitely helps in this regard, as Boyle is one of the smoothest skaters in the League and can casually make opposing forwards miss in the neutral zone in order to lead the Sharks attack up the ice. He's extremely aggressive in the offensive zone and able to pinch up the boards effectively-- this can occasionally result in a missed read, but by and large, Boyle's hockey IQ and physical abilities end up helping the team more than hurting them.

The only drawback to Boyle's game is his play in his own end-- while by no means a slouch in the defensive zone, Boyle is subject to being beat by opposing forwards from time to time. His high quality of competition numbers (1st in 10-11) and larger than life ice time can explain this away to some degree, but his relative CORSI numbers (5th in 10-11) could stand to improve this season. With that being said however, Boyle still finished in the black at 5v5 play last year in terms of +/- differential, proving that despite his minor defensive faults he is able to hurt opposing teams with regularity.

The biggest question for Boyle heading into 2011-2012 is twofold. The first is whether or not he will see less time in all defensive situations, specifically on the penalty kill where he was second on the team in terms of ice time per game. With the addition of Brent Burns and Colin White, along with the steady defensive play of Marc-Edouard Vlasic and a progressing Jason Demers, we expect this to be the case. The second is whether this hypothetical decreased responsibility will effect him in a negative way-- some players, who are used to seeing so much ice time over the course of a year, can develop a rhythm to their game that adapts to the ice time and shift totals.

We don't expect the second to be a major issue, as a reduction in total ice time for Boyle should make him a more productive player especially at 35 years of age. With Brent Burns helping to shoulder the load on the power play, and Colin White taking a lot of PK minutes away from San Jose's top offensive defenseman, expect Boyle to be a finely tuned machine in 2011-2012 who is more effective and shows more jump as the season progresses.

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With the 2011-2012 season set to begin on October 8th, Fear The Fin will be partying with Miss Cleo and previewing the Sharks roster in the weeks leading up to opening night. Today we continue with what is expected to be the Sharks third paring: Colin White and Jason Demers.

Every installment in the series can be found here. Enjoy.

Colin White

Expected Role: Defensive defenseman, penalty kill minutes aplenty

After being bought out by the New Jersey Devils, Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson quickly snapped up the defensively oriented Colin White for a mere $1.0 MM per year this offseason, identifying his ability to play tough minutes and nasty physical play as his strongest suits as a player. Coming in at 6'4 and 235 pounds at 33 years of age, White is a defenseman who has seen it all throughout his career and should mesh well as a left handed brick wall playing alongside the quicker and more agile Demers [read our full review of Colin White's signing here].

Despite being the victim of a buyout, don't let this offseason cast any doubt on how effective White can be in his role-- playing with the Devils for his entire career, White has transitioned from the clutch and grab early aughts into the new NHL rather seamlessly. Over the course of the last three seasons with the Devils, White's quality of competition, defensive zone starts, shorthanded TOI, and shorthanded goals against numbers have been tops on the team-- coupled with a respectable +/- and relative CORSI that fluttered around the middle of the pack and reflected the hard assignments he was given, White's ability to shutdown opposing forwards on the top pairing in New Jersey indicate that a third pairing role with San Jose is well within his range of capabilities. His shorthanded ice time capabilities are also of immense benefit to the team-- along with reducing the ice time of players like Dan Boyle, White's knack for killing penalties should help improve a unit that war ranked 24th in the NHL last season.

The pairing of White and Demers is essentially a second pairing unit on many teams in the NHL, and is truly a testament to the defensive depth the Sharks have heading into the year. It's new territory for Sharks fans to be certain, as the blueline was a glaring weakness of the team in previous playoff runs, but something that should cease to be an issue in 2011-2012.

The biggest question for Colin White heading into the 2011-2012 campaign is whether or not he can continue to keep up as a 34 year old defenseman in a much more physical and competitive Western Conference. With his career nearing the age where players see a drop in foot speed and overall effectiveness, a big and slower defenseman such as White can be exposed on nights against quicker teams. We don't foresee this to be a big issue for him, especially since he will be playing on the third pairing, but it is something to keep an eye out for as the season progresses.

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Coming off a season in which the Sharks penalty kill finished 24th in the NHL with a 79.6% success rate, it's safe to say one of the biggest priorities for Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson this summer was to address those needs. In response, he brought in PK maestro Michal Handzus and Andrew Murray up front in the forward department, and beefed up the depth on the backend with the addition of Colin White and Brent Burns. These four players will be fixtures on the shorthanded unit this upcoming season, replacing Scott Nichol, Jamal Mayers, Niclas Wallin, and Kent Huskins as San Jose's primary and complimentary penalty kill pieces.

