With the Olympics over, the NHL Trade Deadline is right upon us. Use this post for all comments concerning the various news you are hearing, and as always, please bring a link to the table if you are discussing rumors and/or announcing trades.

FTF Trade Target Articles

Dennis Seidenberg (FLA)

Jan Hedja, Raffi Torres (CBJ)

Pavel Kubina (ATL)

Tomas Kaberle (TOR)

The Pursuit for a Defenseman Reignited

More photos » Paul Sakuma - AP

The eyes of the sun, the roar of a lion.

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David Pollak of Working The Corners attended the first Sharks practice since a 3-0 loss to Buffalo on February 13th, reporting on the non-Olympians as they gear up for the stretch run. Our coverage on Fear The Fin has centered almost exclusively around the Vancouver Games, and this article is a good catalyst for us to transition into what should be a compelling push towards yet another playoff run.

For starters, 38 year old Steve Shields was in net at practice. As Pollak mentions, Shields manned the pipes during San Jose's upset of the St. Louis Blues during the 2000 playoffs. That series was a perfect example of the volatility of playoff hockey-- it seemed as if every break went San Jose's way, from goals scored at off angles to St. Louis shots that rang off the pipes. And, of course, Owen Nolan's infamous goal from center ice in the waning seconds of the seventh game's first period, which stunned the crowd and put the Sharks up 2-0; they would go on to win that game by a score of 3-1, and cement the organization as a giant killer following equally surprising defeats of the Detroit Red Wings and Calgary Flames in the mid-90's.

Pollak also goes on to explain that Niclas Wallin is finally getting an opportunity to grasp the system, and that McLellan is using these practices as a mini-camp in order to emphasize the basics. All Sharks Olympians who have concluded their stay in Vancouver (Nabokov, Greiss, Murray) will be given some time off to rest.

The most interesting piece of information comes in the middle of the article. Manny Malhotra will be returning to the ice after the break, but defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic was not at Sharks Ice and his return to the team is still unknown.

We broke down his injury against the Chicago Blackhawks in late January this year. It is my belief that he suffered a knee injury, and at this point, you have to start to wonder just how serious things are. To my knowledge he has yet to skate with the team since leaving that game, and with San Jose's defense already a concern for the organization, losing your best shutdown defenseman will have some serious ramifications.

The trade freeze is lifted on Monday morning. With the deadline less than a week away, Vlasic's health will probably play the largest role in how Doug Wilson handles negotiations.

Keep your eye on this one.

Go Sharks.

More photos » Julie Jacobson - AP

Kapow!

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[Update]: David Pollak of Working The Corners left a note in the comments of his most recent article:

Just reached Doug Wilson to check out that report on a deal for Niclas Wallin.

“There is nothing new on the trade front,” the Sharks general manager said, and I got the sense nothing was imminent either (let’s say the next 24 hours or so).

Wilson, we all know, won’t talk about specific players until all the signatures are on the paperwork. But he’s aware of the TSN report and what you see in the preceding graph is his response. Nothing more, nothing less.

- WTC Comments

*****

Per Darren Dreger of TSN:

Another trade is close. Canes working on sending Walling to SJ. Wallin won't play in Calgary tonight.

- Twitter

It's too early to call this one either way as there is no indication of who the Sharks will be giving up in the deal. As we mentioned earlier this week Darren Dreger is a trustworthy source for rumors, and while I wouldn't go as far to say that this is as good as done, it's about as close as you can get.

The 34 year old makes $1.725 M under the salary cap, and is set to hit free agency next year.

Wallin does see a lot of defensive zone draws with Carolina, as well as playing against some of the better competition opposing teams have to offer. There is some value here depending on what is being given up, but he is not the bona-fide defensive defenseman that San Jose would like to plug in heavy minutes.

Doug Wilson is doing one of three things with this deal-- a) clearing salary by sending a roster player to Carolina in order to make another move b) bolstering the depth of San Jose's backend or c) receiving another player in the deal that Dreger has not yet reported.

The only roster player who makes sense in a one-for-one roster player deal for San Jose is Kent Huskins, as he will allow the Sharks to get under the salary cap. I am not sure why Carolina would pursue this deal unless a prospect/pick is included, but it does allow the Sharks more space next offseason to pursue the free agency market. That is a plus.

San Jose may get a little better with a trade for Wallin, but are not significantly more dangerous than they were yesterday. Wallin on his own does not answer the blueline question that has been posed since the beginning of this season.

Alongside that, as has been thrown around in the comments, you have to wonder how injured Vlasic is at this point. This author believes Vlasic sustained a left knee injury against the Chicago Blackhawks, and the lack of news on the subject is beginning to sound like Doug Wilson is keeping his cards close to his vest in order to keep himself in a position of power when pursuing trade options. Speculation of course, but it is something to keep your eye on.

More to come. Hold on to your butts.

Go Sharks.

While I hated the score of last night's game, I at least enjoyed the pregame show as our Olympics were honored by the team and the fans. That was as classy of a move as I remember.

While those of us residing in warm climates of California may not feel the hype of the upcoming Olympics just yet, with Superbowl coming up and all, that hype is starting to reach its peak in other countries, such as Canada or Russia. As I've written before, Russia is making a major push  to promote hockey with recent resurgence of winning traditions and a new generation of superstars, so the press coverage of hockey back in the Motherland has increased drastically. As a result, one of the leading sports journalists for no. 1 sports outlet Sports-Express, Igor Rabiner, is currently walking the streets of San Jose and have been writing articles on the hockey culture here and  the Sharks Olympians. He recently interviewed Nabokov, Heatley and Doug Wilson, and I'll share with you part of these interviews in the next few days. Whenever our Sharks speak to a media representative that is not North American, they tend to be more honest and deep.

