The San Jose Sharks have looked stilted at times, and there have been some questionable lineup choices on the ice through the first portion of the season. While it’s been better the last few games, the early play has led to early calls for Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky’s head, especially by fans frustrated by the inconsistent playing time for young star in the making Michael Misa and the continued play of veterans like Nick Leddy and John Klingberg over younger, learning players like Shakir Mukhamadullin, Sam Dickinson and to a lesser extent, Jack Thompson.
And while blaming Warsofsky might be the easiest path forward, it’s likely not the solution to fix the Sharks’ problems. That’s because it feels like there are other forces at work, ones that are outside of the head coach’s control.
Contracts, contracts, contracts
Let’s start with the contracts. The Sharks have 49 players under contract, and now that Dickinson has played his ninth NHL game, the team has to decide what to do with him. If the Sharks allow him to play one more game, it will activate the first year of his contract. That will make it the 50th contract on the team’s list. That means there’s no more room for any other players on the Sharks, either via trade, waiver wire pick up, or, say, Misa to play his 10th NHL game, unless the Sharks offload a contract via trade or contract termination.
The point is, the Sharks have some contact issues, and it’s handcuffing roster decisions. The Sharks can play Misa, but the more he plays, the louder that ticking time bomb that is contracts becomes. General Manager Mike Grier is on a time clock to figure out what to do with the players.
Of course, that can all be avoided if the Sharks move Dickinson back down to the OHL for another season. It’s hard to see that as the plan.
I wrote a short form of this on Twitter, but I suspect that this is the Sharks’ plan: Sending Misa or Dickinson back to the OHL is bad for the rebuild. It sets it back. And the rebuild IS the MOST IMPORTANT thing. So, both players must stay with the team this season. So, how do we work around the contracts? Well, the Sharks have a 1C locked in (Macklin Celebrini). The 2C will be Misa. He’s a secondary objective this season. A top 4D (Dickinson) is more important to develop because the Sharks don’t currently have that. So, he’s the contract you work into the system first. That’s why he’s getting the playing time first. It also helps to know that, in watching Misa this season, he looks like he’ll develop pretty quickly. His hockey IQ is pretty high-level and he’s picking it up quickly. Missing a few games so that Grier can move another contract likely won’t keep him from being up to NHL speed by the end of the season. That’s good news for the Sharks. By April, both players should be at the same level and ready for season two, and the rebuild will be on track.
As for Warsofsky, it’s the contracts and the games that Grier needs to play with them that are likely hindering his full deployment of the roster early in the season.
Promises, promises
While Warsofsky might make the on-ice decisions, he doesn’t make the contract decisions. That’s what GMMG does. We know what money was offered and what the term was, but we don’t know anything else. Sunshine and lack of media pressure will only get a team so far, especially when you aren’t going to get a lot of W’s in the win column this season. Other things may have needed to be promised in order to get some of the better free agents to sign in San Jose, especially on those short-term deals.
So, what if Grier made other promises? What if he told a guy like John Klingberg that, in addition to getting top four minutes, he would also get top power play time? What if Nick Leddy was promised every game as long as he was healthy enough to play?
We don’t know what roster restriction Warsofsky may or may not be operating under because of the contracts Grier signed at the start of the season.
Conclusion
Warsofsky can only play the hand that he’s dealt. While he’s in control of the players who are in the lineup on any given night (for the most part), he can’t control who’s injured, I’m not entirely sure he controls who gets called up from the Barracuda who doesn’t, and I know he can’t control the contracts and promises that were made before the season started. He has restrictions placed on the pieces that he has this season.
So, before you start calling for his head, consider that maybe he’s playing a game with some restrictions that fans are not privy to.