As we've written about before, last year the Sharks top six forwards saw some of the highest TOI totals in the Western Conference. And while not all of that can be accounted for on the penalty kill, the fact that Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski led all forwards in shorthanded TOI and logged heavy minutes both at even strength and the power play is an indication that reducing their minutes over the long haul would be beneficial, not just on an individual level (where grueling PK shifts take a physical toll) but on a team-wide level as well (following a kill the Sharks would be able to put out their top line and take advantage of less skilled players who typically are on the ice following a power play attempt).

As it turns out, Sharks Head Coach Todd McLellan has decided to rely more on his lower line forwards this upcoming season. Although it was slipped this in at the end of this blog post by the always stellar David Pollak, the information provided could have some big ramifications on the Sharks next year:

So far, the top two forward pairings are Handzus-Mitchell and Desjardins-(Andrew) Murray, and McLellan is sticking to his plan of taking some of the responsibility away from Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau so they can get more minutes in offensive situations.

"It doesn't mean they won't penalty kill," McLellan said. "It just means the timing of their presence on it might be a little different. We could be ten games into the year and you'll say this isn't what you told me, but that's the plan."

"We’ve got to see how it evolves," he added. "Can other guys pick up their minutes in that situation? We’ll see."

Three immediate takeaways from this-- it's probably safe to assume that Andrew Murray will be making the team's opening night roster on the fourth line. Furthermore, if there were any lingering doubts that Andrew Desjardins would be handling the fourth-line pivot duties, then those questions should be put to rest as well. And finally, although Joe Pavelski isn't mentioned in this article, the fact he isn't named in the two primary PK lines probably means he will be seeing a reduction from his 1:57 SH TOI last season as well.

All in all these are excellent things to see, especially when one considers the amount of ice time San Jose's top six forwards will be receiving in scoring situations considering the uncertainty surrounding the team's bottom six scoring depth. Furthermore, although Marleau's and Pavelski's two-way games will hopefully return to their historic levels next season, they were actually the two worst forwards on the PK last year in terms of goals against at 5v4.

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With the 2011-2012 season set to begin on October 8th, Fear The Fin will be partying with Miss Cleo and previewing the Sharks roster in the weeks leading up to opening night. Today we continue with what is expected to be the Sharks second line: Martin Havlat, Logan Couture, and Ryane Clowe.

Every installment in the series can be found here. Enjoy.

Martin Havlat

Expected Role: 5v5 production, power play and penalty kill, immense speed threat

Acquired from the Minnesota Wild on July 3, 2011 in exchange for winger Dany Heatley, Martin Havlat will be one of the most interesting Sharks players to watch for next season. As we covered in our analysis of the trade, Havlat's ability to score at even strength is a definite plus to his game, but his historical injury issues have also been a concern. Havlat skated with an orange jersey during the beginning of training camp while he recuperated from shoulder surgery this offseason, an issue that has plagued him throughout his career, but has recently been cleared for controlled contact and should be ready to go sometime in October (at this point it's looking probable he'll play opening night). Although Havlat's injury concerns could be an issue going forward for San Jose he has stayed healthy over the last three seasons, playing in 232 out of a possible 246 games.

At his best Havlat is a quick winger with astounding speed, a great shot, and good two-way instincts. Although he didn't see much penalty kill time with Minnesota, the Sharks are expecting Havlat to help chip in on the shorthanded unit throughout the year and help out a PK unit that was ranked 23rd last year in terms of efficiency. His ability to push the play in the right direction is a great asset to his game, something that shows up in his CORSI totals over the last three seasons-- Havlat finished 2nd, 5th, and 2nd respectively in stints with the Blackhawks and Wild. He was also one of the most effective 5v5 players on those teams in terms of goals per 60 minutes.

With even strength play a good predictor of future success and an attention to defense a big priority for San Jose this season, expect Havlat to fit in well with the Sharks system. Although the two separate deals that sent Setoguchi, Coyle, and Heatley to Minnesota in exchange for Burns and Havlat were related due to Heatley's NTC window, Havlat's season will likely be judged against Heatley's performance in Minnesota. Although we don't expect Havlat to put up the big powerplay and goal scoring numbers that Heatley has throughout his career, a 30 goal year from Havlat is the expectation provided he can stay healthy. Coupled with his ability to stretch defenses with his speed, and knack for putting pucks in the net at even strength, Havlat could be one of the true success stories next season with the team. It's hard not to wonder if the injury bug is going to strike Havlat once again, but it's also hard not to get excited about adding a dynamic player who flourishes at even strength alongside 5v5 dynamos Couture and Clowe.

As with any new player on the roster, it's going to be a game of wait and see.

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