Rabiner was particularly impressed with the kind of pregame show that the Sharks put up yesterday for our Olympians (and of course, especially with the roar the crowd gave when Nabokov was announced). He interviewed Doug Wilson about the Olympics, and about the status of contract negotiations with Patrick Marleau and Evgeni Nabokov and we're sharing parts of that interview after the jump.

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The Blue Jackets will play the San Jose Sharks in Stockholm, Sweden, at the start of the 2010-11 season, The Dispatch has learned.

The Jackets will play two games in Europe -- a home game and a road game -- but it's unclear if both games will be against the Sharks or if they'll both be in Stockholm. Best guess for the opener is Thursday, Oct. 7.

- The Columbus Dispatch

I covered this pretty extensively in December, and that should be the first place you look if you want to see how it may influence the Sharks performance next year on a statistical level. Teams tend to take a dip around the 20-40 game mark.

The obvious storyline will be Douglas Murray's opportunity to play in front of his family; if you remember from earlier this season, I did a piece on his grandfather, a legend in the Swedish hockey world. "Lasse" (Swedish for "menace") was a hulking blueliner who played the game exactly how Douglas does-- strong and physical.

Murray is the only Swedish player on the current roster, with Evgeni Nabokov (RUS) and Thomas Greiss (GER) rounding out the European representatives.

I'm not adverse to going overseas, but if the Sharks make a deep run this season, you have to wonder how much of a factor it will be in some of the veteran players legs down the stretch next year. Coupled with the vast amount of travel West Coast teams do already, it's definitely not going to do them any favors in 2010-2011.

How much of a detriment it will be, however, is up for debate.

[UPDATE, SUNDAY] WTC Reports that Dan Boyle's injury appears to be nothing serious. The Sharks official pagesays the same. H/T to Megs and sharks in oc for the tip.

[UPDATE, SATURDAY] Per Dave Pollak at WTC, McLellan says it's too early to tell how serious Dan Boyle's injury is. For those of you waiting up for news, looks like you'll have to wait for tomorrow.

At the end of the San Jose Sharks 2-1 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday, Taylor Pyatt checked Dan Boyle into the boards with roughly 5 seconds remaining in the game. Following the play Boyle was slow to get up, taking nearly a minute to get off the ice, and had to be helped off by two teammates.

Updates and video will follow.

[Editor's Note]: I took a look at the season schedule during the offseason, establishing a power ranking of the months facing San Jose this year. Obviously these initial rankings will likely change throughout the season when various injuries and transactions occur, but it's a decent enough barometer of what we can expect to see in terms of competition.

It's time for the second edition of The Month on Tap, where we take a look at some upcoming games for the San Jose Sharks and review the month that was.

What Was Said Last Month

The End Result: 8-5-1. The blueline will go through some growing pains, and while the last change at home can mask that, the road game is a different story. Goal scoring keeps them in games for the majority of the month and the first line begins to click as they roll into November- by far the toughest month of the year.

- The Month On Tap: Octoberfest

Despite losing Joe Pavelski for nearly the entire month and playing without Devin Setoguchi during the last week, San Jose managed to post a 9-4-1 record during October. Previous concerns about Jason Demers and Kent Huskins have been quelled, as they have grown into a solid third pairing that has flourished in their sheltered minutes. Evgeni Nabokov has been stellar, Patrick Marleau is proving that throwing him under the bus means he's just going to knock down the windows and drive the thing, and the third line has been able to kick in the occasional goal while providing solid play in their own end.

Special teams have impressed, with the power play functioning at 25% and the penalty kill thwarting opposing teams at an 85% rate (both are currently holding down the sixth spot in the NHL). This is all the more impressive considering Pavelski has been out the entire month, with Joe Thornton picking up some notable shorthanded time to fill that looming void.

Does this come without caveats? Of course not. Vlasic and Blake haven't been impressive in their minutes against top competition, a concern going forward considering they are the quintessential shutdown pairing. Giving up the first goal has been an issue, as well as going to the box in the first period. Thomas Greiss has only gotten the starting nod once, a topic that has been extensively covered for what seems like eons. Ryane Clowe has notched all of one goal thus far, but the hope is that his shootout winner against the Los Angeles Kings last Wednesday can get him going-- maybe it already has, as he scored against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday.

However, it's hard not to be content with what the Sharks have done as a whole up to this point. But what can we reasonably expect to see in November?

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I took a look at the season schedule earlier this offseason, establishing a power ranking of the months facing San Jose this year. Obviously these initial rankings will likely change throughout the season when various injuries and transactions occur, but it's a decent enough barometer of what we can expect to see in terms of competition (and subsequently wins, losses, and those asinine loser points*).

*To be fair, they do make for a more exciting stretch run as it bunches teams together, but I never could wrap my head around the fact that a team can lose and still receive a point. I also could never wrap my head around how a game can be decided with a skills competition. Apparently my head isn't very elastic.

At any rate, what we have after the jump is a non-scientific look at the upcoming schedule for the month, and some quick prognostications. I plan on doing this for every month of the year, as it's a nice blueprint and will allow us to highlight some important games for San Jose.

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